On June 22, the Board decided to increase pensions over the whole of 2021.
This will take place from July 1, 2022, and applies to all members.
PDN aims to increase your pension every year and to allow it to grow in line with inflation or wage increases. The financial position of the fund and the statutory regulations that apply to indexation play a major role during the annual decision-making process in this regard. The decision about the increase was based on the positive development of PDN’s financial position and the new possibilities offered by legislation. Adopted at the beginning of June, the legislation lowers the policy funding level that a pension fund must reach in order to increase pensions. In short, the amendment means that, in 2022, a pension fund would be allowed to increase (index) pensions if its policy funding level[1] is 105% or above. Until now, the lower limit was 110%. However, instead of being automatically granted, this wider margin is subject to several conditions.
The Board carefully assessed whether PDN met the conditions required by this legislation. A balance was also made between granting these increases now or, in view of the transition to the new pension system, keeping the money in the fund for the time being. During this process, the Board carefully balanced the interests of all members.
Click here for the impact of indexation on the various stakeholders.
In view of all the uncertainties involved, the decision was made not to depart from the current policy framework. These are the rules that “normally” determine whether pensions are increased or not. While we are maintaining a steady line, we did decide to make use of the possibility offered by the new legislation. The fund may apply a policy funding level of 105% when calculating the percentage increase. This means the increase is 50%, with no further departures from the existing policy.
This increase is locked in, which means that it will apply for life as of July 1.
Pensioners will see the increased pension in their account from July. If the letter about the pension that this year starts after July 1 has already been sent, the increase will be in the first payment.
The pension increase for all members will also be visible in the 2023 Uniform Pension Statement (UPS) but not in the UPS we are sending this year. This UPS shows the status on January 1, 2022.
If you would like to know more about granting indexation at PDN, please click here.
[1] The policy funding level is the average of the fund’s funding levels over the last 12 months.