Applying for your self-employed pension: do you need to, and when?

Does a self-employed person have to apply for their pension?

Not if they retire at the statutory age. The NISSE automatically reviews the rights of a self-employed person or helper who lives in Belgium on the first day of the 15th month before the month in which they reach pension age. To leave earlier, or if you live abroad on that date, an application is required.

In practice, a self-employed person born in June 1961 turns 66 in June 2027. The 15th month before that is March 2026: if they live in Belgium on 1 March 2026, the NISSE opens their file without any action on their part. Someone who moved abroad before that date must apply themselves, within the same time limit as for early retirement.

The statutory age is 66 and will rise to 67 for people born from 1 January 1964. Early retirement remains possible from 63 with a 42-year career, or from 60 with 44 years. The full conditions are on the page on the self-employed statutory pension.

When should you apply for early retirement?

At the earliest 12 months before the date you want to retire, never sooner. For a planned departure at 63, you can therefore apply at 62. Applying as soon as that window opens leaves time to review the file and have a missing career year corrected.

Before choosing a date, ask for an estimate: the NISSE issues one at the earliest 5 years before the date on which a retirement pension, early or not, becomes possible. After an estimate, you must wait 2 years before getting a new one. The figure is indicative, not a decision.

Take care with departures from 2027: a year will then only count towards the early retirement career if it has at least 156 days of work or equivalent periods, and a penalty will apply to some early departures. The article on the 2027 pension reform sets out these conditions.

How to apply: mypension.be or your municipality

You apply online on mypension.be, with your electronic identity card and a card reader, or with itsme. You can also apply in person at the municipal administration where you live. One application is enough: an application filed with the NISSE also counts for the Federal Pension Service, and vice versa.

With a mixed career, first employed and then self-employed, you file only one application, provided you mention your self-employed or helper activity in it. Each institution then reviews your rights under its own scheme and they exchange their decisions. A year left out of the application is part of a career that may end up being reviewed late.

• Check your career on mypension.be before applying, and report a missing year to your social insurance fund.
• List all your activities: self-employed, helper, employee, civil servant, career abroad.
• Keep a copy of the application and the date you filed it, useful if the file raises a question.

Working past the statutory age: what about the automatic review?

The automatic review does not force you to stop. If you want to carry on working, you can say that you do not want your pension to be paid yet. According to the NISSE, the pension can in some circumstances later take effect retroactively: contact its pensions department before deciding.

Working past the statutory age has other effects, on social contributions and on the pension bonus, and a pension can be combined with an activity under certain conditions. The article on combining a pension with self-employed work covers this. To top up a statutory pension that looks too low, the PLCI simulator puts figures on a second pillar.

Further reading

The pages on this site that explore each of the points covered here in more depth.

• The self-employed statutory pensionStatutory age, calculation and early retirement conditions.
• The 2027 pension reform for the self-employedDay threshold per year, penalty and new bonus from 2027.
• Combining a pension with self-employed workWhat changes if you keep working once retired.
• Buying back study years for your pensionA step to take before your pension starts.
• PLCI simulatorPut figures on a top-up to the statutory pension.

Frequently asked questions