PME pensioners will on average receive an additional €50 a month in 2023
As of January 2023, PME Pensioenfonds will index the pensions of all participants by 6.2%. This comes on top of the previous 1.29% indexation in July 2022. The 27.98% contribution and the 1.815% pension accrual will remain the same for 2023. Thanks to the increase, our pensioners will on average receive €40 more every month. Added to the previous indexation, this totals approximately €50.
Eric Uijen, chairman of the executive board of PME:
"Energy bills skyrocketed last year and we also had to pay much more for our groceries. People are getting less value for money. Fortunately, PME was in a position to increase pensions, for the first time in fourteen years. In July 2022 by 1.29% and now by another 6.2%. This is not enough to compensate the price increase as a whole. But it does mean that, from January this year, the average participant will receive about €50 more pension per month than a year ago.”
To increase pensions, PME is leveraging the relaxed rules in the run-up to the new pension system. Unfortunately, PME cannot provide full indexation based on inflation figures. For the reference period July 2021 – July 2022, this would amount to 12.4%. In view of the very uncertain economic times and the expectation that the fund will switch to the new system in 2026, PME wants to maintain a buffer. That way, the fund reduces the risk of having to lower pensions again as we move towards the new system.
Eric Uijen, “Without the introduction of the Future of Pensions Act (Wtp) and the accompanying relaxed regulations, we would not have been allowed to index pensions in the current system. It's a good thing that Parliament is taking the time for careful decision-making. But delays cause great uncertainty for participants, pensioners, the funds and the administrators. Whether you are in favour or against it: the longer it takes, the greater the frustration. We simply have to update our pension system.”
PME has over 170,000 pensioners, who will all see an increase in their pension from January 2023. From February, active participants who are still accruing pension - of which there are another 170,000 - and deferred members (270,000) can see in the participant portal that the pension they have accumulated has been increased by 6.2%.