Vervanging rekenrente vereist uniforme rekenregels

In the new pension system in the Netherlands- according to the July 2020 agreement between social partners and the government - the “risk-free” interest rate to calculate the degree of coverage of paying future pension benefits, has been replaced by various alternatives of a so-called projected rate of return. There is a relationship with the “achievable” investment return which we have advocated as replacing the “risk-free” interest rate in a previous article. The result of now defining several alternative projection rates is that the pension funds must apply various calculation rules that determine pension contributions, the distribution of investment returns and of pension benefits. It is recommended that these calculation rules be established in a uniform manner and not to be left to the discretionary powers of the funds, politicians or monetary authorities, as the calculation rules determine the distribution of assets and investment income between the participants. Moreover, differentiation of investments rules according to risks on returns for the young and the elderly is not desirable