Voluntary insurance
If you start living or working in the Netherlands
If you start living or working in the Netherlands after your 15th birthday, you will not be able to build up rights to a full AOW pension. As a result, you will get a reduced pension when you are 65. A full pension is only payable to people who have been continuously insured between their 15th and 65th birthdays.
However, you can still get a full AOW pension by taking out voluntary insurance retroactively for the period between your 15th birthday and the date on which you came to live or work in the Netherlands. (This is not possible for Anw insurance).
If you had a residence permit when first staying in the Netherlands, you may not have become insured under the AOW scheme straightaway. We will find out for you when your insurance started.
A higher AOW pension thanks to retroactive contributions
If you start living or working in the Netherlands for the first time, you can apply to pay AOW contributions retroactively if you:
- are between 15 and 65 years old, and
- have not yet been living or working in the Netherlands for more than five years
You can also take out voluntary AOW insurance retroactively if you left the Netherlands before your 15th birthday and return after your 15th birthday.
Paying contributions retroactively for your children
If you return to the Netherlands with your family, you can also pay AOW contributions retroactively for your children, provided they:
- left the Netherlands before their 15th birthday and return after their 15th birthday, or
- were born after you left the Netherlands and come to the Netherlands after their 15th birthday
- first come to the Netherlands after the age of 15 on a temporary basis and start working here. (Holiday jobs included).