Retire in the Netherlands from the US: the 2026 IND income requirement, Box 3, and where a lifetime annuity fits
Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Short answer: The Netherlands has no retirement visa, so an American usually retires there on a partner permit, and from 1 July 2026 the Dutch or resident sponsor needs €2,523.96 a month gross including holiday allowance (about $2,953 at $1.17 per euro); it is one household figure for a couple, children do not raise it, and a single American with no Dutch partner has no retiree route. The income must last at least 12 months, savings do not count, and a sponsor at Dutch state pension (AOW) age, 67 in 2026, is exempt. A life-only annuity bought in the US and paid to the sponsor turns savings into income the IND can count. In Box 3 that annuity is valued at its yearly payment times an age factor (11 at ages 60 to 64), often below the premium paid.
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If you want to retire in the Netherlands from the US, the question usually comes from a Dutch-American couple: one partner was born there, the other is American, and they want to retire near family. There is no Netherlands retirement visa. The realistic route is family reunification with the Dutch partner as sponsor. Here is what the IND (the Dutch immigration service) asks for in 2026, and an honest read on the Dutch Box 3 tax, which is where a lifetime annuity gets interesting.
The routes for an American
- Partner of a Dutch citizen or resident (family reunification). The main route. The Dutch or resident partner is the sponsor (referent) and must meet the income requirement, unless exempt.
- Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT). Americans can get a self-employed permit by registering a business and investing at least €4,500 in it. It is a business route with real business activity, not a retiree route.
- No general retiree visa. The IND has no permit for living on a pension or savings alone. Some websites describe one; I could not find it in IND guidance.
The 2026 income requirement
| Item | Rule (IND, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Required amount, partner permit (1 July to 31 December 2026) | €2,523.96 a month gross with holiday allowance (€2,337.00 without); about $2,953 at $1.17 |
| Whose income counts | The sponsor’s. A partner’s income can be combined only when that partner is Dutch or already holds a Dutch residence permit and you live together |
| Pension and benefit income | Counts if it continues for at least another 12 months |
| Income from assets | Counts only the return (not the capital itself) if it is taxed, has already been received for 1 year, and the capital is not being drawn down |
| Savings and capital | Do not count as income; only the income from them does |
| Sponsor at AOW age (67 in 2026 and 2027, 67 and 3 months from 2028) or receiving AOW | Exempt from the income requirement (Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000, art. 3.22(2)) |
The amount is updated every six months (it was €2,477.95 from 1 January to 30 June 2026), so check the IND table for the date you apply. If the Dutch partner is already 67 or older, the test does not apply and an annuity is not needed for the permit.
Why I write about this. My mom is Norwegian, my dad is American, and they’re planning the move from the US to Norway. My mom is the sponsor (the host, or “reference person” in UDI’s words), so Norway’s income test falls on her income, not my dad’s. UDI told us in writing that money in an account does not count as income, and only lifelong income does. Their savings were not the problem; the paperwork wanted a monthly number in the host’s name. The rules in the Netherlands are different, but the problem is the same one many retirees hit: the income test, not the net worth. I’m writing this to help others in the same boat as my parents. Read how we worked through the Norway income requirement.
In the same boat? Let’s run your numbers
See roughly what a lifetime annuity would cost to close your income gap, then get my personal read by email. I can help while you still live in the US.
Estimates use the September 9, 2026 ImmediateAnnuities.com payout survey (life only) and a 15% cushion. Illustrative, not a quote.
Where a lifetime annuity fits the IND test
The typical case: the Dutch partner is under 67, has lived in the US for decades, and has savings but no Dutch income. Savings do not count. A life-only SPIA (single premium immediate annuity) bought while you both still live in the US turns part of those savings into monthly income for life, which is the kind of income the IND can count.
- Make the sponsor the payee. The payments should go to the Dutch partner as annuitant, because the sponsor’s income is what is tested. A joint-life contract covering both of you pays less than single-life figures.
- Start payments about 12 months before applying. The IND has not published which category a purchased annuity falls in. If it is treated like income from assets, it must already have been received for a year. Starting early covers both readings.
- Get it in writing. Ask the IND, or a Dutch immigration lawyer, to confirm how they classify the annuity before you apply.
Single or married: how much income you need to retire in the Netherlands
| Household | 2026 requirement (1 July to 31 December) | Who must earn it |
|---|---|---|
| Single American, no Dutch partner | No retiree permit exists, so there is no income figure to meet | Not applicable |
| Couple (Dutch or resident sponsor plus American partner) | €2,523.96 a month gross with holiday allowance, about $2,953 (€2,337.00 without) | The sponsor. The American partner’s income is added only once that partner is Dutch or holds a Dutch permit |
| Each dependent child | No increase: the IND amount depends on whether the sponsor has a partner, not on the number of children | The sponsor |
| Sponsor at AOW age (67 in 2026) or receiving AOW | Exempt | Nobody |
Being married to a Dutch citizen does not by itself waive the test; reaching AOW age does. FX: $1.17 per euro, a planning rate; the ECB reference rate was $1.1225 on 2 October 2026, so these dollar figures include about 4% of headroom.
Example: a 62-year-old American moving to the Netherlands
The person who needs the income is the Dutch sponsor, so the annuitant below is the sponsor, aged 62. Target: €2,523.96, about $2,953, plus 15% headroom for the twice-yearly updates and the exchange rate, so about $3,396 a month. Payout at 62: ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026, life-only, per $100,000 a month: man $603 average ($660 best), woman $582 ($637 best). Illustrative, not a quote.
| Sponsor, 62 | Monthly gap | Premium at average rate | Premium at best rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man, no other income | $3,396 | about $563,000 | about $515,000 |
| Woman, no other income | $3,396 | about $584,000 | about $533,000 |
| Couple: woman sponsor with $1,000 a month Social Security started at 62 | $2,396 | about $412,000 | about $376,000 |
Premium equals the monthly gap divided by the payout per $100,000, times $100,000. Social Security can start at 62 and a US pension also reduces the gap; confirm with the IND which sources they accept for your sponsor. A joint and survivor annuity covering both of you pays less per dollar than single life, so get a quote. The bigger point at 62: in five years the sponsor reaches AOW age and the test falls away, so check the timing before buying anything.
When the sponsor is not the breadwinner
A common Dutch-American setup: the Dutch partner has little income, and the American partner holds the pensions, Social Security and savings. For the IND that is the wrong way round, because the IND tests the sponsor’s income, and the American partner’s income counts only once that partner is Dutch or holds a Dutch residence permit and you live together. So at the first application the American’s Social Security does not carry the test.
The fix: a lifetime annuity owned by and paying the sponsor, with the Dutch partner as owner and annuitant, priced on the sponsor’s age and sex. Buy it while you both still live in the US and start payments well before applying, ideally 12 months, so the income shows in the sponsor’s own bank and tax records and meets the IND’s rule that income continue for at least another 12 months.
US gift note (general information, confirm with a tax adviser): between two US-citizen spouses, gifts are unlimited. If the sponsor is not a US citizen, there is no unlimited marital deduction; for 2026 the annual exclusion for gifts to a non-citizen spouse is $194,000. Above that you file Form 709 and use part of your lifetime exemption, and generally no tax is due.
Which annuity counts
The cleanest fit is a life-only SPIA or a joint and survivor SPIA, or an existing deferred annuity or MYGA converted to lifetime payments. The IND asks only that income continue for at least 12 months, so it has not said that income must be lifelong; a long period-certain annuity may pass in principle, but lifetime payments leave no doubt at renewal. An annuity still accumulating, or an income rider where the account value can still be cashed out, reads as savings, and savings do not count.
Does the Netherlands have a wealth tax? Box 3 and annuities
Not in name: the Netherlands has no tax on wealth itself, but Box 3 taxes a fixed deemed return on wealth, which works much like one, and a US annuity right is in the base. The Netherlands does not tax your actual investment income in the usual way. Box 3 taxes a deemed return on your net assets on 1 January. For 2026 the Belastingdienst uses a deemed return of 1.28% on bank savings (provisional) and 6.00% on investments and other assets, a tax rate of 36%, and a tax-exempt allowance of €59,357 per person (€118,714 for fiscal partners).
A purchased life annuity whose premiums were never deducted from Dutch income, which describes a US SPIA bought before you move, is a right to periodic payments (recht op periodieke uitkeringen). Read together, the Income Tax Act 2001 (arts. 3.100, 3.101 and 5.3) put it in Box 3 as an “other asset”, not in Box 1. Its value is the yearly payment times an age factor set in art. 19 of the Uitvoeringsbesluit inkomstenbelasting 2001, using the annuitant’s age on 1 January. A woman is valued as a man five years younger; a joint and survivor annuity as a man ten years younger than the younger spouse.
| Age on 1 January | Factor | Box 3 value of a $100,000 SPIA (average payout) |
|---|---|---|
| 60 to 64 | 11 | Man 60: about $77,000 |
| 65 to 69 | 9 | Man 65: about $69,000; woman 65 (counts as 60, factor 11): about $81,000 |
| 70 to 74 | 8 | Man 70: about $69,000 |
| 75 to 79 | 6 | Falls further with age |
What that means in plain numbers: a 65-year-old man who puts $500,000 (about €427,000) into a SPIA receives about €32,800 a year, and the right is valued at 9 times that, about €295,000. Compared with keeping the €427,000 in an investment account, the deemed return falls by about €7,900 and the Box 3 tax by roughly €2,900 a year, before the allowance. The value steps down again at 70 and 75.
The honest part: compared with cash in a bank account, the comparison flips. Bank savings are deemed to earn only 1.28%, while the annuity right sits in the 6% category, so in the same example Box 3 tax would be roughly €4,400 a year higher. A SPIA lowers Box 3 against an investment portfolio, not against a savings account. Run both versions before you decide.
Two more points to confirm with a Dutch tax adviser (belastingadviseur): that the payments themselves stay outside Box 1 for your specific contract (that is my reading of the statute, not a published ruling), and how the opgaaf werkelijk rendement, the option to report a lower actual return (Income Tax Act art. 5.25), treats an annuity right whose value falls each year. Box 3 is also being rebuilt: the lower house passed the actual-return law (Wet werkelijk rendement box 3) on 12 February 2026, aimed at 1 January 2028, so the deemed-return figures above are a 2026 picture.
How the annuity is taxed: the Netherlands and the US
US side. As a US citizen you stay taxable on worldwide income wherever you live. A US single premium immediate annuity bought with after-tax savings is taxed under IRC 72: an exclusion ratio makes part of each payment a non-taxable return of your premium until the premium is recovered. If you bought it with IRA money, every payment is taxable. The foreign earned income exclusion does not cover annuities (IRC 911(b)(1)(B)(i)). Foreign tax on the payments can be credited on Form 1116, through the treaty’s relief article where there is one. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding, even if payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13), Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1). Withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax. An annuity from a US insurer is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938, and it is not a PFIC.
Treaty. Under Article 19(1) of the US-Netherlands treaty, an annuity paid to a resident of the Netherlands is taxable only in the Netherlands. The saving clause (Article 24(1)) lets the US keep taxing its citizens anyway, and Article 25(6) sets out how double tax is relieved for a US citizen living in the Netherlands. US Social Security is taxable only in the US under Article 19(4), and that rule also holds for US citizens.
Dutch side. As above: the annuity right sits in Box 3 at its age-factor value and is taxed on a deemed return, while the payments themselves are, on my reading of the Income Tax Act, not Box 1 income because the premium was never deducted. Confirm the classification of your contract with a Dutch adviser in writing.
Net result. Two different taxes can apply: the Netherlands taxes a deemed return on the annuity’s value, and the US taxes the taxable part of each payment. Because the Dutch tax is not levied on the payment itself, ask a cross-border preparer how much of it can be credited against the US tax. Compared with keeping the same money in an investment portfolio, the annuity is roughly neutral to tax-friendly in the Netherlands; compared with bank savings it costs more in Box 3.
Practical steps
- Check whether the Dutch partner is 67 or older. If so, the income test likely does not apply.
- Buy while you still have a US address; US insurers sell to residents of states where they are licensed.
- Choose lifetime payments, no cash-out feature, sponsor as annuitant, and get an insurer letter stating the amount “for the lifetime of the annuitant”.
- Start payments 12 months before applying; keep bank statements.
- Ask a Dutch tax adviser to model Box 3 with and without the annuity.
The trade-offs, stated once: the premium cannot be taken back, payments are level unless you add a cost-of-living rider, they arrive in dollars against a euro requirement, and payouts are lower at younger ages. Size the contract to the gap, not to your whole balance.
Married? Make the income outlive either of you. In the Netherlands only the sponsoring spouse’s income counts, so the annuity is owned by and pays the sponsor. A joint and survivor payout then keeps paying the other spouse after the sponsor dies. If a single-life annuity is on one spouse and that spouse dies first, the payments stop, and the surviving spouse may have to show income of their own at the next renewal. A joint and survivor annuity, which keeps paying until the second death, or a separate annuity on each spouse closes that gap. Joint and survivor pays less per dollar than single life, so ask for both quotes and compare.
Frequently asked questions
Free annuity gap analysis for the Netherlands. Tell me your ages, your Social Security or pension, and whether you are single or a couple. I will show how far your income is from the the Netherlands requirement and what a lifetime annuity would cost to fill the gap, in the sponsor’s or main applicant’s name where that matters.
Related reading
- Moving abroad on a fixed income: hub
- Germany residence permit for retirees
- Denmark family reunification requirements
- Wealth tax countries and annuities
- How European countries tax a US annuity
- FBAR, FATCA and double taxation
- Immediate annuity calculator
Sources
- IND: Required amounts income requirements
- IND: Independent, sustainable and sufficient income
- IND form 7524: self-employed, including Dutch American Friendship Treaty
- SVB: Your AOW pension age
- Belastingdienst: Box 3 calculation 2026
- Belastingdienst: Bezittingen en schulden (box 3), 2026
- Uitvoeringsbesluit inkomstenbelasting 2001, art. 19 (value of periodic payments)
- Wet inkomstenbelasting 2001, arts. 3.100, 3.101, 5.3, 5.25
- Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000, art. 3.22 (AOW-age exemption)
- Rijksoverheid: timeline actual-return Box 3
- Rijksoverheid: AOW age table
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: net wealth tax rates by country
- IRS: tax inflation adjustments for 2026 (gifts to a non-citizen spouse)
- US-Netherlands income tax treaty (IRS text)
- 26 U.S.C. 3405 (withholding on pensions and annuities)
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 gift exclusion for a non-citizen spouse
- ImmediateAnnuities.com: annuity rates by age (survey September 9, 2026)
Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services · Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent, CA lic. #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · 213-414-2808 · hans@hansgoldstein.com
Education, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules, thresholds and exchange rates change; confirm with the consulate or immigration authority and a local tax adviser before you act, and get answers in writing. Hans Goldstein is a licensed insurance agent (CA 4273294) and can only offer annuities to residents of states where he is licensed. Annuity payments are guaranteed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability, not by any government. Payout figures are illustrations from a published survey, not quotes. Immediate annuities are generally irrevocable.