Physically demanding occupation? Incapacity for work can create an income gap

If you do physically demanding work or are often stressed, you run a greater risk of incapacity for work. For insurers, this means a greater risk of incurring additional costs. This is why insurers often use 60 as the final age for occupations such as bricklayer, road worker, mover, and care worker.

If you have such an insurance and you can no longer work due to illness or an accident, the insurer will not pay out any more from the age of 60. This leaves you with an income gap until retirement.

Prepare for income gap

Contact your insurance adviser or company and check until when you are insured. A number of insurers have shifted the maximum final age for certain heavy professions. Other insurance companies will be doing so in the near future. 

Additional insurance against incapacity for work that runs until retirement is very expensive. But you can prepare for an income gap in other ways.

• You might be able to get by on your savings from the age of 60 until you retire.
• You could also change jobs. With less physically demanding work, you might well be able to carry on until you retire.
• Or you could get retrained: take an education, training or course.

Income gap and benefits

Have you made no arrangements? Then there is a risk that you will first have to use up your equity capital (private savings) before you are entitled to any benefits. And if your partner has an income, you will not receive benefits in most cases.

You may be entitled to IOAZ benefit (Wet inkomensvoorziening oudere en gedeeltelijk arbeidsongeschikte gewezen zelfstandigen, IOAZ).  This benefit is for business owners who have to close their business due to incapacity for work and are facing a loss of income. Once your retirement starts, this benefit stops. You apply for the IOAZ benefit before you end your business.

Sometimes, as an entrepreneur with an income gap, you can also fall back on the Unemployment Insurance Act (WW). For example, if you were already receiving unemployment benefit before becoming self-employed. Or if you were still partially employed.

The Dutch government has plans to implement a mandatory disability insurance for self-employed professionals.

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