Self-employed people decide for themselves whether and how to accrue pension and insure themselves against incapacity for work. The Association believes it is important that they can make an informed choice based on objective information about possibilities and costs.
Over the past decade, the number of self-employed without personnel (zzp'ers) has grown by almost fifty percent, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The Netherlands now has about 800,000 self-employed people who earn their main income as self-employed. They are responsible for their own pension accrual and bridging loss of income due to illness or disability.
Self-employed people who are unable or unwilling to bear these risks themselves can take out disability insurance with a private insurer and build up a pension. Not all self-employed people do this. The Association estimates that more than half of the self-employed are not insured for incapacity for work. A similar group does not accrue pension as a supplement to the state pension.
The lack of pension accrual does not always have to be a problem. For example, some self-employed people have a large financial buffer, which means that it is not necessary to build up a supplementary pension. The need for disability insurance also depends on the personal situation of the entrepreneur. Nevertheless, some of the self-employed would be wise to take out insurance and build up a supplementary pension. For example, they are not yet doing so because they underestimate the risks or postpone arranging finances. Many self-employed people also think that the premiums are high. It is therefore important that self-employed people receive objective information about costs and possibilities.
Government, self-employed organisations and market parties must work together to inform self-employed people about the risks and opportunities to build up a pension. Insurers already offer self-employed people insight and overview of their various claims via the internet and financial advisers; In the long term, third-pillar products can be included in mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl in addition to second-pillar products.
The Association believes that self-employed people should be able to choose where they take out insurance and accrue pension. And that they should be able to turn to insurers for customisation. After all, there is no such thing as the self-employed. Self-employed people have different needs when it comes to covering the risk of disability and building up a supplementary pension.
A small group of self-employed people want to insure themselves against incapacity for work, but are unable to do so due to an increased risk profile. Their premium becomes too high or they are not accepted for medical reasons. The Association believes that every self-employed person who wants to do so should have access to a socially acceptable product.
The Dutch Association of Insurers has developed various initiatives to improve the provision of information and to ensure that all self-employed people can take out insurance.
Saving via a savings account in box 3 is less advantageous than saving via an annuity, because the premiums paid in box 3 are not tax deductible. Unfortunately, many self-employed people are not aware of these and other tax rules and options for saving for later. This ignorance has marked the starting point of the Income Task Force for the future.
The Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Money Wise, Stichting ZZP Nederland, the Dutch Association of Insurers and NIBUD are participating in the Taskforce. The aim of this structural collaboration is to stimulate the pension accrual of the self-employed and to allow self-employed persons to actually take steps towards building up an old-age provision. The Taskforce does this by proposing solutions in which simplicity and flexibility are central.
The Taskforce is there for and with freelancers. That is why she calls on self-employed people to come forward with ideas, solutions, but also with bottlenecks and things that are needed. Then the Taskforce can get to work on that! Sign up with r.kleuters@verzekeraars.nl
The Taskforce Income for the Future has periodic consultations on three overarching themes:
Self-employed people can take out disability insurance with an insurer. If they start their business as an employee or on benefits, they can also take out insurance with the UWV. Read more on verzekerenvoorzelfstandigen.nl.
Self-employed people can set aside money themselves. In doing so, they can make use of the Fiscal Old-Age Reserve (FOR), among other things. They can also save money in an annuity with a bank, insurer, or investment institution. If they started their business as an employee, in some cases they can voluntarily continue their pension scheme. Read more on verzekerenvoorzelfstandigen.nl.
Are you just hiring your first staff? Make sure you know about disability and liability.