“Substantial number of life years lost but impact on long-term life expectancy limited” This study sought to provide more clarity about the number of life years lost due to COVID-19 mortality and its effect on future life expectancy. That is difficult to measure because it depends on the still uncertain relation between Covid-19 mortality and other health problems. We therefore developed three scenarios: (1)…

“Exploring the risks and benefits of variable pension products to facilitate pension choices” Guaranteed pension products are increasingly unsustainable and so alternatives are being sought. Dutch defined contribution schemes allow investment risks to be taken during retirement. Such variable annuity products can yield a higher first pension payment compared to a fixed annuity product without equity exposure, but carry the risk of an uncertain…

“Long term unemployment should be taken into account for investment portfolio composition” The younger you are, the more risky your assets, is the generally accepted idea around pension investments. After all, young people can compensate risks with many years of work. But what if they can’t? Giovanna Nicodano (Collegio Carlo Alberto, Universita’ di Torino) et al. analyzed what it means when young people consider…

“Working on a reliable model to predict the impact of policy changes for different groups” How do households make life cycle decisions, what is the impact of different risks during the lifetime and how does this affect the way people respond to policy changes? All these factors come together in the economic life cycle model that Max Groneck (RUG) and others are working on….

“Differences in the use of nursing home care increase the wealth gap between older people with high and low socio-economic status.” Socio-economic differences between households have a major impact on life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and prosperity in later life. Inequalities in life expectancy and the need for long-term care result in a redistribution of wealth at a more advanced age: people with higher…

“Research on how patients make medical decisions can simplify and improve pension decisions” Pension participants have to make complex decisions based on information they struggle to understand: multiple alternatives that have positive and negative outcomes with differing likelihoods and that involve different values. Patients often face similarly complex treatment decisions. Much research has been done into how patients can best be supported in that…

“Buffer fund optimises risk sharing and mitigates downside risk” Many countries are reforming their pension systems to facilitate economic and demographic changes. New systems seek to mitigate risks by allocating surpluses to a buffer fund that smooths fluctuations in investment returns and between pension generations. This paper explores optimal risk sharing and assesses the welfare effects of the current Dutch pension proposal against theoretical…

How do people make financial decisions? How can we gain insight into what’s going on inside their heads? And what can we do with that knowledge? These questions are central to a new study being carried out by Thomas Post of Maastricht University. “Our research showed that, roughly speaking, people take one of two approaches to estimating the value of an annuity (such as…

As of February 1, 2021, Bastiaan Starink is Endowed Professor of Labor Market, Pensions and Taxation at Tilburg Law School. The remit of his chair concerns the reform of the collective second pillar of the pension system and the evolving labor market in the Netherlands. After many years of social debate and seeking consensus it appears likely that starting in 2022 the Dutch pension…

“Strengthening international cooperation had great added value”   Hazel Bateman has been associated with Netspar as a researcher for ten years. For the past five years, she contributed to the assessment of research proposals as a member of Netspar’s Scientific Council. This year, she was appointed chair: “The scientific council plays an important role in ensuring the academic quality and relevance of the research…