How the Belgian pension system works
The calculator models the statutory pension for employees, paid by the Federal Pension Service (SFP/FPD). Every career year earns 1/45 of a pension: your revalued gross wage, capped at the wage ceiling of €82,608.94 (2026, a provisional estimate until Statbel publishes the final figure), times 60% at the single rate (taux isolé) or 75% at the household rate (taux ménage) if your spouse has no income or pension of their own. At most 45 years count. With at least two thirds of a full career and enough days actually worked, the guaranteed minimum applies: for 45 years €22,582.98 a year single and €28,219.84 household, pro rata for shorter careers. All amounts are gross.
The legal pension age is 66 for people born 1960–1963 and 67 for those born from 1964. Early retirement takes a long career: 63 with 42 career years, 61 with 43, 60 with 44, and from 2027 also 60 with 42 years of at least 234 days. From 2027, leaving early without 35 career years costs a permanent malus of 2% to 5% per year, depending on your year of birth; with 35 years, every year you work beyond the legal age adds a bonus of 2% to 5%. If you cannot yet retire at the age you choose, the calculator adds the capital needed to bridge the gap.
Many employees also build a supplementary pension (2nd pillar), usually a group insurance through the employer. Without figures the calculator counts nothing for it; enter the yearly amount from mypension.be, or your acquired reserves and monthly contributions, and it projects them to retirement. mypension.be also shows your career years so far and your estimated statutory pension, which make the result exact. The calculator adds up all pillars, compares them with your target share of the last salary and shows the monthly saving needed: first pension savings (épargne-pension / pensioensparen) up to €1,050 a year with a 30% tax reduction (or 25% on up to €1,350; 8 % tax on the capital at 60), then unrestricted saving.
The statutory pension pays the INAMI/RIZIV health contribution and the solidarity contribution, both only above certain amounts, then income tax reduced by the tax reduction for pensions, plus the additional municipal tax.