Bridging benefit in brief

The age you can start receiving your AOW pension at has gone up. This means there may be a gap in your income before your AOW pension starts. The bridging benefit (OBR) can provide you with a temporary supplement to your income.

You cannot get a bridging benefit if you were born on or after 1 January 1960.

Click ‘Next’ to go to the next part of the explanation.

Example:

Peter's situation:

  • Peter was born on 23 August 1955
  • He has had an early retirement benefit since 2012
  • On 1 September 2020, his early retirement benefit will be replaced by a lower retirement pension
  • Peter's AOW pension will start on 23 December 2021
  • Peter can get a bridging benefit (OBR) for the period from 1 September 2020 to 23 December 2021

Bridging benefit amounts

The maximum amount you can get is:

  •  €1,509.42 gross per month if you live alone
  •  €960.35 gross per month if you have a partner

The exact amount you can get depends on your income and how much AOW pension you have built up.

How much will you get?

The amount of bridging benefit you can get depends on: 

  • how much AOW pension you have built up
    Your AOW pension is reduced by 2% for each year you were not covered under the AOW scheme. If you are not entitled to a full AOW pension, the amount of bridging benefit you can receive will be lower.
  • your income
    We look at your total gross income per month. Some types of income are not (or only partly) taken into account for the calculation of your bridging benefit.

Check whether you qualify for a bridging benefit (OBR)

Whether or not you can get a bridging benefit (OBR) depends largely on:

  • your date of birth (that is, you must have been born before 1 January 1960)
  • the date your early retirement benefit started
  • the date your early retirement benefit stops, goes down in value or is replaced by a regular old-age pension
  • the value of your assets
  • your income

If you have a partner, their income and assets are taken into account as well.

Answer the following questions

As there are a lot of conditions for a bridging benefit, we have tried to keep it simple. 

Answer the following questions to see if you can get a bridging benefit. If so, you can also see how to apply.

Not enough income and assets

If you cannot get a bridging benefit, or you cannot get the maximum amount and you do not have enough to live on, you can apply to your gemeente for income support.

If your partner is already receiving an AOW pension but your joint income is not enough to live on, you can apply to us (the SVB) for an AIO supplement.