The pension plan of APS consists of several parts. Below you will find an overview of these parts. Please click on the links for more information.
Senior’s pension
Senior’s Pension
The senior’s pension is the life-long pension that you receive from age 65. In the 2020 pension reform, the retirement age was raised from 62 to 65. As compensation for the fact that the pension payments start three years later, all pension entitlements accrued until June 30, 2020, have been increased by 10%.
The senior’s pension is calculated based on your average salary over your entire career, the accrual percentage and the number of service years. In determing the senior’s pension it is also taken into account that you will receive AOV from the government.
Please click here to see how we calculate your pension.
AOV from the government
The AOV is something different than the senior’s pension that you receive from APS. The AOV is a social insurance for every inhabitant of Sint Maarten. The AOV benefit is paid by the Social & Health Insurances SZV. The pension that you receive from APS is the pension that you have accrued via your employer.
Average pay pension plan
APS has an average pay pension plan. This means that your pension is based on the average salary that you earn over your career. Each year, you accrue a part of your pension based on the pension base in that year. The combined parts of all the years of your career form your pension. Each year, the pension entitlements you have accrued until then, may be adjusted to the cost of living. This is called indexation. The indexation is only granted if the cover ratio (dekkingsgraad) of the pension fund is at least 105%.
Surrender
If your pension benefit is lower than Afl. 200 per month APS has the legal right to surrender your pension. In this case, you will receive your entire pension in a lump sum payment.
Have you accrued pension with APS for less than five years and are you going to emigrate outside the Kingdom of the Netherlands? In that case, you can – with permission of your husband/wife – apply for surrender of your pension yourself.
Possibility to choose early retirement
The standard retirement age after the pension reform is 65. However, you still choose to retire earlier if you wish. Your pension will be lower if you retire earlier. We will be pleased to give you information about the possibilities for early retirement and make a calculation of what your pension will be as of your desired retirement age.
How to apply for your pension
When you retire, you must apply for your old age pension three months before your retirement date. You can do this with the application form that you can download via the website. Please take note that you have to add several documents:
- A letter of resignation from your employer stating that you are retiring
- An extensive extract from the Population Register
- Salary overviews from the employer of the last three years
- A copy of your identification document.
After receipt of your application, you will be notified by APS about the further procedure.
Payment of your pension
Your pension is paid to you each month. This payment can only be made into a local bank account registered in your name. When you live in the Netherlands, you need to have an account with ING Bank for this.
You will receive a monthly pension slip from APS. In addition, you will receive an income tax card once a year.
Is there a change in your life?
If you live abroad, you must submit an ‘Attestatie de Vita’ (life certificate) to APS twice a year, in the months of June and December, to continue to receive your pension. You can apply for this document with the Population Register. You do not have to submit such a document if you live in Sint Maarten.
If you are going to move house of if there are changes in your personal situation such as a marriage or divorce, you need to inform APS.
Widow(er)’s pension
Widow(er)’s Pension
The widow(er)’s pension is a benefit for your husband/wife after you have passed away. The marriage must have been concluded before you reached the age of 65 or your retirement date. If you cohabited without being married, there is no widow(er)’s pension for your partner. Your partner receives the widow(er)’s pension from the moment of your death until his or her death.
When you die while you are still working with an employer affiliated with APS, your partner will receive a life-long widow(er)’s pension that is 70% of the senior’s pension that you would have accrued at the retirement age.
When you die when you are already retired or when you are no longer working with the government, your partner will receive a widow(er)’s pension that is 70% of the senior’s pension that you have accrued with APS.
What has been arranged for the children?
If you still have under-age children when you pass away, they are entitled to an orphan’s pension.
Are you divorced?
There is no widow(er)’s pension for ex-spouses. However, when you have divorced after 1 August 1990 and before June 30 2020, your ex-partner is entitled to a special partner’s pension after your death, which is 70% of the senior’s pension accrued until the moment of divorce. The widow(er)’s pension for you widow/widower will be reduced with the special partner’s pension for your ex-partner. For more information, see divorce.
Apply for widow(er)’s pension
When you pass away, it is important that your marriage partner reports this to APS as soon as possible. When applying for a widow(er)’s pension the following documents have to be submitted: a death certificate, a marriage certificate and a certificate of residence.
Payment of widow(er)’s pension
Your widow(er)’s pension will be paid to your partner each month. This payment can only be made into a local bank account registered in his/her name. If your partner lives in the Netherlands, he/she needs to have an account with ING Bank for this purpose.
Orphan’s Pension
Orphan’s Pension
The orphan’s pension is a benefit for your children if you pass away. The orphan’s pension is paid to children up to the age of 18 or 27 if they are still studying or are unable to provide for themselves due to illness or disability.
Children with whom you have a family relationship of for whom you have a maintenance obligation or the foster care are entitled to an orphan’s pension. For the orphan’s pension, a distinction is made between full and half orphan’s. For half orphans – if the surviving parent derives pension rights from your death – there is an orphan’s pension per child that is 14% of the senior’s pension. For full orphans – children who do not have a parent who derives pension rights from the death of the participant – there is an orphan’s pension per child that is 28% of the senior’s pension to be reached.
The level of the orphan’s pension also depends on the widow(er)’s pension for the widow/widower and the orphan’s pension in relation to your senior’s pension. The sum of the widow(er)’s pension and all orphan’s pensions can never be higher than your senior’s pension.
The orphan’s pension ends when a child marries or is no longer studying. Each year, a written statement has to be submitted that the child is following a study.
Apply for an orphan’s pension
When you pass away, it is important that your husband/wife or an adult guardian applies for the orphan’s pension with APS as soon as possible. In addition to the completed and signed application form, the following documents have to be submitted: a death certificate of the parent, a certificate of residence, a birth certificate of the orphans and for children older than 18 a document that proves that these children are following a study at an education institution recognized by the government.
Payment of the orphan’s pension
The orphan’s pension is paid each month. If a child is younger than 18, the orphan’s pension is paid to a parent or guardian. This payment can only be made into a local bank account. If the parent, the guardian or the adult child is living in the Netherlands, he/she needs to have an account with ING Bank for this purpose.
Disability pension
Disability Pension
The disability pension is a benefit that you receive when you become permanently incapacitated for work during your employment with the government. The board of APS takes the ultimate decision if you will receive a disability pension. This decision is taken based on a medical examination by a medical committee consisting of three members to be appointed by the board.
This committee assesses your medical situation and how it hampers your functioning. The experts examine if you will be able to resume your work or if you can possibly do other work. They look at the medical treatments that you are undergoing and give an advice to the board of APS upon completion of their examination.
Apply for a disability pension
You can apply for a disability pension yourself or your employer can do this on your behalf. An application form signed by you has to be sent together with a copy of your identification document and a medical statement of the company doctor that you are fully incapacitated for work.
After the application has been received, APS will inform you about the further procedure. You must also make an appointment to visit the committee of the medical experts.
Before APS can pay the disability pension, it needs to receive a decision to dismiss drawn up by the employer. The disability pension starts on the day on which the right to this pension arises. This must not be sooner than one year before the application for this pension was submitted. The disability pension is life-long. APS aims to achieve that the first payment of the disability pension directly follows the final salary payment by the employer.
Level of the disability pension
The level of the disability pension equals the amount of senior’s pension that you could have reached if you had continued to work until your retirement. Your disability pension is recalculated as of the retirement date in connection with the fact that you will then also receive AOV.
Payment of your disability pension
Your disability pension is paid to you each month. This payment can only be made into a local bank account registered in your name. If you live in the Netherlands, you need to have an account with ING Bank for this purpose.
Changes in the disability pension resulting from the 2020 pension reform
Re-examination of the diagnosed disability and (subsequent) ending of the disability pension will become possible, and the possibility of introducing partial disability, and subsequent partial pension, in the future, are included in the ordinance of the 2020 pension reform.
Temporary pension if a person goes missing
Temporary Pension
If the board is of the opinion that a participant of APS has gone missing, the persons who would derive pension rights from his death, are entitled to a temporary pension. This relates to active, retired and former participants of APS.
For the marriage partner, this temporary pension equals the widow(er)’s pension. For children of the participant until the age of 18 or 27 if they are still studying or if they are incapacitated for work, the temporary pension equals the orphan’s pension.
The right to a temporary pension arises on a date to be determined by the board. If it turns out that the missing participant has passed away, the temporary pension is transferred into a regular widow(er)’s pension and/or orphan’s pension.
If the person gone missing turns out to be alive, the temporary pension is stopped on a date to be determined by the board. The pension paid can then be reclaimed.
Bereavement allowance (Smartengeld)
Bereavement allowance (smartegeld)
A bereavement allowance is a one-off benefit that surviving family members receive when a retired participant passes away. When you pass away after the retirement age, your husband/wife will receive a bereavement allowance to the amount of three times your monthly pension benefit. This one-off benefit is mainly meant for covering the costs of the funeral.
If you did not have/no longer had a partner, but you had unmarried children until the age of 18, they will receive the bereavement allowance. If you did not have any children until the age of 18, the benefit goes to possible other children or to parents or brothers and sisters for whom you were provider.