Contributions are paid every period to accrue your pension. That money is not kept in a savings account, but is invested by Mars Pension Fund. And that's a good thing. Board member Rianne Steenbergen explains why.

Why does Mars Pension Fund invest the contributions?

If you invest yourself, you will probably receive a warning: “you may lose your investment or part of it”. Investing is not without risks. Mars Pension Fund also faces investment risks. So you might be wondering, why is that necessary?

With the contributions that are paid every period, Mars Pension Fund has an important goal: to grow that money so that your pension is as high as possible once you retire. That is why it is necessary to invest the contributions. An important part of your pension consists of investment results. As a rule of thumb, you can roughly say that pension funds more than triple the value of the paid contributions over the entire period. Without investments, your pension would be much lower or you would have to pay much higher contributions.
 

But what about those risks?

Investing is never without risk. But investing is especially risky if you invest money now that you want to use next year. There is a chance that your investments will decrease in that year and there will be no time to make up for it. However, pension funds invest for the long term. Bad years are made up for by good years. Past results do not guarantee future results, but in the long term, investing always yields more than saving. Especially if the savings interest rate is very low. This gives you the greatest chance of a good pension.

Pension funds always invest in a mix of investments. So investments with more risk and a higher expected return (for example shares) and investments with less risk and a lower expected return (for example bonds). The investments are also spread across different categories, sectors and countries. This reduces the risk of investing and ensures that investment results become more stable.

Good to know

Investing plays an important role in the new pension system. That is why we conducted research this year into what you think about investing and the risks that come with it. We will take the results of this survey into account in our preparations for the new pension plan. It is now the employer's and social partners' turn to make decisions about the new pension plan. As soon as there is more clarity about what this means for you, we will inform you.

Do you want to know more?

Would you like more information about our investments and the agreements made by Mars Pension Fund? Have a look at our investment principles on this page.

Do you have a question about investing? Or would you like to know more about something? Let us know! A board member might answer your question next time.