NN’s current pension plan is due to expire on 31 December 2021. The social partners (the employer and the trade unions) have decided that after that date, NN CDC Pensioenfonds will continue to execute the current pension fund for another nine months. As part of this extension, agreements have been made with regard to the targeted accrual rate of your pension. This article explains what this means for you.

Current pension agreement: targeted accrual rate 1.875%
Under the current agreement, the pension fund receives a fixed annual contribution of 30% of your pensionable salary net of the state pension offset (your pension base). As an employee, you pay 6% of that fixed contribution. The employer pays the remainder (24%).

If the fixed contribution is not sufficient to fund the targeted 1.875% pension accrual, the accrual rate is reduced. Due to persistently low interest rates, this was the case in 2020 and 2021

New pension agreement: targeted accrual rate 1.5%
As soon as a new pension agreement has been signed, NN CDC Pensioenfonds is required by law to assess whether the contribution and the targeted accrual rate are in balance with each other. Unfortunately, they are not. NN CDC Pensioenfonds will only be able to continue executing the current pension agreement after 31 December 2021 if a new pension accrual rate is agreed upon. That is why the 1.875% targeted accrual rate will be lowered to 1.5% until 1 October 2022.

What is not changing?
The reduction of the targeted accrual rate will not impact your surviving dependants’ pension, which is insured on a risk base. Moreover, there are no implications for the pension you previously built up in NN CDC Pensioenfonds. And current pension benefits will not be affected either.

Pension accrual after 1 October 2022
By 1 October 2022, the social partners want to reach agreement regarding a pension agreement that will incorporate most of the terms and conditions of the new national pension agreement. This means next year will be a bridge year.

Should the social partners decide to extend the current CDC pension plan beyond 1 October 2022, the pension fund will need to reassess, based on the interest rates, whether the 1.875% targeted accrual rate is still feasible. If it isn’t, the targeted accrual rate may continue to be lower than 1.875% after 1 October 2022.

Additional deposits
The NN CDC Pensioenfonds pension plan does not allow you to make additional deposits to supplement the gap in pension accrual in 2022. You will have to make use of other options, such as consulting an external adviser to set up a financial plan for your future. For more information on additional deposits, click here.

Grip on your pension
In recent years, we received many questions about the accrual cutback. Could the pension fund change its policy in order to prevent a cutback? Could the employer make additional contributions? Why do interest rates have so much impact on pensions? Click here for the answers to these questions and for more information. If you cannot find the information you’re looking for, please feel free to get in touch with the Pension Desk.