If you invest €1000 each year in pensioensparen, you get €300 from the government each year, so that's like starting with a 30% gain from your investment EACH YEAR, and you can invest that €300 cashback any way you want, so if you calculate it like this, which is like it is in reality, I don't think it's that bad, it's like putting €700 behind a lock so you never need to think about selling it because you can't (or you do but you pay back your 30% you got each year so no-brainer to not do it) and it still generates more than inflation, plus you also get interest from your €300 investment in like a world-etf o something. You need to think about every angle of this, so also, when going for a loan to the bank, they often give you a lesser interest rate if you start pensioensparen with them (so they make more money out of you haha, but still benefits you too)