What did you talk to them about? “I gave the guest lesson 'Now for later', developed by the Pension Federation. PGGM and APG were asked to delegate teachers for this. The lesson was created to get students thinking about their financial future. It is about what you can do now and in the years ahead to make sure you can continue to live comfortably after you retire. The lesson also gives insight into what pensions actually are, how they are accrued and what are important moments to watch out for when it comes to your retirement.”
Isn’t it difficult to get students in this age group interested in retirement? “What you notice is that retirement is still very far from their minds. Their questions are really all about now. For example: how does the tax return for my side job work? How does my DiGiD work? Do I need my own health insurance? And how do I get that set up? I really had to adjust my narrative to that. Fortunately, the lesson is very well structured, it is very interactive and can easily be adapted to the level you are dealing with.
I did notice that as a teacher you really have to be a jack-of-all-trades. Teacher Debby knew all the students from top to bottom, knew exactly what was going on during the lesson, while at the same time keeping an eye on their energy levels, and knew how to make my story even livelier for her students. That is quite impressive. It is also nice for a guest lecturer when someone like that is available, even if they are just in the background.”
How did you build that bridge to pensions? “For example, by talking about saving for a moped. We discussed that just as you can save for a moped, you can also save for unforeseen expenses - and thus also for retirement. We talked about the importance of looking ahead, using the example of a phone plan. We discussed ‘how to deal with your expensive phone subscription if you lose your side job’. The conclusion was that you really need to avoid debt or arrears, and you definitely want to stay away from a BKR registration. Attention to that is incredibly important because more than 37 percent of young people are in debt and one in four are already in arrears.”
Did you also talk about pension funds? “Not so much about pension funds, but about the distinction between pension accrual as a self-employed person and pension accrual as an employee. A number of these students dream of starting their own hairdressing salon, or being self-employed in the construction industry. So how you accrue a pension as a self-employed person and what you need to set up for that is very relevant to them. This is a group that often starts work at a relatively young age. The sooner they start making healthy financial choices, the better they can live now and in the future.”
How did the conversation with Queen Máxima and Minister Kaag go? “That was a bit chaotic because there were problems with the sound. As a result, none of the four conversations actually went very well. Too bad, but the teacher did tell me that her class really enjoyed the conversations with the Queen and the Minister. Feeling ‘seen’ is not something that comes naturally to this group.”
