12% Super Guarantee, USA News: Putting aside a day’s pay a week for your future self is a simple way to describe retirement saving in the Netherlands. It provides useful perspective for Australia at a time when there is debate about whether 12% super—little more than a day a fortnight—is sufficient for workers’ future retirements.
The Super Members Council is examining different retirement systems around the world in its SuperWrap publication. The Netherlands serves as an ideal starting point because its retirement system was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2025 by the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, achieving a score of 85.4 and an A grade.
Dutch vs. Australian Contribution Rates
While Australia’s Superannuation Guarantee has now reached 12%, some of the biggest Dutch workplace pension schemes operate with contributions of more than twice that level. For the average Dutch worker, retirement income comes from a government pension providing a basic floor, topped up by a workplace pension built through substantial contributions from both employers and employees.
Key fund contribution rates in the Netherlands include:
- ABP Fund (Government and Education): 27.1% of pensionable salary
- PFZW Fund (Health and Welfare): 25.9% of pensionable salary
- PMT Fund (Metal and Engineering): 27.98% of pensionable salary
These rates apply to pensionable salary after an allowance recognizing the state pension, rather than every euro earned. In the Dutch system, these contributions coupled with the state pension deliver retirement income at a similar level to wage income, yielding replacement rates of around 100%. In Australia, a mature system featuring 12% plus a part Age Pension replaces roughly 70% to 75% of wage income.
The Core Lesson on Retirement Security
The lesson to take from the Dutch is not that Australia should double compulsory super. Rather, it centers on the principle that having enough in retirement requires diligently setting aside enough today. Countries that take retirement security seriously recognize that building it requires putting meaningful amounts of money aside during people’s working lives and leaving those savings to work for decades.
Australia has spent more than 30 years doing precisely that, though some early release policies being floated risk undermining those hard-earned gains. Despite putting substantially more of their pensionable income aside than Australians, the public in the Netherlands remains highly supportive. A 2024 survey across 11 European countries showed Dutch workers and retirees rated their pension system more highly than respondents in any of the other 10 surveyed countries.
Australia’s 12% Super Guarantee reflects a recognition that Australians are living longer, that retirement can last decades, and that providing people with dignity and financial independence requires substantial savings. The system holds an enormous advantage in time: a young Australian entering the workforce today receives higher super contributions during their working life than previous generations, with funds invested across businesses, infrastructure, property, and shares globally.
Compounding performs three quarters of the heavy lifting, but only when money remains invested for retirement. Australia does not need to copy the Dutch system, but their instinct to protect the future from the pressures of the present offers a rational reflection point as debates around early access continue.
