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Your annual allowance benefit, explained in 1 minute
One in three Dutch people has a pension gap. Close yours with tax advantages using your annual allowance. Watch the video to learn how.
What is it?
What is annual allowance?
Your annual allowance is the amount you can use each year to build additional pension savings with tax advantages. In 2026, you can contribute up to 30% of your contribution base (your income minus a fixed threshold), up to a maximum of €35,588. Contributions are deductible when you file your tax return, meaning you pay less tax now while building your future pension in a smart, tax-efficient way.
How does it work?
This is how annual allowance works in 2026
Calculating your annual allowance is straightforward. Take 30% of your contribution base (your income minus the AOW franchise — the fixed threshold of €19,172 in 2026), capped at €35,588, and subtract any pension accrual you already have.
What remains is your annual allowance: the amount you can contribute this year with tax benefits.
With Vive, you don’t have to calculate this yourself. Simply enter your details in our calculator, and we’ll do the rest.
Who should calculate their annual allowance?
Your annual allowance applies to anyone who wants to build a pension in a tax-efficient way. It’s especially relevant if you’re not building up a pension — or not enough — through your work.
As a self-employed professional
As a self-employed professional, you don’t build up a pension through an employer. This makes your annual allowance the most important tool for building your pension in a tax-efficient way. In many cases, you have access to the full annual allowance — which can be as much as €35,588 in 2026. The advantage? You decide when to contribute with Vive. Had a strong quarter? Contribute more. A quieter period? Skip a month. This flexibility is a perfect fit for entrepreneurial life.
As a Director-Owner
As a director-owner, you know your income can fluctuate from year to year. Your annual allowance gives you the flexibility to respond to these changes. You can contribute your full allowance in one go in December, or spread contributions throughout the year. In addition, you can still use unused annual allowance from the past ten years through your carryforward allowance. Ideal for years in which you have more financial room to build additional pension savings.
As an employee
Annual allowance can also be relevant if you’re an employee. You may already be building a pension through your employer, but it might not be enough to support the lifestyle you want later on. Or perhaps you work part-time and want to make additional contributions. In that case, you can use your remaining annual allowance to build extra pension savings with tax benefits. You can see how much pension you accrue each year in your Uniform Pension Overview (UPO), which you receive annually from your pension provider. Check this first to determine how much annual allowance you still have available.
Discover your 2026 Annual Allowance
Including the tax benefits.
Would you like to learn more about your annual allowance and the benefits of pension investing? Schedule a free consultation with one of our experts.
* For the indicative tax refund, we use the 2025 rates. These are bracket 1: Up to €38,441, a rate of 35.82%; bracket 2: Between €38,441 and €76,817, a rate of 37.48%; bracket 3: For incomes above €76,817, a rate of 49.50%. The actual amount you get back depends on your personal situation. Terms apply.
What does annual allowance consists of?
Your pension overview is ready. Learn how your annual allowance is calculated and get started fully prepared.
Aggregate income
Your aggregate income is the total of all your income sources. This includes your salary or business profits, as well as income from a second job, freelance work, renting out a room or holiday home, and income from a substantial shareholding. All these amounts are added together to determine your total aggregate income. This forms the starting point for calculating your annual allowance. We always use gross amounts — your income before tax is deducted. For the 2026 annual allowance, income from 2025 is used.
Factor A
Factor A is the amount of pension you accrue through your employer in a given year. For most freelancers and entrepreneurs, this amount is €0, as they do not have an employer providing a pension.
If you are (also) employed, you can find your Factor A on your Uniform Pension Overview (UPO) or on the website of your pension provider(s).
Factor A is used to calculate your annual allowance. The amount is multiplied by 6.25 (the statutory multiplier), and the result is deducted from your annual allowance. This reflects the pension you are already building through employment.
It’s important that your Factor A is correct. If you deduct too little, you may exceed your annual allowance and will not receive tax benefits on the excess amount.
You can find an overview of your pension accrual at: www.mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl
Calculation example
Aggregate income
This is the gross annual income, plus bonus and other arrangements.
€50,000, -
/year
AOW franchise
The amount over which no pension is accrued. After all, state pension is already being accrued over this by the government.
- €19,172, -
/month
Factor A
Pension growth in a second pillar pension. This growth can be found at the UPO. Multiply the growth by: 6.27
- €0, -
/month
Premium basis
Aggregate income - AOW Franchise - Factor A = Contribution basis. The number over which the annual allowance is calculated.
€30,828, -
/year
Annual allowance%
For this year, the annual allowance% of the Premium Base was set to:
* 30%
/year
Annual space
The total amount of remaining annual space. This number can be invested in a third pillar pension account.
€9,248, -
Why choose pension accrual with Vive?
We make building a pension simple. No hassle with complex calculations — just clear insight into how much you can contribute and what it delivers.
Real-time insight
With traditional pension providers, you receive a letter once a year — and often it’s hard to understand. With Vive, you can always see your current pension savings in the app. Just like checking your bank account, you can check your pension at any time. See what you’ve invested, what it’s worth today, your expected pension, and the returns you’ve achieved.
Professionally invested
Your money isn’t just parked somewhere. We invest globally in index funds — the same funds used by major pension funds. No expensive fund managers trying to beat the market, just broad market exposure at low cost. In addition to a service fee, you pay only 0.35% in annual management costs — a fraction of what traditional providers charge.
100% for your next of kin
An important difference with traditional pension and many other pension providers is that it is one hundred percent yours. In the event of death, all the accumulated assets go to your partner or children. No insurer that holds most of it, no fine print leaving your family empty-handed. Everything you've built stays in the family.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need. In one app. In one place. All goals and strategies, always at hand.
What is Pension Investing?
Pension investing is building up your pension by investing in financial products (such as shares, bonds, and investment funds) instead of just saving. The goal is to create extra capital that you can use later in addition to your pension payment, alongside the basic state pension (AOW) and any collective pension scheme.
How does pension investing work?
Pensions investment is investing for retirement. The money is locked up until your retirement age, so it's difficult to access. However, in exchange for locking up your money, you get a lot back.
1. Tax advantage on your tax return in the form of a "cashback."
2. All pension contributions are exempt from wealth tax until retirement, including the returns.
3. Pension contributions are deducted from your taxable income, so it becomes lower, and you keep more. By investing, you also let the money you have grow in a diversified portfolio that suits your life stage. This way, you build up extra retirement savings with potentially higher returns than saving, while automatic rebalancing ensures manageable risks.
Wat zijn de voordelen van pensioenbeleggen?
Als zelfstandige of eigenaar van een eenmanszaak kun je via pensioenbeleggen fiscaal voordelig vermogen opbouwen voor later. Je inleg is vaak aftrekbaar, je betaalt geen vermogensbelasting over het opgebouwde bedrag en je profiteert van het rendement op beleggingen.
What are the risks of pension investing?
The value of your investments can fluctuate, so investing carries risks. At Vive, we align the investment risk with your situation and automatically reduce your risk as your retirement date approaches.
What is the difference between pension investing and regular investing?
Pensions investing offers tax advantages: contributions are often deductible from your taxable income, which means less tax needs to be paid. Also, no tax is levied on the accumulated capital. However, this money is locked up until the pension date. With regular investing, the money is freely accessible, but the tax advantage is missing. Pensions investing is therefore less flexible, but attractive if you want to build up targeted capital for later.
What is the expected return if I start investing?
Vive does not offer model portfolios but a personalised strategy. So, at Vive, you don't have to choose a profile; one is created and selected for you. However, we would like to tell you what may be customary with model portfolios to give you an idea of what is achievable. Please note that the expected return on investment heavily depends on your investment strategy and market conditions, but in the long term, you can roughly assume the ranges below:
Defensive profile (many bonds, few shares) – 2 – 4 % per year (nominal). This profile aims for stability, with limited fluctuations and a lower return.
Neutral profile (mixed mix of shares/bonds) – 4 – 6 % per year (nominal). This is a commonly used middle profile for pension objectives, with a balance between risk and return.
Offensive profile (many shares, alternative investments) – 6 – 8 % (–10 % to +15 % in extreme years) per year (nominal).
This profile offers the highest long-term growth potential but experiences the greatest price fluctuations.
If you want to view our historical returns, you can do so on the "rendement" page under "hulpmiddelen."
How does Vive personalise my investment strategy?
Vive ensures that your investment strategy is entirely built around you. This means that, depending on your stage of life and your financial situation, your investment strategy will be adjusted. This is how Vive personalises your investment strategy.
Here you can read more about the financial model and personalisation.
What are the total costs of investing?
Are you a regulated investment firm?
Vive is a regulated investment party. We are supervised by the AFM (Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets) and DNB (The Dutch Bank).
You can find more about our own investment policy on the following page: Investment Policy
Here you can find our AFM registration: AFM register
Please note:
Investing carries risks
Investing offers opportunities, but you may lose part or all of your investment. That’s why it’s important to understand the associated risks in advance. More information can be found in the Investment Policy. Vive is a licensed wealth manager.