Netherlands pension scheme is world?s best

For expat professionals looking for permanence in the Netherlands, the Dutch pension system is now the world’s best.

Mercers Global Pension Index’s recent report showed the Netherlands’ pension scheme was back at the top of the list after last year’s second-best placing. The index rates pension schemes in no less than 34 countries, measuring them by considering their sustainability, integrity and adequacy. The information comes in through 40 sub-categories, all separately weighted, with adequacy accounting for 40 per cent of the full score, integrity at 25 per cent and sustainability at 35 per cent.

The adequacy index includes benefits, tax support, growth assets, system design, savings and home ownership, whilst sustainability is based on a number of indicators including government debt, contributions, total assets, pension coverage and economic growth. Integrity is measured using indicators such as protection, regulation, costs, governance and communication.

This year, the Netherlands was again at the top of the list, a position which it first held seven years ago, after scoring an average of 80.3 out of 100 points. Denmark lost the crown by a very small margin at 80.2, scoring higher than the Netherlands on sustainability and adequacy but losing out to the Dutch score of 88.8 in the integrity index. Interestingly, this year’s survey’s first and second place holders achieved an A grade for their results but there were no B+ grades in the entire listings of 34 countries, thus pointing out the considerable gap between first-class pension systems and those used by the remainder of the countries surveyed.