For pensioners
Retiring to Turkey
For Dutch pensioners Turkey is a treaty country, and that changes everything: your healthcare runs through the CAK into the Turkish state system, so no lifelong private policy. Fiscally the 1986 treaty splits your pension into two halves — and anyone who keeps them apart knows exactly what changes net. Anyone who believes the forum counts themselves rich.
Article 18 in two halves: your company pension goes exclusively to Turkey, which then exempts it; your AOW stays with the Netherlands as long as you are Dutch. On top of that your AOW accrual stops on the day you leave — the SVB has a voluntary continuation, but you can only sign up in the first year after departure.
Healthcare is the argument almost no Dutch site knows: pensioners with a Dutch statutory pension get access to the SGK through the CAK, against a treaty contribution. Anyone who does not fall under that has the private policy the ikamet requires and, after a year, the voluntary state insurance.
Your residence starts after ninety days with the ikamet, a permit you keep renewing: short stay on rent or ownership, or the property route with its threshold of US$ 200,000 — and a neighbourhood test you do before you sign a contract. As a pensioner you may bring your own car tax-free on an MA plate, no small thing in the most expensive car country in Europe; your driving licence has to be exchanged within six months.
Still deciding between countries? To the pension comparer
Your money: the two halves of article 18
AOW, pension and tax in Turkey: article 18 in two halves
The treaty of 1986 sends your company pension exclusively to Turkey — which then exempts it — but leaves your AOW (the Dutch state pension) with the Netherlands as long as you're a Dutch national. Whoever keeps the two halves of article 18 apart knows exactly what changes net; whoever believes the forum is counting chickens.
Updated 31 August 2026
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 September 2026
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 departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 19 September 2026
Your healthcare — the CAK route into the SGK
Healthcare in Turkey: the CAK route that almost nobody knows
Turkey is a treaty country: pensioners with a Dutch statutory pension get access through the CAK to the Turkish state system SGK, for a treaty contribution — so no lifelong private policy. Whoever doesn't fall under it has the private-insurance requirement of the ikamet, the policy for the ikamet and after a year the voluntary state insurance.
Updated 31 August 2026
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 September 2026
The ikamet, your house and your car
The residence routes to Turkey: the ikamet, the neighbourhood check and the road to eight years
Ninety days you may be there freely; after that the ikamet begins — a permit you keep renewing. The routes in a row: short-term residence on a rental or on ownership, the property route with its threshold of US$ 200,000, the digital nomad — and the neighbourhood check you do before you sign a contract.
Updated 31 August 2026
Living and buying in Turkey: tapu, DASK and the pitfalls that Spain content misses
The transfer here runs through the land registry, not through a notary; the purchase requires a recognised valuation report and an exchange certificate; and every home carries a compulsory earthquake insurance that covers less than people think. Plus the rental side: notarised contracts, annual indexation and the neighbourhood check.
Updated 30 August 2026
Your car and your driving licence in Turkey: the blue plate and the six months
Turkey is the most expensive car country in Europe inside one of the cheapest countries — buying a car costs more there than in the Netherlands. Against that stands a scheme that virtually no Dutch site explains properly: whoever has retired abroad may bring their own car in tax-free on an MA plate. And your driving licence must be exchanged within six months.
Updated 31 August 2026
Your pet to Turkey: the double titre clock
Turkey requires a rabies titre test with three months' waiting time after the blood sample — and because Turkey is a high-risk country for the EU, the same titre requirement will later apply on every visit back to the Netherlands. Whoever has the test done in the Netherlands before departure solves both clocks in one go; whoever postpones it ties their animal down for months.
Updated 30 August 2026
Want to walk this journey with the order watched — the ikamet before the ninety days are up, your pet's titre test in time, your Dutch affairs closed on the right day? The Turkish step-by-step plan is ready for you.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Forty-four journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.