Pension insurance

With the pension insurance of the Overseas Social Security, you save for your own retirement pension.

Just like the Belgian pension scheme, our insurance policy also supports your family if something happens to you, with:

• a survivor's pension for your widow or widower,
• an orphan's pension for your children, and/or
• possibly a pension for your divorced spouse.

Your retirement pension

The retirement pension is based on the capitalisation principle. This means that the amount depends on:

• the contributions you have made,
• the age at which you have started to make your contributions,
• how long you have contributed to the insurance policy, and
• the age at which you go on your pension.

Age at which you go on your pension

Normally, you go on your pension as soon as you are 65 years old. After that age, your pension will no longer be capitalised, unless you continue to make continuous contributions.

The minimum pension age is 60 years old. If you go on your pension between the ages of 60 and 65, the amount of your pension will be reduced according to your age.

Working as a pensioner?

As a retired expat, you may still do paid work without restriction. This does not make a difference for your pension.

Deductions from the pension amount

Certain deductions may apply regarding your pension amount, for instance specific contributions. You can find more information on the page What deductions may apply regarding your pension on this website.

Holiday pay

If you are retired and you receive a retirement pension, survivor's pension or pension for a divorced spouse, you receive annual holiday pay. To benefit, you must have received the pension of the month of May of the year in question.

Please note: nationals of countries outside the EEA or Switzerland with an 18b contract will not receive holiday pay.

Amount of holiday pay

The amount of the holiday pay may never exceed the amount of the pension of the Overseas Social Security for the month of May of the current year. If other institutions pay your holiday pay, that amount will be deducted from your OSS holiday pay. If you still have a professional activity, this income also has an impact on the amount of holiday pay.

What will be the impact on the amount of holiday pay?

Are you a salaried employee, public servant or mandate holder?

You are self employed, an aide or combination (self-employed and salaried employee)?

Maximum amount according to the index of 2024

The maximum holiday pay for a family is €1,464.91. You receive this if you are married and your spouse does not work and has no income (retirement pension, survivor's pension or similar, unemployment benefit, sickness or disability allowance).

For a single person, the maximum amount is €1,171.92.

Survivor's pension

If your spouse was affiliated with the Overseas Social Security and dies, you will receive a survivor's pension.

Calculation of the survivor's pension

The survivor's pension is a percentage of the retirement pension of the deceased spouse. This percentage depends on the age and situation of the deceased and the age difference between the spouses.

How do we calculate the percentage?

Survivor's pension and marriage

If you were married when your spouse was already a pensioner, then one year must have passed between the marriage and the death of your spouse. You therefore receive a survivor's pension from a marriage of one year or more.

Are you remarrying? Then you continue to receive the pension. You can also take on paid work – this does not affect the amount of your survivor's pension (except if it is a survivor's pension based on contributions paid during the colonial period).

Orphan's pension

If one of your parents was affiliated to the Overseas Social Security and dies, you can receive an orphan's pension. You can combine your orphan's pension with child benefits.

The orphan's pension is paid to each child of the deceased insured person and is not shared between them.

Who is eligible?

The following children are eligible:

• legitimate children, adopted children, children born out of wedlock legally recognised by the insured person, and
• legitimate children of the spouse of the insured person, if the father or mother is deceased and the Overseas Social Security does not give them any benefits from the Solidarity and equalization fund.

You receive an orphan's pension when:

• your father or mother was affiliated to the Overseas Social Security and died, and
• you are younger than 18 years old, or
• you are younger than 25 years old, and
  • you are in full-time education, or
  • you are attending an educational establishment with a full curriculum.

Calculation of the orphan's pension

The calculation depends on the situation of your deceased insured parent.

• if your deceased parent was married at the time of their death, your orphan's pension amounts to one third of the pension that a surviving spouse of the same age would have received. If your other parent also dies, the percentage rises to half that pension.
• if your deceased father or mother was widowed, single or divorced, your orphan's pension is 25% of his or her pension. If your deceased parent had not yet retired, we use the pension a fictitious surviving spouse would have received as our basis.

Moreover, did the insured person pay contributions for our insurance policy for more than 10 years, or did they die while still paying contributions for at least one year? Then as an orphan, you will receive a supplementary payment depending on the number of years of participation of your deceased parent.

Pension for a divorced spouse

You may be entitled to a pension as an ex-spouse. However, you must meet the following conditions:

• you are Belgian or a national of another member state of the EEA or Switzerland, or divorced from someone with this nationality,
• you are 65 years old,
• you have not remarried, and
• for men: your divorce dates from after 31/12/2006.

Who is eligible?

When you are divorced from someone insured with the Overseas Social Security, you are entitled to a pension if the insured person belongs to one of the following categories:

• a national of an EEA(New window) member state or Switzerland,
• a national of a country with which a reciprocity agreement has been concluded granting him or her this advantage.

Who isn’t eligible?

When you are divorced from someone insured with the Overseas Social Security, you are not entitled to a pension if you, as a divorced spouse:

• have been dismissed from parental authority,
• have been convicted for attempt of or killing your spouse,
• are remarried: during your marriage you are not entitled to receiving a pension.

When does your entitlement to pension start as a divorced spouse?

Your entitlement to receiving a pension as a divorced spouse starts on:

• the first day of the month following the application, and
• at the earliest on the first day of the month following the applicant’s 65th birthday.

Calculation of the pension of a divorced spouse

All elements mentioned beneath are relevant for the calculation of a pension for a divorced spouse:

• there are no income limits for a divorced spouse who has a professional career as an employee or a self-employed person. Still, the pension is paid at the earliest from the age of 65.
• a pension for a divorced spouse amounts to 56,25% of the retirement pension that would have been granted to the insured at the age of 65, for the duration of the marriage. The retirement pension of the insured is calculated on the basis of an age of 65 years. It could be the case though:
  • the insured has terminated the insurance, and
  • the divorce takes effect after the age of 65.

  In that case the pension is calculated based on of the above cases, more specifically the case in which the age of the insured is closest to 65.

  For the calculation only the periods in which spouses were living together as a married couple are taken into account.

• As a divorced spouse it is possible you are entitled to– for certain periods of your marriage - a personal retirement pension on the grounds of another Belgian or foreign scheme.

  In that case the retirement sum for a divorced spouse is reduced with this personal retirement pension, for the colliding periods in which premiums were paid.

Unofficial separation

You do not live together anymore, but your divorce is not official? Then you are still married in the eyes of the Overseas Social Security. Spouses receive half of the retirement pension awarded to their partner, and personal benefits such as the person's own pension are deducted from this.