The pension law has been officially voted on. The reform brings concrete changes that impact both when you can retire and the amount you will receive. Although the most sweeping reforms affect the civil service status, there are also many changes for employees and the self-employed.
We list the main points of interest for you.
1. Changes in terms of retirement date and pension amount.
Are you close to retirement? Then you don't need to worry: the statutory retirement age remains unchanged. What does change is the way in which it is assessed whether you have accumulated sufficient career years for early retirement - and the way in which your pension amount is calculated.
The rules for those two things vary, so it is important to distinguish between the two.
| Retirement age | Pension amount | ||||||||
Change career years early retirement
Only career years of min. 156 days worked or equivalent count. Exception: the first career year already counts as soon as there are min. 104 days worked or equivalent.
The periods equivalent to days worked do not change. Thus, periods of illness, (temporary) unemployment, etc. continue to count toward your early retirement.
You have 5 reserve days available throughout your career, which will be used automatically and in the manner most advantageous to you in the years when you are just short of days worked or equivalent. The reserve days cannot be used during your first career year.
Employees working half-time and with variable hourly schedules can supplement years with fewer than 156 days with surplus days from other years. |
Introduction of pension malus
If you retire early without fulfilling the career conditions (min. 35 career years with 156 days worked or assimilated and 7,020 days in total), your gross pension amount is reduced for each year you stop early. The reduction is a percentage for each year you stop earlier than the legal retirement age, depending on your year of birth:
For calculating the pension malus, certain periods are equated with periods worked, including care leave, maternity leave, illness, etc. Periods of unemployment are not equated.
Just as for the calculation of the number of career years for your early retirement, the calculation of the malus can also make use of 5 reserve days for the years in which you narrowly miss 156 days.
Employees working half-time and with variable hourly schedules can supplement years with fewer than 156 days with surplus days from other years. |
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New early retirement option
Starting in 2027, you can be on your 60ste to early retirement if you have at least 42 career years with at least 234 days worked or equivalent each. No exception is provided for the first career year.
Periods of illness and unemployment do not count as periods worked for this new option.
There is no option to supplement years in which you have less than 234 days worked or equivalent with reserve days or balance days. |
New bonus system
The former pension bonus was abolished as of Jan. 1, 2026. Do you delay your retirement until after the legal age and meet the career requirements (min. 35 career years with 156 days worked or equivalent plus 7,020 days total), then you build up a new pension bonus starting in 2026. The increase is a percentage for each year you delay your retirement beyond your legal retirement age:
For the purpose of calculating your pension bonus, a number of non-working periods are equated, including care leave and maternity leave... Periods of illness and unemployment are not equated.
There is no option to supplement years in which you have fewer than 156 days worked or equivalent with reserve days or balance days. |
2. Other relevant changes
Minimum pension
So far, counting sick days only partially count toward the guaranteed minimum pension. From now on, these days would be fully equalized.
Limited indexing of current pensions
- Pensions above €5,250 per month receive a flat rate increase of €36 for each spindle index overshoot until 2029 instead of a full indexation of 2%.
- Pensions between €2,000 and €5,250 per month are only partially indexed in 2026 and 2028: only the portion up to €2,000 is increased.
- Pensions above €99,499 gross per year are not indexed at all until 2029.
Supplementary pension > €150,000
Those who retire and total more than €150,000 in supplementary pensions (2nd pillar) receives, pays on the surplus an additional solidarity contribution of 2%. This is a concern for business owners with a substantial accumulated supplementary pension through, for example, an IPT or VAPZ.
Specific to employees: including limitation on equivalent periods
Finally, a number of changes are anticipated that will apply specifically to employees, including. the limitation of equivalent periods of unemployment and final days for calculating the pension amount.
In addition, through a separate law, there will also be a restriction for those who have too many equivalent periods of unemployment, SWT or landing job. If those periods together exceed a certain threshold, then no more pension is accrued for the excess. The threshold is 40% for those born between 1961 and 1964, and drops to 20% for those born in 1968 or later.
3. What about mypension.be?
Are you consulting mypension.be to check your situation? Please note that from 8 June onwards, some data temporary disappearance of the platform. After all, the calculations must be updated to reflect the new legislation, and the Federal Pension Service wants to avoid making decisions based on outdated estimates.
Remains visible:
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Disappears temporarily:
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Will you retire before 2027? Then everything remains visible to you and you are not affected by the reformation.
When will the info come back?
- Summer 2026: Counter bonus and malus based on your current career
- Fall 2026: Earliest retirement date (new legislation)
- End of 2026: Earliest retirement date without malus
- 2nd half 2027: Pension amounts (new legislation)
- End of 2027: Simulations possible again
Do you have questions about pension reform?
The regulations are complex and the tools to concretely calculate everything are currently under construction. Do you have questions about what this reform means for you? Contact us, we are happy to help you!