Retirement in the Age of Digitalization: A Kafkaesque Adventure

I’m officially retiring next year, so I thought: Let’s get the paperwork done. I mean, how hard can it be in this glorious era of automation, AI, and digital convenience?

WRONG, dear friends.

Because the problem isn’t technology—it’s public institutions using technology to create more obstacles, rather than solving them.

Step 1: The Paper Chase

First, I had to figure out who actually handles my retirement. Turns out, in my case, that’s four institutions in The Netherlands and two in Spain (for now). These entities, of course, must work together (??) and magically produce a retirement outcome before I retire.

Then came the real challenge: providing documents that they already have—except, of course, they don’t.

• Why? Because files were only digitized after 1998.
• And what about before that? Good question. If you’re a baby boomer, your records are probably lost in a basement, or conveniently “misplaced.”

And then came the login attempt. Ha! Nice try.

For The Netherlands, I need a DIGID, which I can only obtain by:

1. Filling out a form.
2. Receiving a physical letter (yes, really).
3. Traveling to The Netherlands to present myself at yet another office.

Because why use actual digital solutions when we can digitally redirect you back to 20th-century bureaucracy?

Step 2: The Spanish Plot Twist

After hours of calls, I finally learned that I was… in the wrong country altogether.

Oops.

Now, I find myself at the final boss level of this game: I am officially in the hands of Spanish public workers.

The good news? I got a visitor slot! ??

The bad news? Well, you can’t call them. Phones exist, but they mostly have a purely decorative function. And the ones they do have? They don’t pick up.

So, the customer service experience is very personal. You don’t speak to them; you physically present yourself, cross fingers and see what happens.

And once you really get through the door, something almost magical happens:

• A real human sits down with you.
• They help you.
• There are no broken online forms.
• No error messages saying your information doesn’t exist.
• No "please upload the document that we just told you we lost."

A tiny glimpse of efficiency. But don’t celebrate yet…

Step 3: The NIE – Spain’s Foreigner ID That Does Nothing

Ah, the Número de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE)—Spain’s unique way of ensuring that foreigners remain permanently trapped in bureaucratic limbo.

• No fingerprint.
• No photo.
• So… it’s an ID that doesn’t identify you.

That’s right, if you show up with just your NIE, you’re not actually proving anything. Always bring your passport too.

And if you’re trying to do anything online? Ha! Good luck!

Most public systems don’t recognize NIE numbers because they start with a letter (X, Y, or Z). Why? Because some genius programmers forgot that letters exist.

So the system rejects your ID as invalid because it doesn’t start with a number. Incredible.

And if you were hoping to use Spain’s Digital ID (Cl@ve) to log into EU public websites? Think again. It doesn’t work.

No one knows why. Even the EU won’t take it seriously.

Final Thoughts: Technology Isn’t the Problem – Bureaucracy Is

At this point, I’ve accepted my fate. This isn’t just paperwork—it’s an epic quest.

Somewhere between:

• Deciphering cryptic online forms,
• Proving my own existence to six different government offices,
• Explaining to an algorithm that my ID is real (even if it starts with an X),

…I’ve realized something:

Technology isn’t the problem. The real issue is how public institutions implement it—not to improve efficiency, but to justify jobs, create layers of unnecessary processes, and make the simple infinitely more complex.

And after all the calls, forms, login failures, and wild goose chases between countries, where did I end up?

Sitting in an office with a guy, walking through the paperwork, and getting it done.

Exactly like my father did when he retired.

The only difference? Before sitting down with that guy, I had to first fight my way through a non-existent or completely broken digital workflow, where technology was used not to make things faster, but to add obstacles.

So here I am, in the Age of Digitalization and Automation, doing exactly the same thing retirees did 40 years ago—just with a few extra useless steps in between.

?? Final tip to my fellow baby boomers: Do not wait until your final year to start your retirement paperwork. Start now. Bring patience. Bring snacks. And most importantly, bring a sense of humor—because you’ll need it.

Good luck, and see you on the other side! (Hopefully with a pension!) ??