The new SSPF pension rules explained

The pension that you have already built up will be converted to the new scheme. This will then become part of your personal pension pot. The pension you have already built up for your partner and children will also be transferred to the new scheme.

As soon as you retire, you will receive a pension for as long as you live. In the event of your death, a pension is also arranged for your partner and children.

Just like now, we will also invest your pension in the new scheme. However, how investing for your pension works will change. Currently, we invest the same way for everyone. In the future, we will invest more individually. You will be able to choose for yourself how much risk we take with the investments for you. Read more about this under ‘What changes’.

If you become (partially) incapacitated for work, you will continue to build up your pension.
If you are completely or partially unable to work because you have become disabled, the pension fund pays (part of) the contribution for you every month. The pension fund pays the employer's contribution and your fixed contribution of 2%.

Good to know: You receive a premium waiver for the employer's contribution of 21% and your fixed contribution of 2%. The flexible contribution you choose for the part you work will not be included here. Read more about the new flexible contribution under ‘What changes’.

The disability pension is arranged via the employer as of 1 January 2026.
The disability pension is now a supplement to Shell Netherlands' existing sickness and reintegration policy and is no longer part of the SSPF pension scheme. Want to know more? Check HR Online.

You will build up a personal pension pot. You and Shell will pay monthly contributions into it. Your pension pot will grow through these contributions. This is invested by SSPF. Your pension pot can also grow if investments perform well, but it can also decrease if investments perform poorly. Other factors also influence the development of your pension pot. The value of your pension pot can change depending on the results achieved. Therefore, the amount you eventually receive per month when you retire is not fixed.

The pension you have already accrued in the current scheme will also be transferred to the new scheme. This will be deposited into your personal pension pot at the start of the scheme.

Until the moment you retire, you decide how we invest for you. You have a choice of three risk profiles.

In the new scheme, we invest based on age. If you are young, we take more risk so your pension pot can grow as much as possible. As you get older, we gradually reduce this risk so your built-up pension is better protected.

Shell contributes 21% in the new scheme. You also contribute to your pension. Your contribution consists of a fixed contribution of 2% and a flexible contribution, which is set at 5% by default. You can choose how much you want to contribute with your flexible contribution: from a minimum of 0% to a maximum of 7%. If you do not make a choice, your flexible contribution remains at 5%.

We can invest your capital according to 3 profiles. On my-Shellpension, you will soon be able to determine in a few steps which profile best suits your personal risk preference and financial situation.

You will receive a personal pension pot. Shell contributes 21% and you continue to contribute to your pension yourself. This is a change from how it was before. As a result, you may build up less pension than in the old scheme. If this is disadvantageous for you, you will receive compensation.

How does the compensation work?
The amount of compensation you receive is determined per year of birth. You will receive the compensation for a maximum of 10 years, as long as you work at Shell. The compensation is added to your pension pot.

See what this means for you.

This is what is arranged for your partner.

Your partner receives a lifelong partner's pension if you die while you are in service. Your partner then receives:

• the partner's pension that you have accrued in the current scheme. This is transferred to the new scheme.
• the insured partner's pension from the new scheme. This is 20% of the salary that counts towards your pension accrual.
• an insured temporary partner's pension. Your partner receives this benefit just like now until your partner's State Pension (AOW) age.

After it starts, your partner receives these different forms of partner's pension as a variable benefit.

Leaving service? You can extend the insurance for the (temporary) partner's pension.
Standardly, you are still insured for 3 months if you leave service, or until you start a new job. If you receive unemployment benefits (WW) immediately after leaving service, the partner’s pension remains insured beyond these 3 months, for as long as you receive the benefit.

Have you not found a new job after 3 months and are you not receiving unemployment benefits immediately after leaving service?
You can then choose to voluntarily continue the partner’s pension insurance. The costs will be paid from your pension pot. If you pass away within 3 months after leaving Shell, or during the period of voluntary continuation, your partner will receive both the partner’s pension you accrued before 2027 and the partner’s pension insured under the new scheme. If you do not opt for voluntary continuation, your partner will only receive the partner’s pension accrue.

If you die when you are already retired? Then the choices you made when you retired apply.
If you choose a variable pension with SSPF on your retirement date, a variable partner's pension is purchased by default. Unless you make a different choice when retiring.

This is what is arranged for your child(ren).

Your children receive a variable orphan's pension if you die while in service. They receive:

• the orphan's pension you have built up in the current scheme. This is transferred to the new scheme.
• the insured orphan's pension from the new scheme. The orphan's pension is 8% per child. Upon the death of both parents, this is double the amount.

After it starts, your children receive the total pension in the form of a variable benefit.

Leaving service and dying afterwards? Your child receives an orphan's pension.
Your child will then in any case receive the orphan's pension that you have already accrued in the current scheme. This is transferred to the new scheme.

Want to know more about what is changing for your children's pension?

In the year you turn 58, you make a provisional choice for a fixed or variable pension. Are you 58 or older at the transition to the new scheme? Then you will receive a message in 2027 to make this provisional choice.

A variable pension is continuously invested with the goal of letting your pension increase in the long term.
Every year, your benefit is adjusted to the results achieved. That result consists of, among other things, the result on investments and interest rates. But the development of life expectancy also plays a role. You can benefit from positive investment results. But if investments fall, you will also be affected. The results achieved are spread. In this way, we prevent large fluctuations in the amount of your pension.

Do you choose a variable pension? Then we convert a piece of capital into pension every year.
With a variable pension, we gradually convert your capital into pension starting from your choice moment. Because we do that in a spread-out manner, you are not dependent on, for example, a single moment. In this way, we limit the risk for you.

Do you choose a fixed pension? Then we continue to invest your personal pension pot until your retirement date according to the profile you have chosen.
On your retirement date, you transfer your personal pension pot to an insurer of your choice to purchase a fixed pension. A fixed benefit generally remains the same in amount.

Read more about choosing between a fixed or a variable pension.

Because there are different legal rules, SSPF needs to maintain fewer buffers. Therefore, at the transition to the new scheme, the buffer will be distributed once among all participants. The part you receive will be added to your pension pot after the transition. Exactly how much this is, we can only say after the transition to the new scheme. You will of course receive more information about this then.

What are buffers?
Buffers are monetary reserves that SSPF was legally required to maintain in the old scheme. At the transition to the new pension, these buffers will be largely released. SSPF does not need to maintain such large buffers in the new scheme.

Read more about distribution of the buffer.

How are the buffers distributed?
The distribution happens in three steps:

1. Mandatory reserve
   A small part remains with SSPF. This is legally required to be able to pay for unexpected costs.
2. Reserves with a special purpose
   • Compensation reserve for participants working at Shell
     This reserve is intended for participants who are still building up pension at Shell. Due to the new rules, some participants will receive less employer contribution. This reserve ensures that participants who experience a disadvantage are compensated, over a period of up to 10 years.
   • Risk-sharing reserve for participants receiving pension from Shell
     This reserve is intended to prevent pensions from being unexpectedly reduced in the first 15 years after the transition to the new scheme.
3. Distribution among all participants
   The part of the buffer that is left over after that will be completely distributed among all participants. Everyone will receive a one-off additional amount on top of their existing pension capital.

Your pension date affects the share of the buffer you will receive. You can read more about this here.

From 1 January 2027, some choices will change.

You cannot start your pension earlier than 10 years before the statutory AOW age that applies at that time.
Every year, the cabinet determines whether the AOW age must increase. They look at the increased life expectancy of the Dutch population. This is announced 5 years in advance. The AOW age is currently 67, but will increase to 67 years and three months in 2028.

Because the AOW age may increase further in the future, the new scheme stipulates that you can apply for your pension from 10 years before the AOW age applicable at that time. You can check your AOW age on svb.nl.

The choice for a high-low pension becomes a variable decreasing pension.
The new scheme no longer includes a high-low or low-high pension. The choices ‘variable-increasing’ and ‘variable-decreasing’ will replace these options.

If you retire before 1 January 2027, you can choose to receive a higher or lower pension first. Do you want to start with a higher amount? Then you choose high-low. You then first receive a higher amount for a maximum of ten years, which then becomes lower. Would you rather start with a lower amount? Then you choose low-high.

If you retire on or after 1 January 2027 and choose a variable pension, your benefit will be variable. You can choose a variable benefit that, in addition to the annual variable adjustment, increases or decreases each year by a fixed percentage. This is called ‘variable increasing’ or ‘variable decreasing’. You do not determine the percentage yourself; the board sets this.

Are you about to take (part-time) retirement now? Then it is wise to consider what these changes mean for you.
Shell Pension works together with Prikkl, an independent financial advisor, and offers you the possibility of a personal consultation with an advisor. In this conversation, you will gain insight into your situation and discuss which choices suit you best. This service is fully reimbursed by Shell Pension.

Want to know more or make an appointment? Read more here.