Pension

Pension bonus

By the Finances Indépendants editorial teamUpdated on 3 min readAlso known as: Bonus pension, Pensioenbonus

Contents
  1. What is the pension bonus?
  2. Who can benefit
  3. How the amount is calculated
  4. What the bonus does not replace
  5. Not to be confused with
  6. Further reading
  7. Frequently asked questions
€1,845
Guaranteed minimum pension, single person, full careerNISSE2026
66 years
Statutory pension age in 2026NISSE2026
5%
Increase per year deferred, born in 1973 or laterNISSE2026

What is the pension bonus?

The pension bonus is an increase granted to someone who postpones retirement when they already met the conditions to retire. It rewards the days worked beyond that possible starting point, and is added to the statutory pension calculated in the normal way.

It applies to the self-employed and employees alike. For a self-employed person, the pension is paid by the NISSE (National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-employed, INASTI/RSVZ); for an employee, by the Federal Pension Service.

Its form has changed. The old bonus, paid as a premium, ended on 31 December 2025; rights already built up are kept. The new bonus, applicable from 1 January 2027, directly and permanently increases the monthly amount of the pension.

Who can benefit

You must have reached the point at which you could take your pension, through the statutory age or a career long enough to qualify for early retirement, and nevertheless keep working.

The statutory age is 66 and will rise to 67 from 2030, for people born on or after 1 January 1964. The reference full career remains 45 years for a self-employed person, and it determines the base amount to which the bonus is added.

How the amount is calculated

The new bonus is counted as a percentage of the pension, per year of deferral, and the rate depends on your year of birth: 2% for people born in 1962 or earlier, 4% for people born between 1963 and 1972, 5% for people born in 1973 or later.

It requires you to meet the same career conditions as those that avoid the malus: 35 years each with at least 156 days of actual work, and 7,020 days over the whole career.

The calculation parameters have been changed several times in recent years and depend on the date on which you reach your threshold. Ask for an individual estimate on mypension.be rather than relying on a general scale: it is the only figure you can rely on officially.

What the bonus does not replace

The bonus improves a statutory pension that remains structurally low for a self-employed person: €1,845 a month at the guaranteed minimum for a single person after a full career, and €1,243 on average across all careers. It acts on the first pillar, so on the part you control least.

Postponing retirement to obtain a bonus is a life decision as much as a financial one. In terms of building wealth, filling the PLCI/VAPZ and then the IPC or the POZ/CPTI during your career has a much greater effect, because these schemes work on the capital built up rather than on an increase in pension.

Not to be confused with

The terms close to Pension bonus and what sets them apart.

Pension bonus and supplementary pension
The bonus increases the first-pillar statutory pension. The PLCI/VAPZ, the IPC and the POZ/CPTI build up second-pillar capital, independent of the statutory career.
Pension bonus and early retirement
Early retirement lets you leave before the statutory age subject to a career condition, and therefore shortens the contribution period. The bonus does the opposite: it rewards deferral.
Pension bonus and the pension malus
The malus is the mirror image of the bonus, introduced by the same law of 30 May 2026: it permanently reduces the pension of someone who leaves before the statutory age without a sufficient career, by 2% to 5% per year of early departure depending on year of birth.

Further reading

Pension bonus: frequently asked questions

  • It is an increase in the statutory pension granted to someone who keeps working after meeting the conditions to take it. Since the law of 30 May 2026, it takes the form of a permanent percentage, from 2% to 5% per year deferred depending on year of birth, and is added to the pension calculated in the normal way.

  • Yes. The scheme applies to the self-employed and employees alike. For a self-employed person, it is the NISSE that pays the pension and calculates the increase.

  • From the moment you could have taken your pension, through the statutory age or a career long enough to qualify for early retirement. The statutory age is 66 in 2026 and will rise to 67 from 2030.

  • Through an individual estimate on mypension.be. The parameters have changed several times, most recently with the law of 30 May 2026, and depend on your year of birth as well as the date on which you reach your threshold: a general scale is worthless for your own file.

  • No, it ended on 31 December 2025. Rights already built up are kept and will be paid, but no new rights accrue. The new scheme takes over from 1 January 2027, in a different form: a permanent increase in the monthly amount rather than a premium.

  • No. After a full career, a single self-employed person receives a guaranteed minimum of €1,845 a month, and at most around €2,289: an increase, however welcome, does not change the order of magnitude. The second pillar remains the main lever.

  • It is part of the statutory pension and therefore follows the same regime: taxation under the progressive personal income tax scale, unlike supplementary pension capital, which is taxed at a flat rate.

Official source

  1. Federal Pension Service, pension bonus. View (new tab)(Official source, accessed on 2026-09-19)