Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds Approaching 65 July 2012
2 Approaching 65 You will soon be turning 65, so we are sending you this brochure to provide you with information about some possible changes. AOW benefit As of 1 January 2013 the age for AOW is determined as 65 years and 1 month. From this age you will qualify for a State Pension under the General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW), the State retirement pension. For every year that you were insured, you will have accrued 2 per cent of the AOW benefit. You will be entitled to full AOW benefit if you were covered from the age of 15 until your 65th birthday. You were insured for the period you resided in the Netherlands. In most cases, you will not have been insured during any periods of residence outside the Netherlands. Your AOW benefit will commence 1 month after your 65th birthday. Single persons are entitled to 70 per cent of the AOW benefit received by married persons. If you have a partner, you and your partner each receive 50 per cent of the AOW benefit for married persons from the age you become entitled to AOW. The Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verzekeringsbank, SVB) is responsible for the AOW benefit payments. If you were born in1949, or before, and you have a younger partner, you may be eligible for a supplementary AOW benefit until your partner himself/herself becomes entitled to AOW. The level of this supplement depends, on factors such as your partner s income. NOTE: The scheme under which this supplement is granted will be discontinued as of 1 January 2015. If you were born in, or after 1950, you will no longer receive a supplement for a younger partner when you become entitled to AOW. Your partner will receive his/her own AOW benefit on becoming entitled to AOW. Possible consequences for your Shell retirement pension Temporary pension The temporary pension may no longer be payable from the month in which you reach age 65 according to the pension regulations applicable to you. So if you are receiving a temporary pension, payment will end from the first day of the month in which you become entitled to AOW. Your lifelong pension does not change when you reach the age of 65. Temporary BPFK pension If you have worked for Shell Tankers and receive a temporary pension from the Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Koopvaardij (BPFK), this will be deducted from your Shell pension. The temporary BPFK pension and the deduction will end when you turn 65. WAO/WIA benefit If you are receiving a WAO or WIA benefit, this will end when you become entitled to AOW. From the first day of the month in which you turn 65, the deduction from your Shell pension ceases. If you are receiving a disability pension, this will be converted into a retirement pension from the first day of the month following your 65th birthday. Unmarried person s supplement If you are unmarried and left Shell service before 1 July 1996, you may be entitled to receive an unmarried person s supplement with your Shell pension from the first day of the month in which you turn 65.
3 Compensation for uninsured years If you worked abroad for Shell before 1 January 2006, you may be eligible for compensation for uninsured years. This compensation is paid together with your Shell pension from the first day of the month in which you turn 65. Foreign state pension If you have worked abroad during your Shell career, you may have been obliged to participate in one or more mandatory foreign state pension schemes. In certain countries, the contributions you made to these schemes were deducted from the contributions made to the Shell Pension Fund. That is why the state pensions from these countries will be deducted from your Shell pension. These are state pensions that you have accrued while working for Shell in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France or Switzerland. You can submit an application for a foreign state pension (with exception of a British State Pension) to the SVB. You also apply to the SVB for AOW benefit. As and when payment of a foreign state pension commences, you are required to notify the Pension Fund, once only, of the amount that you receive. The Pension Fund then deducts this from your Shell pension. If you fail to notify the Pension Fund, it will deduct a compensation for uninsured years from your pension. Such a deduction would then apply to the compensation you accrued during the period that you also accrued entitlements to the state pension in question. We would advise you to submit your application for a foreign state pension as soon as possible. If you are entitled to a state pension in the United Kingdom, you may also submit an application for your partner from that moment. This is conditional upon your partner also having reached the official retirement date for a state pension in the United Kingdom at the time of your application. The Pension Fund may be able to assist you when determining your period of service abroad. AOW benefit application If you are a resident of the Netherlands Some time before you become entitled to AOW, you will receive an application form from your local SVB office. You are required to complete and return the form to the SVB no later than 3 months before you become entitled to AOW. If you are not a resident of the Netherlands If you live abroad, you are required to request your own application form from the SVB as soon as possible. SVB contact information HEAD OFFICE / INSURANCE OFFICE +31 (0)20 656 56 56 (Head Office) +31 (0)20 656 53 52 (Insurance) Van Heuven Goedhartlaan 1 1181 K J Amstelveen, the Netherlands Internet: www.svb.nl
4 Taxation When you become entitled to AOW, the SVB factors your wage levy rebate (loonheffingskorting) into your AOW benefit payments. The wage levy rebate comprises general tax rebate (algemene heffingskorting), senior citizens rebate (ouderenkorting) and single senior citizens rebate (alleenstaande ouderenkorting), if applicable. Wage levy rebate may be factored in by one benefits agency only. If you wish the Pension Fund to apply the wage levy rebate, you must obtain and complete a wage tax declaration from the Pension Fund. You must then notify the SVB that they are not required to apply any wage levy rebate to your AOW benefit. If you wish that no wage level rebate is applied to any income element at all, including your AOW benefit, you must notify the SVB of this yourself. If you receive rebates from more than one benefits agency, you may be required to pay additional income tax/social security contributions after submitting your tax return. If you have specific questions regarding your personal tax situation, we would advise you to seek the advice of a tax consultant. Possible pension entitlements from another employer In the Netherlands, the Pension Register Foundation collects your pension entitlements from the Social Insurance Bank and from the pension scheme administrators. If you are unsure whether you have accrued any other pension entitlements with a previous employer visit www.mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl, the (Dutch only) site of the Pension Register ( Pensioenregister ), where you can find all pension entitlements that you have accrued with different pension administrators within the Netherlands, in one simple overview. To safeguard your privacy, you can only login via 'DigiD'. You need to be registered in the Netherlands to obtain access to DigiD from the Dutch government. The Pension Register does not have any commercial motives. Points of particular interest The key points summarised: Your temporary Shell pension will end from the first day of the month in which you turn 65. You will receive AOW from the day you become entitled to AOW, and the tax and social security levies will be lower. You can find more information about AOW and payment dates on: www.svb.nl. If you are unmarried and left Shell service before 1 July 1996, you may be entitled to receive an unmarried person s supplement with your Shell pension. In the case of foreign Shell service before 1 January 2006, you will receive compensation for uninsured years. Any foreign state pension is deducted from your Shell pension. The Shell pension does not take wage levy rebate into account. You are automatically placed in category 0. If you wish to change this, you are required to complete a model opgaaf gegevens voor de loonheffingen (wage tax declaration) and return it to us.
5 Your retirement pension when becoming entitled to AOW, from gross to net The following is an overview of the current percentages and amounts applicable for withholdings from your pension from the month in which you reached the age of 65. Withholding percentages (wage tax and national insurance contributions) as of 1st January 2012 Tax bracket Portion of pension income Percentage when becoming entitled to AOW 1st up to and including 18,944 15.20 % 2nd from 18,945 up to and including 33,862 24.05 % 3rd from 33,863 up to and including 56,490 42.00 % 4th from 56,491 52.00 % The percentages and amounts indicated in the table above have been factored into the green tables (groene heffingstabellen) as applied by the Pension Fund Tax credits Wage levy rebate 934 Senior citizens rebate 762 Senior citizens rebate is only applied if the income does not exceed 35,450 Single senior citizens rebate 429 This single senior citizens rebate applies only to an AOW benefit for a single person or a single parent. The single senior citizens rebate is applied only if your income does not exceed 35,450 Income-dependent healthcare insurance contribution According to the Dutch Healthcare Insurance Act you are required to pay a government contribution, besides paying premiums to your health insurer. This depends on the level of your pension income and is automatically withheld from your pension benefit. The income-dependent contribution for 2012 is 5% up to a maximum amount of 2,503. You pay this premium over a maximum pension income of 50,064. The SVB will withhold 7.1% in income-dependent contributions from your AOW benefit. The maximum contribution for 2012 is 3,554.
6 Amounts 1) of full AOW benefit as of 1st July 2012 gross monthly Gross monthly holiday benefit allowance 2) Single person 1,051.98 59.16 Single-parent family 1,334.83 76.06 Married or cohabiting person 722.74 42.25 (partner also AOW-entitled) Married or cohabiting person with 1,445.48 3) 84.50 3) full AOW supplement (partner not yet AOW-entitled) Married or cohabiting person 722.74 42.25 without AOW supplement (partner not yet AOW-entitled) Maximum supplement 722.74 42.25 1) The amounts are exclusive of the AOW beneficiaries allowance of 33.65 per month. 2) The holiday allowance is paid annually in arrears in May. 3) For household with a total income from 2,530.98 per month, the gross monthly benefit including the full supplement is 1,373.21. The gross monthly holiday allowance is 80.28.
7 Further information If you have any questions about anything mentioned in this brochure or you need further information on a certain subject, please contact the Pension Fund. The contact information is given below: TELEPHONE +31 (0)70 31 99 388 FAX +31 (0)70 31 99 365 POSTAL ADDRESS Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds (Shell Pension Fund Foundation) PO Box 65 2501 CB the Hague VISITING ADDRESS Hoogvoorde Building Bogaardplein 41 2284 DP Rijswijk E-MAIL pensioenfonds@shell.com INTERNET www.shell.nl/pensioenfonds-en Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds (Shell Pension Fund Foundation) has its registered office at Carel van Bylandtlaan 30, 2569 HR the Hague; has its business address at Bogaardplein 41, 2284 DP Rijswijk ZH and is registered with the Chamber of Commerce Haaglanden under number 41151226. July 2012