> Quick Answer: Someone with 40 years of a €45,000.00 average career salary (isolated rate) can expect an estimated legal pension of roughly €2,000.00 per month (€24,000.00 per year). If they also hold a Flemish mortgage originated in 2012, that loan still qualifies for the region's now-abolished "bonus logement" tax benefit, worth an estimated €608.00 per year -- for a combined annual value of €24,608.00.
Overview
| Region | Bonus Logement Abolished for New Loans | Existing Loans Still Eligible If Originated |
|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital | 1 January 2017 | 2005–2016 |
| Flanders | 1 January 2020 | 2005–2019 |
| Wallonia | 1 January 2025 | 2005–2024 |
How This Is Calculated
Legal pension, summed across each career year (using a single simplified average salary applied to every year in this calculator):
$$\text{Annual Pension} = \sum_{\text{career years}} \frac{\min(\text{Revalued Salary},\ \text{Salary Ceiling})}{45} \times (60\%\text{ or }75\%)$$
If you complete a full 45-year career and this result falls below the minimum guaranteed pension, the minimum applies instead.
Bonus logement, only if your loan predates your region's abolition cutoff:
$$\text{Annual Tax Benefit} = \min(\text{Annual Capital + Interest Paid},\ \text{Regime Cap}) \times \text{Regime Rate}$$
Worked Example
Using the calculator's default inputs -- €45,000.00 average annual salary, 40 career years, isolated rate, Flanders, loan originated 2012, €6,000.00 annual mortgage payment:
- Each career year contributes: €45,000 ÷ 45 × 60% = €600.00.
- Across 40 years: 40 × €600.00 = €24,000.00 annual pension, or €2,000.00/month. (40 years is below the full 45, so the minimum guaranteed pension floor does not apply.)
- A 2012 loan in Flanders falls in the 2005-2015 original "woonbonus" window (still eligible; Flanders only abolished this for loans from 2020 onward).
- Eligible payment amount: min(€6,000.00, €1,520.00 cap) = €1,520.00.
- Tax benefit: €1,520.00 × 40% = €608.00 per year.
- Combined annual value: €24,000.00 + €608.00 = €24,608.00.
What This Does Not Account For
- Real career salary progression. This calculator applies one flat average salary across every career year for simplicity. Belgium's official calculation instead revalues each individual year's actual salary using officially published annual revaluation coefficients -- your real result will differ, likely significantly, if your salary changed a lot over your career.
- The exact current salary ceiling ("plafond salarial"). The last figure independently confirmed for this module is €67,266.74 (year 2024); the precise 2026 indexed figure could not be confirmed this session and is not guessed at -- check mypension.be (myPension, the official portal) for your exact current ceiling.
- Mixed employment types. Self-employed years, public-sector statutory years, and periods with equated benefits (unemployment, illness, career break) all follow different rules than straightforward private-sector salaried years, which is all this calculator models.
- Precise historical bonus logement caps by exact vintage year. The regime rates and caps used here (e.g., a representative €1,520 basic cap) are illustrative of the general regime shape for each vintage band, not a year-by-year indexed table -- the exact amount for your specific loan's exact contract year may differ. Wallonia's Chèque Habitat (2015-2024 loans) is modeled as a direct capped credit; it also includes a roughly €125-per-dependent-child supplement not modeled here.
- The 2027-2031 pension and tax reforms already in progress, including changes to the minimum pension conditions and other measures in the July 2026 tax reform law, which may affect these figures for future assessment years.
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming "bonus logement" and "chèque habitat" are the same thing. They're related concepts (both are the regional replacement for the old federal mortgage tax deduction) but structured differently -- Wallonia's Chèque Habitat is a direct capped tax credit, not a percentage-of-payment rate like Brussels' or Flanders' bonus logement.
- Believing bonus logement is gone everywhere. It is abolished for NEW loans in all three regions as of 2025, but loans predating each region's specific cutoff date keep the benefit for their full remaining term -- check your own loan's actual signing date, not today's date.
- Forgetting the minimum guaranteed pension requires a genuinely full career. A 40 or 42-year career, however low the calculated result, does not qualify for the floor -- only a full 45 years does.
- Using gross salary before social security instead of a career-average figure. This calculator wants your revalued average across your whole working life, not a single current-year gross salary.
- Ignoring that pension figures shown here are annual/monthly amounts BEFORE the standard deductions retirees face (health insurance contribution, solidarity contribution, professional withholding tax) -- your actual net pension payment will be somewhat lower.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still get bonus logement on a brand-new mortgage today?▸
No, not in any region as of 2025 -- Wallonia was the last to abolish it, effective 1 January 2025. New purchases instead benefit from each region's reduced registration duty for a sole/main home (see the companion Belgium Registration Duty Calculator).
My loan was refinanced in 2022 but originally taken out in 2011 -- which year counts?▸
This is a genuinely fact-specific question that depends on whether your refinancing was treated as a new loan or a continuation for tax purposes; consult your notary or a tax advisor, since the answer materially changes your eligibility.
How accurate is the legal pension estimate here compared to mypension.be?▸
Meaningfully less precise, because this tool uses one flat average salary across your whole career rather than your actual year-by-year revalued salary history. Use mypension.be (the official government portal, which has your real earnings record) for a precise figure, and this calculator for quick "what if" scenario exploration.
Does the household (75%) rate apply automatically to married couples?▸
No -- it specifically requires a single-income household (the other spouse has no income of their own, or a very limited one) and is not automatic just from being married; the isolated 60% rate applies otherwise, including to most dual-income married couples (each spouse calculated individually at 60%).
Does this calculator submit a pension claim or a tax return?▸
No. This is an estimation tool only. Apply for your actual pension through the SFPD (Service Fédéral des Pensions/Federale Pensioendienst) and confirm any mortgage-related tax benefit through your annual IPP tax return.
Sources
- Wikifin.be (the FSMA's official financial-education site): legal pension formula (revalued salary ÷ 45 × 60%/75%, summed per career year) and the per-region bonus logement abolition timeline and rates.
- INASTI/RSVZ (official self-employed social security institute, which republishes general-scheme figures): minimum guaranteed monthly pension for a full career, effective 1 March 2026 (EUR 2,305.44 household rate, EUR 1,844.93 isolated rate).
- Claeys & Engels (Belgian employment-law firm): historical annual salary ceiling figures used in the legal pension calculation (EUR 67,266.74 confirmed for 2024; the precise 2026 figure could not be independently confirmed this session -- flagged explicitly above and in the calculator's help text).