AOW Age: When Does Your Dutch State Pension Start?

Ask a room of people in the Netherlands when the AOW starts and you will hear 65, 66, 67 and "it keeps changing". Each answer has been true for someone. Your AOW age depends on your date of birth, and for anyone born from 1961 onwards it is already later than 67. 💚

This guide shows how to find your exact AOW age, why it moves, what happens on the day you reach it, and what to plan for if you stop working before then.

1. Your AOW age depends on when you were born

The Dutch State Pension, the AOW, starts when you reach your AOW pension age. There is no single age for everyone. The SVB, which pays the AOW, publishes the ages that are already fixed:

• Born 1 June 1956 to 28 February 1957: 66 years and 10 months
• Born 1 March 1957 to 31 December 1960: 67 years
• Born 1 January 1961 to 30 September 1964: 67 years and 3 months

By calendar year, that means the AOW age is 67 in 2026 and 2027, and 67 years and 3 months from 2028 through to at least 2031.

Simple action: Enter your date of birth in the AOW age calculator on the SVB website. It gives you your exact AOW date in a few seconds.

2. Why it keeps moving

The AOW age is linked to life expectancy. Each year the government uses figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) to set the AOW age for the year five years ahead. Once an age has been set, it cannot be changed, so nobody gets less than five years' notice.

When people live longer on average, the AOW age rises in steps of 3 months.

For anyone born on or after 1 October 1964, the SVB shows expected ages rather than final ones. On current estimates:

• Born 1 October 1964 to 30 September 1966: 67 years and 3 months
• Born 1 October 1966 to 30 June 1970: 67 years and 6 months
• Born 1 July 1970 to 31 March 1973: 67 years and 9 months
• Born 1 April 1973 to 31 December 1975: 68 years

💡 Tip: If you were born after September 1964, treat your expected AOW age as a planning figure, not a promise. The estimates are reviewed every December, so check the SVB calculator once a year rather than relying on a number you looked up a while ago.

3. What happens when you reach it

If you live in the Netherlands, the SVB writes to you about 4 months before your AOW age to explain how to claim. You cannot submit your claim before that letter arrives, so there is nothing to chase early. You will need your DigiD to claim online.

If you live outside the Netherlands, you claim through the pension organisation in the country where you live, or the last country where you were insured for a state pension.

Two things are fixed:

• You cannot take the AOW early
• You cannot postpone it to get a higher amount

Payments arrive on or around the 23rd of each month, with a holiday allowance paid each May.

If you are employed, check your contract. According to the SVB, most employment contracts end automatically when you reach your AOW age, and your employer may offer a new contract if you want to carry on.

4. How much you will get

The AOW builds up over the 50 years before your AOW age. Each year you are insured, which usually means living or working in the Netherlands, gives you 2% of the full pension.

From 1 July 2026, the full gross AOW is:

• €1,662.16 a month if you live alone
• €1,139.39 a month each if you are married or live with another adult

Both come with a holiday allowance on top, and the rates are updated every January and July.

Example: Anna was born in 1962, so her AOW age is 67 years and 3 months. Her 50-year build-up period started when she was 17 years and 3 months old. She moved to the Netherlands at 30 and has lived there since, which gives her about 37 years of insurance, or roughly 74% of the full pension. Living alone, that is around €1,238 a month gross at today's rate.

5. Working on, or stopping early

If you keep working after your AOW age, your AOW does not change. You receive the same amount either way, and your wages no longer have AOW contributions taken from them.

💡 Tip: Once you have both a wage and an AOW, the payroll tax credit (loonheffingskorting) can only be applied to one of them. Tell your employer or the SVB which one should use it. If both apply it, you will face a tax bill later.

If you stop working before your AOW age, the SVB is clear that you are responsible for your own income until the AOW starts. Unemployment and incapacity benefits run until your AOW age if you still qualify, but there is no state payment designed to cover early retirement. That gap is where most planning goes wrong, and it is growing as the AOW age rises.

Your AOW date is one of the few fixed points in retirement planning, and it is worth knowing it to the month. Once you have it, everything else, from when to stop working to how long your savings need to last, becomes much easier to work out. 💛

Check your exact date with the SVB AOW age calculator, then log in to My SVB to see how much AOW you have built up so far.

For how the AOW works in full, our guide to the Dutch AOW pension covers the basics. If you plan to stop before your AOW age, our guide to the AOW bridge explains how to fund the gap, and if gaps in your record leave you with a low pension, our guide to AIO covers the top-up. Your income usually drops when the AOW starts, so it is worth checking whether you qualify for zorgtoeslag. You will need DigiD to claim. If you are in Ireland rather than the Netherlands, our guide to working and claiming the State Pension in Ireland covers the rules there. Browse more Una guides for plain English help with money in later life.