Central to the reform is the strengthening of the link between actual employment and the accrual of pension rights. Unlike in other countries, the statutory pensionable age will not be touched: it remains 66 years (and 67 from 1 February 2030). The required age and length of career for early retirement with entitlement to the state pension also remain unchanged (normally 63 with 42 years worked, or at the earliest from the age of 60 with 44 years worked).
The definition of a year worked (a so-called ‘career year’ ) is being tightened. Under the current rule, the number of days per year required to count as a year towards the early retirement career condition is 104 days actually worked or treated as equivalent. From 1 January 2027, only years with 156 days of actual work or equivalent will count as career years. The new 156-day requirement will apply to all career years, including those prior to 1 January 2027, with the exception of the first career year (which remains 104 days). Taking early retirement will therefore become harder.
Alongside this, the possibility of early retirement is being extended with the new option of retiring as early as 60 after a long actual career of 42 years, provided that each career year comprises at least 234 days of actual work.
In addition, new financial incentives are being introduced to encourage people to work for longer. A bonus and penalty (‘malus’) system is being introduced that takes account of your year of birth and the length of your career.
Pension bonus for working for longer
This allows a pension bonus to be accrued under entirely new conditions if you postpone the statutory pension until after the statutory pensionable age AND meet the following three conditions:
(1) You have a career of 35 years with at least 156 days of actual work;
(2) You have actually worked for 7,020 days over your entire career;
(3) You have not yet received any pension.
For each year that the pension is deferred after the statutory pensionable age, the gross pension amount is increased by a percentage. The level of the percentage depends on your year of birth: 2% if you were born before 1963, 4% if you were born in 1963–1972 and 5% if you were born from 1973 onwards.
Pension penalty for early retirement
Stopping work early is discouraged by the introduction of a pension penalty, which reduces the gross pension amount if you retire early and do not meet the following penalty conditions:
(1) 156 days worked and
(2) 7,020 days worked over your entire career.
The penalty percentage charged varies between 2% and 5% and depends on your year of birth. This percentage is then multiplied by the number of years before the statutory pensionable age you stop work.
This means that even if you meet the career and age conditions for early retirement on a pension, you will still be charged a penalty if you don’t meet the penalty conditions. If you fall just a few days or months short of meeting the penalty conditions, you may be better off postponing your retirement. After all, the penalty adjustment to the gross pension amount applies every monthly and is for life.
Years in which the 156 days are not reached can be topped up with a maximum of 5 reserve days (across the whole of your career).
We have discussed the two most eye-catching measures here.
Although many points have already been established, some measures remain subject to parliamentary consideration and publication in the Belgian Official Gazette. Both the Federal Pension Service and the National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-Employed (NISSE) stress that definitive individual consequences can only be assessed once the law has been officially approved. More information can be found on the Federal Pension Service’s ‘Pension Reform 2025 – 2029’ web page, which explains this particularly complex matter in plain language and using various examples.
