Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave), and almost everyone misses that deadline.
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Yes, on emigration your AOW accrual stops, usually on the day of departure. The AOW is the Dutch state pension. Every year outside the Netherlands until your AOW age costs you 2% of your AOW later, for life.
It can be repaired. The SVB, which runs the AOW, offers a voluntary continuation:
- It runs for a maximum of ten years.
- The premium is 17.9% of your income, with in 2026 a minimum of € 569 and a maximum of € 5,693 a year.
- The application must be in within one year of the end of your compulsory insurance. After that the door is closed for good.
That last rule is in article 36 of the act itself. The pitfall is the accompanying partner without income. For that partner the minimum premium applies and the scheme is cheapest, and yet nobody talks about them.
What happens to my AOW when I leave?
You accrue AOW by living or working in the Netherlands: 2% a year, for fifty years. If you leave, that accrual usually stops immediately. Every year abroad later becomes a 2% reduction of your AOW. Whoever emigrates at forty and never returns easily misses a quarter to half of the amount they unconsciously count on. This is not a penalty; it is simply how accrual works. But it deserves a conscious decision rather than a discovery at 67. What you accrued up to your departure stays. If you already receive AOW, this no longer plays. For you it is then about where your pension is taxed, not about accrual.
| Years outside the Netherlands before your AOW age | Reduction of your AOW |
|---|---|
| 5 years | 10% |
| 10 years | 20% |
| 15 years | 30% |
| 25 years | 50% |
How do I repair it, and until when?
The SVB offers a voluntary continuation: you pay the premium yourself and simply keep accruing as if you never left. The rules:
- Sign up within one year of the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave). This is the hard deadline of this article. After that the door is closed, for good.
- You must have been insured for at least one year continuously immediately before departure. For whoever emigrates from an ordinary Dutch life, that is automatically the case.
- It is possible for a maximum of ten years (longer only in special cases, such as working for the Dutch government abroad).
Whoever keeps working in the Netherlands or is posted abroad can remain compulsorily insured. For most emigrants the insurance ends at the moment of deregistration.
What does it cost, and when is it worth it?
The premium is income-related: 17.9% of your income, with in 2026 a minimum of € 569 and a maximum of € 5,693 a year. That is where the trade-off lies. Whoever has little or no income of their own abroad pays the minimum premium and buys with it each year 2% of permanent, indexed AOW. The accompanying partner is the classic example. In many cases that is one of the cheapest pension purchases there is. Whoever is up against the premium maximum calculates more sharply: then the continuation competes with investing yourself or the pension of your new country.
| Voluntary AOW insurance (2026) | |
|---|---|
| Premium | 17.9% of your income |
| Minimum per year | € 569 |
| Maximum per year | € 5,693 |
| Apply | within 1 year of the end of your compulsory insurance |
| Condition | at least 1 year continuously insured immediately before |
| Duration | maximum 10 years |
| What you buy | 2% AOW per insured year, indexed, for life |
| Anw added | for a few euros a year |
For a few euros a year you also insure the Anw, the survivors' cover. A small amount, and for single-income families worth considering.
Who forgets this most often?
The accompanying partner is also the classic victim of this scheme: the main earner sometimes keeps accruing through a secondment, the partner doesn't — and nobody says so. Decide this per person, not per household, and put the sign-up deadline (one year after departure) in the diary today.
Everything that applies to you applies to your partner separately: the deregistration, the end of the Dutch health insurance, their own AOW accrual that stops. What the partner without a job of their own arranges further is in the article on that.
This is a sum that depends on your age, your accrual years and your plans. Vertrekklaar tells you when it plays. A pension adviser or the SVB's calculators tell you what it yields for you.
Moving with AOW to an EU country, or to Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Turkey? Then your healthcare runs through the CAK. You pay a treaty contribution, which is deducted from your AOW and pension. Work out what that costs per country.
In Vertrekklaar this belongs to the phase Closing down the Netherlands of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See how the step-by-step plan works.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- SVB — living or working outside the Netherlands, and what that does to your AOW — svb.nl
- SVB — the conditions for voluntary insurance — svb.nl
- SVB — what voluntary insurance outside the Netherlands costs — svb.nl
- Algemene Ouderdomswet (General Old Age Pensions Act) — article 13 (2% reduction per uninsured year), articles 35 and 36 (voluntary insurance, ten years, application within one year) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Rijksoverheid — AOW accrual abroad — rijksoverheid.nl
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