Old age pension
The General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW) is a national insurance introduced to provide all people with an indexed pension when they turn 65. Every resident of the Netherlands in the 15-65 age bracket is insured. A set of rules applies to determine whether a person is fully, partially or not at all entitled to AOW. Non-residents who work in the Netherlands and pay wage tax in the Netherlands also build up rights in the AOW scheme. Residents who only worked outside the Netherlands, on the other hand, are excluded from AOW. AOW entitlement is gradually built up over the years. This implies that the size of the benefit depends on the number of years the recipient was insured.