Piet van Zwieten is 80 years old and lives with his wife in Heemskerk. Thanks to his pension and his wife’s state pension, the couple can make ends meet. Although nowadays they sometimes cycle a bit for a special offer. They clearly notice that they live in expensive times.
The first apartment that Van Zwieten (80) moved into with his wife was given to him by his employer Hoogovens. He had been working there for barely a year when he told a colleague about the four flats in Heemskerk that were intended for staff. Van Zwieten picked up the phone and ‘within five minutes’ he had a home. It cost him 92 guilders a month. A year later, the current Tata Steel offered him a family home in Heemskerk, where he and his wife still live.
“That is no longer imaginable,” says 80-year-old Heemskerker from his seat by the window. His 24-year-old grandson still lives at home. Owning your own home is not an option for the time being. “Nowadays you have to bring a ton of your own money. And then he also starts with a student loan. We hope for Henny Huisman, with a golden envelope.”
Brochures for the offers
Van Zwieten and his wife are doing well. After 44 years as an IT professional at Hoogovens, he has been retired for a long time. Financially, they have not actually deteriorated since Van Zwieten stopped working. There is room to do fun things. For example, once a year they stay in a hotel for a few days and they have just bought a new car.
Yes, groceries have become considerably more expensive, Van Zwieten notes. His wife, who has been running the household for many years, tries to get by on 100 euros a week. “That has been a bit more difficult lately,” she says. They don’t cut corners, but the couple now looks at the brochures for the best offers. “And then we sometimes cycle a bit for cheaper fruit and vegetables.”
The couple is not bothered by high energy costs. The permanent contract runs until April next year, and then we’ll see what awaits them, says Van Zwieten. The costs for the house are also not too bad. After renting for thirty years, they were allowed to buy the house in 2002 for 387,000 guilders. The mortgage, which he took out at 2 percent interest, is almost paid off.
It’s a bit sad, says Van Zwieten about his income. Last year his pension was increased twice, but this also put him in a different tax bracket. “I did get more, but at the end I actually have the same amount left. Even though everything has become more expensive.”
No more pushing everything forward
Van Zwieten has more concerns about the state treasury, he says. “How should all that money spent during the corona period be repaid? Who will pay for this? I see more and more people in Heemskerk who have to keep their hands on their purse strings, but I also read in the newspaper that more and more millionaires are being created. . How is that possible?”
Van Zwieten himself has been voting for the VVD for years. He calls Mark Rutte ‘an ideal connector’. But now that Rutte has quit, Van Zwieten is thinking about Omtzigt. He hopes that the new leader will use the coming period to tackle ‘problems that have been postponed’. “Groningen, the benefits affair, why has it still not been resolved? All that nonsense, go and govern.”
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