AOW gap after living abroad: voluntary insurance or saving yourself?

Every year you live abroad without being insured costs you 2% of your Dutch state pension (AOW). You build up 2% for each insured year in the 50 years before your AOW age. In 2026 one missing year costs a single person €33.24 gross a month, or about €424 a year including holiday allowance, for life.

If you are about to move abroad or have just left, you can prevent that gap with voluntary insurance through the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB). That option closes one year after you leave and covers ten years at most.

How much AOW do you lose for each year abroad?

You lose 2% of the full AOW for every year in which you were not insured, according to the Rijksoverheid. The 50-year window ends at your AOW age, so with an AOW age of 67 it starts at 17. Moving abroad usually ends your insurance, but you often stay insured if you keep working and paying tax and premiums in the Netherlands.

The full gross AOW was €1,637.57 a month for a single person and €1,122.12 per person for married or cohabiting people from 1 January 2026. From 1 July 2026 it is €1,662.16 and €1,139.39. Two percent of the July amount is €33.24 a month for a single person and €22.79 per partner, or about €424 and €291 a year including the holiday allowance paid in May. Over 20 years of retirement a single person loses €8,481 in today's money per missing year, and five uninsured years cost about €2,120 gross a year. Our article on how much state pension you will get covers net amounts, while your state pension age sets where your window starts.

How does voluntary AOW insurance work in 2026?

Voluntary insurance lets you keep building up AOW while you live or work outside the Netherlands, and you arrange it with the SVB. According to Nederland Wereldwijd, the government's service for Dutch people abroad, you apply before you leave or within one year after leaving. You must also have been insured for at least one year and be below your AOW age. The insurance lasts ten years at most, also for your partner or children. Longer is possible in specific cases, for example if you work for the Dutch government or an organisation such as the UN or NATO.

The premium is a percentage of your total income, including income from abroad, and the government sets it every year. In 2026 the AOW premium is 17.9% of the income that counts for the insurance, according to the SVB. It has a minimum of €569 and a maximum of €5,693 a year, and the maximum applies from an income of €38,883. That maximum is lower than 17.9% of €38,883 because the AOW share of the general tax credit (algemene heffingskorting) is deducted, as with any national insurance premium. Insurance for the survivor's benefit (Anw) costs 0.1%, with a minimum of €3 and a maximum of €31, and you can insure for AOW, Anw or both.

Once the deadline has passed, the gap is usually permanent. The SVB's buy-in scheme (inkoop) is meant for people who first came to live or work in the Netherlands within the 50 years before their AOW age. They must apply within ten years of arriving and have been insured for five years, so Dutch people who left and later returned cannot normally use it.

What does a year of voluntary insurance buy?

Each insured year buys the same 2% of AOW while the premium depends on your income, so the deal is far better at a low income than at a high one. The table compares the 2026 AOW premium, without the Anw part, with the extra gross AOW it buys at July 2026 amounts including holiday allowance.

At the maximum premium a single person needs more than 13 years of AOW to recover the premium, before any return or tax. With a partner it takes nearly 20 years, because the married rate per person is lower while the premium stays the same.

Do you need it if you work in an EU or treaty country?

Often you do not, because in many countries you build up a local state pension instead of AOW, as Nederland Wereldwijd points out. Within the EU, each country where you were insured pays its own part of your state pension, according to the European Commission's Your Europe portal. Some countries pay nothing for short periods, but those periods still count in the countries where you worked longer.

That does not make the gap disappear automatically, because a foreign pension for ten years of work can be higher or lower than the 20% of AOW you miss. Outside the EU the agreements differ per country. Before you decide, ask the SVB where you will be insured and compare the foreign pension with the AOW you give up.

Voluntary insurance or saving yourself: a worked example

For a single person at the maximum premium, money invested at a real return of about 1.2% a year pays the same income as the voluntary AOW for 20 years, from 67 to 87. Take Emma, who is 37 and single, moves outside Europe for ten years and earns more than €38,883 a year. Ten years of insurance cost her €56,930 and add 20% to her AOW, worth €4,241 gross a year from 67 at 2026 levels.

We compare both options in today's money and assume the premium and the AOW rise with wages. If Emma invests €5,693 a year for ten years instead, she has €56,930 at 67 with a real return of 0%, €73,403 at 1% and €94,482 at 2%. Withdrawing €4,241 a year, the pot lasts 13, 18 and 28 years respectively, while the voluntary AOW would keep paying.

This flatters the pot, since it ignores box 3 tax, fund costs and the risk that returns disappoint, while the AOW is taxed in box 1. The AOW pays for life and is adjusted every six months, so living to 95 costs you nothing extra, whereas with a pot you carry that longevity risk yourself. A pot does give you flexibility and can pass to your heirs. At the minimum premium voluntary insurance is hard to beat, and our article on the three pension pillars shows how AOW, workplace pension and your own savings fit together.

How Gylder fits in

Gylder (gylder.nl) is a net worth tracker, not a pension calculator, and it has no connection with the SVB or your AOW. If you save the premium yourself, you can tag the accounts that hold it, for example as "FIRE pot", and follow them in a saved view next to your other assets. A goal with a target amount and date then shows, based on your own history, whether you are on track to replace your missing AOW years.

What this doesn't tell you

The figures use full gross rates and a premium that stays constant in real terms, while your own premium depends on the income the SVB counts. Where your AOW is taxed while you live abroad depends on tax treaties, and the amount you receive also depends on your country of residence. Check your accrual in Mijn SVB and ask the SVB before you leave which country insures you. This article is general information, not financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

How much AOW do I lose for each year I lived abroad? You lose 2% of the full AOW for each uninsured year in the 50 years before your AOW age. From 1 July 2026 that is €33.24 gross a month for a single person and €22.79 per person for married or cohabiting people.

What are the AOW amounts in 2026 for single and married people? From 1 July 2026 the full AOW is €1,662.16 gross a month for a single person and €1,139.39 per person for couples, up from €1,637.57 and €1,122.12 on 1 January 2026. The net amount is lower and depends mainly on whether the SVB applies the payroll tax credit (loonheffingskorting) to your AOW.

Can I buy back AOW years after returning to the Netherlands? In most cases you cannot, because voluntary insurance must be requested within one year after leaving. The SVB's buy-in scheme is meant for people who came to the Netherlands for the first time within the 50 years before their AOW age.

Does a foreign state pension replace the AOW I miss? Within the EU each country where you were insured pays its own part of your state pension, so working elsewhere usually builds up a foreign pension instead of AOW. Whether it matches the AOW you miss depends on the country and your income there.