Is it necessary to earn a side income as a pensioner? Maybe.
Usually we only find out after retirement whether we have a good pension or not. Unless you were a specialist in the field of pensions or have had a very good financial education. Then you probably knew exactly on forehand what you would get after being pensioned, and for how long.
Also, sometimes the agreements about pensions are changed in the meantime, as happened to Tom and me – and all other Dutch people in our age group. Instead of getting a state pension at age 65, we got it at age 66 and 4 months.
Neither Tom nor I were financial wizz kids, but we were lucky to have made at least some good decisions during our working life. That way we could survive those extra 16 months on our savings.