AOV: Expense or Investment?

AOV: Expense or Investment?

5 November 2025

We talk about pensions as if they are a burden — but what if they are actually a boost?

The current debate about indexing and increasing the AOV (old-age pension) is far too one-sided. Everyone seems to focus on how to finance it. But if we take a broader view, this is really about the poverty of a new group — the new poor: our pensioners.

What’s missing is the other side of the ledger — the positive effect on purchasing power and the broader economy. Indexing the AOV would inject roughly 100 million guilders in additional annual spending into the economy. That money won’t disappear into savings accounts; it will be spent on basic needs: food, medicine, housing, utilities, and local services.

So, what would that mean for economic growth? And how much would flow back to the government in the form of turnover tax and other revenues? These are not trivial questions — they are measurable. Economists should do the math and quantify the net effect.

My point is simple: AOV indexation is not just an expense. It is an investment in people, in dignity, and in the economy itself.

Miguel Goede