As the days get shorter (and wetter), your activities are likely to take place indoors more often. You’re spending more time by the fireplace with a book, watching a new series on one of the streaming services, or maybe making a large jigsaw puzzle. Or perhaps you’re already starting to look ahead to next year. Our board certainly is. This is the time of year when we make our own jigsaw puzzle; we look to the next year and consider the scope available to increase pensions. We’re not the only ones doing this, other pension funds are also currently thinking about it.
How do we determine if we can increase?
You may have already heard or seen it in the media. An article appeared last week that pension increases may be ‘put on hold’, despite the improved financial position of many pension funds. I can understand if you have questions about this. So allow me to explain the puzzle we are currently solving and the challenges we encounter. The corners and edges are now in place, but only when the puzzle is complete, can we say whether all pensions at Pensioenfonds PGB will be increased again next year too.
The puzzle we are trying to solve to determine whether we can increase pensions, and if so, by how much, consists of many pieces. Two very important pieces are 1) ensuring that the pensions retain their value and 2) our financial situation.
In the coming weeks, we and the board will figure out how we can fit these two large pieces into the increase puzzle. That is why we are mapping the effect of increasing pensions on our financial situation. We look at all participants in our pension fund. Young, old, employees, retirees and people who have previously accrued a pension with us.
Onwards to 2027
But that’s not all. The puzzle becomes more complex every year. We also have to take into account the consequences of a possible increase for our financial situation when transitioning to the new pension in 2027. This transition must of course be fair on everyone. We can’t see into the future, but we do see a lot of uncertainty about the economy in the years to come. That is why we carefully consider what we can do for you now - in increasing pensions - and what buffer we need to maintain to ensure the most carefree possible pension for you and the next generation.
We will complete this puzzle in November. As soon as we have figured it out, we will of course let you know straight away. If you want to find out more about our considerations and challenges now, read this news item for more information.