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Waiting costs more than you think

A free supplementary pension for the self-employed is one you build yourself, with a tax advantage.

Nobody tops up your pension but you

You build your state pension through your social contributions, just like an employee. Except that for a self-employed person the amount is generally lower, and for most it is not enough to keep up their standard of living.*

On top of that comes a second difference. Many employees build up, above their state pension, a supplementary pension paid by their employer or their sector. As a self-employed person you have to arrange that supplementary pension yourself.

The thing is that you only feel this once there is nothing left to do about it. A pension is built with time, and time is the one element you cannot buy back later. Wait five years and you miss five years of return and five years of tax relief.

The reason for waiting is almost always the same: your income is not the same every month, so fixing an amount feels risky. It does not have to be. With a free supplementary pension for the self-employed you decide yourself what you pay in and when, within a tax ceiling that depends on your income. A good year you top up, a lean year you keep it low.

And the benefit does not only arrive at pension age. The premium of your free supplementary pension goes in as a business expense, which lowers your taxable income and with it your social contributions. If you want to build up more, you combine it with a private pension agreement or, if you work through a company, with a company pension commitment. Each of those has its own tax treatment.

Why Ōmata

Your social insurance fund offers you its own arrangement, usually with a single insurer. That is convenient, but it is not a choice. We are a broker and set the arrangements of different insurers side by side, and at the same time we look at what you already have: an old group policy, pension savings, a policy from a previous employer.

You open the chat and we ask only the questions that actually shape your file. Your status, your income and what you have already built up. With that we calculate with you how much you can pay in this year within the tax ceiling and which arrangement fits. You answer when it suits you, and the chat always answers. Afterwards you keep the same point of contact, including when your income changes and your contribution has to move with it.

How to start

  1. You send a message through the chat on this page.

  2. You answer a few targeted questions about your situation. No long questionnaire.

  3. You get a tailored proposal usually within two working days, explaining what you build up, what it saves you in tax and where the limits are.

  4. If you agree, you confirm the proposal.

What a conversation with Ōmata looks like

You do not need to know which policy you are looking for, and there is no form to fill in.

Start your request

Viktor is online

You are talking to an AI assistant. You can ask for a human colleague to take over at any time.

  • CustomerI have a private limited company and pay myself a small salary. What can I do for my pension?
  • ŌmataStart with the free supplementary pension: it also lowers your social contributions. A company pension arrangement can be added, but the room depends on your remuneration — and that is limited with a small salary. Do you already have anything running?
  • CustomerThe free supplementary pension from a few years back, nothing else.
  • ŌmataWe will check whether there is still room there. What is your current gross monthly salary from the company?
  • CustomerAbout 2,500 euros gross a month.
  • ŌmataNoted. I will pass this on to our expert, with a calculation of your room for a company pension arrangement. You will hear from us usually within two working days.

Try it yourself

Who this is for

Every self-employed person, whether as a main or secondary occupation. Which form fits depends on one question: do you work with or without a company?

  • Self-employed with a company

    The widest choice: a free supplementary pension privately, and a company-paid arrangement alongside it.

  • Self-employed without a company

    A free supplementary pension and alongside it the private arrangement that exists for those without a company.

  • Professional practices

    Doctors, lawyers, architects: high incomes, low state pension, and usually enough room to build.

  • Assisting spouses

    An assisting spouse with their own social status can build up too.

  • Anyone starting as a secondary occupation

    As soon as you pay self-employed social contributions, the first arrangement comes into play.

Who this is not for

  • Anyone not paying self-employed social contributions. Without that status the first arrangement is not possible. As an employee you build through a group plan or privately.
  • Anyone who needs the money this year. This is released at retirement. Taking it earlier is usually not possible, or only at a tax cost.
  • Anyone who should first cover their income risk. Building a pension while uninsured against long-term incapacity is building without a foundation. Look at guaranteed income first.
  • Anyone already at the ceiling. If the room under the 80 per cent rule is used up, there is nothing left to add tax-efficiently. That is a calculation, not a feeling.

What pension building for the self-employed covers

There are three main forms. The free supplementary pension is paid privately and also lowers your social contributions. The company arrangement is a pension commitment your company pays for you. The third is the alternative for those without a company. They do not exclude one another: most self-employed people combine them.

  • The free supplementary pension You pay it privately; it lowers your taxable income and with it your social contributions.

    The only form with that second effect.

  • The company arrangement An individual pension commitment your company takes out and pays for you.

    Only possible with a company and with a regular salary.

  • The private arrangement The pension agreement for the self-employed, intended for those working without a company.

    It tops up what the first form alone cannot reach.

  • Death cover In each of the three forms a capital sum on death can be included, for your partner or children.
  • Premium waiver on incapacity A section that keeps the build-up running when you are off long term.

    Often forgotten, and needed precisely then.

  • Property financing With the company and private arrangements the reserve built up can, under conditions, be used for buying or renovating property in the European Economic Area.
  • A top-up, not a replacement Everything above comes on top of your state pension and does not replace it.

What pension building for the self-employed does not cover

Not covered is the state pension itself, and none of this is freely available money. Nor is certainty about the tax treatment twenty years out, or building above the ceiling of the 80 per cent rule.

  • Freely available savings This is released at retirement.

    Getting at it earlier has a tax price — if it is possible at all.

  • Building above the ceiling Anything paid in above the 80 per cent rule is no longer deductible.

    The room is calculated, not estimated.

  • A company arrangement without a company No company, no company arrangement.

    The private form takes its place.

  • Certainty about the tax rules The rules on deduction and payout move with the legislation.

    What applies today is not a promise for later.

  • A guaranteed return in every formula There are formulas with a guaranteed rate and formulas where you carry investment risk.

    That is a choice, not a detail.

Just ask

Why a self-employed state pension is low

The state pension is calculated on the incomes on which contributions were paid, over the whole career. For a self-employed person those revalued incomes sit structurally lower than for an employee on a comparable income, and that feeds through into the benefit.*

On top of that, many self-employed people have had years with a lower income — the first years of the business, a period of investment, a bad year — and those years weigh in the calculation.

The order: the free supplementary pension first

The usual recommendation is to start with the free supplementary pension and only then build a company or private arrangement. The reason is one property the other forms do not have.

A contribution to it lowers your taxable professional income. That reduces not only your tax but also the base on which your social contributions are calculated. That second effect is the difference: you build up, you pay less tax and you pay fewer contributions.

The 80 per cent rule as a ceiling

There is an upper limit on what can be built up tax-efficiently. In practice it is called the 80 per cent rule: the total of your state pension and all supplementary pensions may not exceed a certain share of your last normal annual salary.

That limit mainly affects the company arrangement, because it is tied to the salary you draw from the company. If you pay yourself little, the room is small — however much profit the company makes. That is the most common disappointment at a first calculation.

Company or private: it hangs on the company

If you have a company and pay yourself a regular monthly salary, the company arrangement has the greatest leverage: the company pays, and the premium is a business expense for it.

Working without a company, that form does not exist for you. The private arrangement took its place: you pay it yourself and receive a tax reduction for it. Less powerful than the company form, and considerably more than nothing.

What determines the price

What you pay in is up to you, within the limits the rules set. What determines that room and the return, we can list.

  • Your income

    Professional income determines the room in the first arrangement.

  • Your salary

    For the company form, what the company pays you monthly.

  • Career and end age

    How many years are left to build.

  • What is already in place

    Existing contracts count towards the ceiling.

  • Additional covers

    Death and premium waiver, or build-up only.

  • Return profile

    A guaranteed rate or a formula with investment risk.

Frequently asked questions

Which arrangement comes first?

Usually the free supplementary pension. It is the only form that lowers not just your tax but also the base of your social contributions. Only once that room is used does it become worthwhile to build further through the company arrangement if you have a company, or the private one if you do not. It is a rule of thumb; have it calculated.

I have a company. What can I do with it?

An individual pension commitment your company takes out and pays for you. The premium is a business expense for the company. The condition is that you pay yourself a regular monthly salary, because the room hangs on that salary and not on the profit.

What is the difference between the company and the private form?

The company form is paid by your company and only exists if you have one. The private form you pay yourself and it is intended for the self-employed without a company. The company form is the more powerful one; the private form is what exists for everyone else.

How much can I contribute this year?

For the first arrangement there is an annual maximum tied to your professional income. For the company or private form the 80 per cent rule acts as the ceiling, calculated on your salary, your career and what is already built up. The amounts and percentages change; we recalculate them against the figures in force.

What is the 80 per cent rule?

An upper limit: the total of your state pension and all supplementary pensions may not exceed a certain share of your last normal annual salary. It mainly affects the company form. If you pay yourself little salary, the room is small regardless of the profit.

Can I buy property with this?

With the company and private arrangements the reserve built up can, under conditions, be used for buying, building or renovating property within the European Economic Area. That is one of the reasons to let the form weigh in the choice.

Who is behind Ōmata?

Ōmata Insurance is the AI-first studio of the Induver group and a sister company of Group Induver NV: two companies within the same group, not parent and subsidiary. Ōmata puts you in touch with Group Induver NV, an insurance broker holding FSMA number 016880; that is where the advice and the policy come about. The full identification is set out in the legal notices.

About Ōmata

Ōmata is the AI-first insurance studio of Group Induver. You tell us what you want to insure over chat; usually within two working days you receive a proposal, drawn up by an insurance broker at Group Induver NV, registered with the FSMA under number 016880.

Read on

Ready to start?

Send us a message and tell us briefly what you want to insure. You get an immediate reply and your proposal usually within two working days.

Notes on the asterisks on this page
  • This comparison with an employee’s pension is deliberately given without a figure.