Employee – how is your pension amount calculated?
How do I build up a pension?
You build up a pension for every year you work. We calculate your pension on the basis of the wages you earned during your career and on which you paid social contributions.
If you do not work (e.g. because of unemployment or illness) and receive social benefits (assimilated period), we calculate your pension on the basis of a fictitious salary.
Working always pays off for your pension: all worked periods count towards the calculation of your pension. But if you have a long career, certain periods of unemployment may not be taken into account for your pension.
The steps of your pension calculation
We calculate pension proceeds for every year of your career:
Step 1: we add up the actual salary, fictitious salary and lump sums (= the total wages) on a yearly basis.
Step 2: we compare the total wages on a yearly basis with the wage limit; if your total wages on a yearly basis exceed the wage limit, we restrict your total wages to this wage limit.
Step 3: we revalue the total wages on a yearly basis.
Step 4: we divide every year by 45 (normal career duration as employee).
Step 5: we multiply by 60 %.
We add up the pension proceeds of every year. This is the pension you will receive annually.
Possible corrections to the pension calculation
Correction for low wages
Does your career count more than 15 years of more than 104 days in total as an employee? In this case, we increase the total wages per career year until these reach the legally guaranteed minimum wage. We call this the minimum entitlement per career year (or guaranteed minimum yearly wage).
Pension increase when your spouse has no or limited revenues
If your spouse has no or a limited personal revenue, we calculate your pension at the household rate. This means that we multiply the total wages by 75 % (the standard amount is 60 %).
Find out more about the influence your family circumstances have on the calculation of your pension.
Pension increase until your pension reaches the minimum pension
We increase your pension until it reaches the guaranteed minimum pension if:
- your pension falls below a certain minimum;
and - you meet certain career conditions.
Deviating calculation rules for special schemes
You are a miner, seafarer, professional journalist or a member of a civilian aircrew? In that case, special rules can be applied to your pension calculation, even though these special schemes, with the exception of the scheme for professional journalists, are being phased out.
Find out more about the calculation rules for special schemes
What if I receive a professional income or another pension next to my pension as employee?
You receive a retirement or survivor's pension as an employee together with another Belgian pension, another foreign pension, social benefits or a professional income? This may influence your pension amount or the payment of your pension.