Workers face hefty pension premium rises from 2008 because of changes in Central Bank (DNB) regulations. The bank says that Holland’s 700 pension funds must base their premium calculations on lower forecasts for long-term return on investments than they currently use.

This means pension funds will have to increase premiums by an average 6%. ‘But this is a modest forecast,’ pension advisor Guus Boender told the Financieele Dagblad. At the country’s two biggest funds, ABP (civil service) and PGGM (health sector), the premium increase could be 10%.