According to research from governmental platform Money Wise, almost three-quarters of the working population say that they do not plan on working until they reach the official retirement age.

Taking early retirement in the Netherlands

The research carried out by Money Wise consisted of a survey, which was completed by around 1.000 people. For many, the retirement age in the Netherlands is too high, with 72 percent of respondents indicating that they do not plan on working until they reach the official retirement age, which is gradually increasing to 67 years old.

Despite the majority iterating that they do not plan on working until the official retirement age, 57 percent wanting to go into early retirement expects that he or she will nonetheless have to work until the official retirement age.

Moreover, half of the respondents have not taken any measures in order to be able to go into retirement early. Measures that one could take to ensure early retirement is feasible financially, could be accruing savings or making extra repayments on your mortgage.

Not all want to retire early or on time

On average, respondents wished to retire at the age of 61. Currently, the average age for one to retire in the Netherlands is 64 years old. Official retirement age was 61 around 18 years ago. However, by phasing out tax-breaks on early retirement schemes, the government began encouraging people to work for longer.

Surprisingly, not all of those surveyed wanted to stop working at retirement age. In fact, one in five wanted to continue working for, on average, almost five years. Driving factors for such a decision are job satisfaction and the wish to stay active.