NISSE statutory pension 2026: the 1st pillar for the self-employed in Belgium

The NISSE statutory pension (National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-employed, INASTI in French, RSVZ in Dutch) is the compulsory basic pillar of retirement for a self-employed person in Belgium. It is funded by the social security contributions you pay each quarter (main rate 20.5% of income, see the details on the social security contributions page).

Its role: to guarantee a minimum subsistence income in retirement. But let us be clear: it is not designed to maintain your standard of living. For a self-employed person on €60,000 of net income during their working life, the gross statutory pension ranges between €14,000 and €18,000 a year, a 70–75% drop from current income. That is the whole reason for the 2nd and 3rd pillars.

Legal framework: Royal Decree of 19 December 1967 (social status of the self-employed), amended many times (notably the 2015 reform of the retirement age and early retirement).

The statutory retirement age in Belgium has been rising gradually since the 2015 pension reform (law of 10 August 2015):

Full career: 45 years of contributions as a self-employed person. Below that, the pension is pro-rated:

• 30 years of contributions → 30/45 = 67% of the full pension
• 40 years of contributions → 40/45 = 89%
• 45 years of contributions → 100% (full career)
• Beyond 45 years: no additional entitlement (career capped)

The law of 30 May 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 1 June 2026, does not change the statutory age. It changes how your career is counted, and it introduces a penalty for those who leave early without a sufficient career. The conditions in the table above remain valid until 31 December 2026.

A year no longer counts so easily. For the career condition for early retirement, a year only counts if it includes at least 156 days of work or equivalent periods, compared with 104 previously. The first year of activity stays at 104 days, and a reserve of no more than 5 days can be used over the whole career to complete a year that falls just short of the threshold.

A new route at 60 opens in return, for long effective careers: 42 calendar years each with at least 234 days of actual work, i.e. 3 quarters of contributions as a self-employed person.

The pension penalty

Leaving before the statutory age without having 35 years of 156 days and 7,020 days of actual work over your whole career, i.e. 90 quarters, triggers a permanent reduction of the gross amount, calculated pro rata to the months taken early.

The order of magnitude is worth spelling out: a self-employed person born in 1975 who leaves four years before the statutory age without meeting the conditions loses 20% of their pension, for life. On a single person's guaranteed minimum, that is around €370 a month.

The new pension bonus

Conversely, continuing to work beyond the statutory age while meeting those same career conditions increases the pension by 2% to 5% per year deferred, depending on year of birth: 2% for people born in 1962 or earlier, 4% from 1963 to 1972, 5% from 1973. The difference from the old scheme is that this is a permanent increase in the monthly amount, no longer a one-off payment. The old pension bonus ended on 31 December 2025, with entitlements already built up being retained.

The work condition giving entitlement to the minimum pension has also been tightened: periods actually worked now take precedence over equivalent periods, which makes access harder for irregular careers.

The official portal mypension.be↗ (new tab), run jointly by the NISSE (INASTI), the Federal Pension Service (SFPD) and the SdPSP, lets every Belgian citizen check their recognised career and the estimate of their projected statutory pension free of charge.

3 steps to access your file:

1. Log in with your eID + card reader, the itsme app or a token.
2. Check the My career tab: years contributed as an employee, self-employed person or civil servant, and equivalent periods (unemployment, sickness, parental leave).
3. Check the My pension estimate tab: projected pension at different ages (early at 60–64, statutory at 65–67, deferred at 70).

Do this every year, especially after any change of status (moving from self-employed to employee, or vice versa), a significant change in income, or a change in family situation.

1. Under-declaring your income to reduce your contributions. This is a false economy: you cut your annual contributions by ~20% of the undeclared income, but you lose ~50% of future pension on that same income (a long-term effect far more damaging than the immediate saving).
2. Stopping your activity temporarily without declaring it properly. Equivalent periods (sickness, incapacity) are only recognised if you declared them on time; otherwise, they become gaps in your career.
3. Ignoring your mypension.be career statement. One unrecognised year at 35 can cost you €250–400 a year of gross pension for life.
4. Retiring too early. Unless there is a personal emergency, postponing your pension by 1–2 years significantly increases the final amount (and lets you keep paying into a PLCI/VAPZ, IPC or POZ/CPTI).
5. Relying on the statutory pension alone. This is the most costly mistake. Without a 2nd or 3rd pillar, retirement means a 50–70% drop in income, a lifestyle incompatible with high-earning self-employed status.