When your parents retire, you should look into your own pension

Gilian (34) has been working at Movir as a marketeer for three years now. Movir is the leading occupational disability insurance company for independent medical and business professionals and entrepreneurs. Gilian was previously employed by an advertising agency, where Movir was one of her clients. "At the time, I already thought ‘I like that company’." Now she's working there herself, in a job focusing on client retention. "We are improving the customer experience, by reaching out to clients more frequently, for example. That means we do more than just fulfil our legal communication requirements like handing out insurance policies and our terms & conditions. We also focus on prevention, including prevention of occupational disability."

Getting married and buying a house
When we started talking about pension, Gilian said she had looked into her pension situation a little. "That’s because pension isn't organised very well in the advertising industry. I wasn’t building up much pension. It wasn't until I switched to NN that I felt my pension was moving in the right direction. When we bought a house, we checked out what would happen if one of use would no longer be there. Fortunately, NN provides partner pension. When we got married, I didn’t need to worry about any of that. We had already made all the necessary arrangements when we moved in together.

And in the future? I’ll look into my pension again if my personal situation changes, but I really should look into it every year."

Actions you should take
"I’m quite relaxed when it comes to my pension planning, but I’m also aware that I didn’t build up much pension for several years. I should check whether it would be beneficial to combine my pension pots. I received a form about value transfer, which is how I can merge my different pension pots, but I haven't actually taken any action yet. And there are several other things I know I should do."

From insight to action
When asked what it would take for Gilian to turn her passiveness into action she laughed. "That's what I’m wondering too. Perhaps if someone called me and helped me run through the documents I’d do it. Then all I’d need to do is sign at the bottom, but I know it doesn't work that way. I’ve checked the government's website www.mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl. All I thought was, ‘Okay, that's more or less how much pension I’ll be getting,’ but then I didn’t do anything about it."

A new ‘life event’
"All in all, you could say I check my pension now and then, but don’t take any action. My parents started their retirement not so long ago, and that really was a trigger for me. They're talking about pension cuts and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic while I was under the impression they have a good pension. So seeing as how even they’re talking about these things, I really should look into my pension. That's what I would advise people my age. Check your own pension situation when your parents or other people in your surroundings retire. It gives us another ‘life event’!"