A 1.5 year increase in life expectancy rates is a further blow for Dutch pension funds and will cost them billions more in pay-outs, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

According to figures from the national statistics office CBS, by 2050, men will live to 83.2 years on average and women 85.5 years. That means pension funds will have to find an extra €24bn in pension pay-outs, Arnold Jager, of pension advice group Hewitt told the paper.
Most pension funds base their calculations on figures from 2007 but are required by law to use the new information. This means some funds will sink under the 105% coverage ration, Jager says.
Pension funds have been hard hit by the credit crisis and are currently trying hard to restore their assets. Many have not increased pensions in line with inflation this year while others have put up premiums.
‘This comes at the worst possible time for pension funds,’ Richard Meijer, of pension advice group Watson Wyatt. ‘Pension funds had not expected a sudden increase in life expectancy rates.’