Understand · Payroll glossary
What is the statutory pension?
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The statutory pension is the social security pension, the first pillar: it is calculated on your career and your earnings, and paid from the statutory age or on early retirement. In 2026: 66 years (statutory retirement age for people born from 1960 to 1963). In Dutch: wettelijk pensioen.
Definition of the statutory pension
It is funded by the 7.50% contributions deducted from your salary and by your employer’s contributions. The statutory age is 66 for people born from 1960 to 1963; early retirement is possible earlier, subject to career conditions.
Supplementary pensions (group insurance, PLCI, pension savings) come on top: these are the second and third pillars.
The key figure in 2026
Source: Fact sheet ‘Travailler pendant la pension’ (December 2024), Federal Pension Service. 2027 amount: not yet published. This entry will be updated as soon as it is.
Worked example
Before the statutory age, a pensioner who goes back to work as an employee can earn up to €10,432 gross a year in 2026 (with no dependent children). If they earn 10% more, i.e. €11,475, their pension is reduced by 10%; from the statutory age, there is no limit on combining the two.
In Dutch: wettelijk pensioen
In a Dutch-language contract or letter from the employer or the National Employment Office (NEO), the statutory pension is called ‘wettelijk pensioen’; in French-language ones, ‘pension légale’. On Indexo’s English pages: statutory pension.
Dutch term taken from: Wikifin (FSMA).
Not to be confused with…
- Survivor’s pension: a pension paid to the surviving spouse, calculated on the career of the person who died.
- Supplementary pension for the self-employed (PLCI/VAPZ): a supplementary pension that self-employed people build up themselves: the premiums are deductible and reduce both their social security contributions and their tax.
Calculate it for your situation
What you will keep from your pension: contributions, withholding tax, tax and group insurance capital.
Related terms
- Survivor’s pensionContract, working time and career · in Dutch: overlevingspensioen
- Supplementary pension for the self-employed (PLCI/VAPZ)Self-employed and companies · in Dutch: Vrij Aanvullend Pensioen voor Zelfstandigen (VAPZ)
- Employee social security contributionsFrom gross to net · in Dutch: werknemersbijdragen
Sources
Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.
- Fact sheet ‘Travailler pendant la pension’ (December 2024), Federal Pension Service.
- Revenus autorisés pour les pensionnés : montants 2026 (2 December 2025, based on the notice published in the Belgian Official Gazette of 26 November 2025), Partena Professional (secondary source).
- Pouvez-vous continuer à travailler après votre pension ? (updated on 1 June 2026), Wikifin (FSMA).
- Hoe bouw je een pensioen op?, Wikifin (FSMA).