All articles · 2026-01-07 · Pension
How much should you really contribute to your supplementary pension?
Many self-employed individuals contribute too little to their supplementary pension, simply because they don't know what they'll need later. Without a target amount, it remains...
By Jan Hermans, CEO & founder of Lyff.
A simple rule of thumb helps make it tangible: €250,000 accumulated by retirement age roughly corresponds to €1,000 per month in supplementary income.
So, anyone who wants an extra €2,000 per month will need closer to €500,000. That insight alone clarifies for many entrepreneurs why their current contributions are insufficient.
From there, you work backward. What is your desired pension income? What horizon do you still have? And how much do you need to contribute today to make that goal achievable?
In practice, many self-employed individuals then encounter the 80% rule. This is often seen as a hindrance, but it doesn't have to be. There are various ways to calculate this 80% limit, depending on assumptions about salary, career, and future pension rights. Some approaches allow for more flexibility than others. The difference is not in “safe” or “aggressive,” but in how well-considered the calculation is.
Additionally, age plays an important role. For younger self-employed individuals, the focus is often on growth and the long term. For those who start later or are closer to retirement, a customized mix becomes more important: a shorter horizon, a different risk appetite, and sometimes a combination of pension accrual and alternative asset accumulation.
What always applies: a supplementary pension is fiscally one of the most efficient ways to build wealth. But it only works if the contributions are sufficient, regular, and aligned with your reality.
In short: the right question is not “what is the minimum I can contribute?” But: “what do I need and how do I purposefully build towards that today?”
Lyff.'s pension engine under the microscope
When you, as an entrepreneur, are in the control room of your company, the IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) slider is often the most powerful. In my book, I refer to the management company as a pension engine for good reason. The big advantage is that the company pays the premiums and deducts them as professional expenses, while the capital is built up privately for you. But be careful: the tax authorities are watching via the 80% rule. This rule states that your total pension may not exceed 80% of your last normal gross annual salary.
A concrete example from practice: take a company director with a gross salary of €45,000. Without additional optimization, the pension space is limited. But by converting a portion of the profit distribution into a monthly warrant plan, the salary basis for the calculation increases significantly. In a comparable case, we saw the estimated final capital in the IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) rise from €531,000 to over €1.2 million, simply by repackaging the salary mix differently within legal limits. This is the core of smart salary optimization.
Want to know how your salary mix impacts your future capital? Read more about our approach to salary optimization.
Financing real estate with your pension plan
A shortcut many entrepreneurs overlook is using the pension reserve for real estate. You don't have to wait until you're 67 to enjoy that capital. Through an advance on your IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) policy, you can withdraw up to 60 or 80 percent of the accumulated reserve to acquire, renovate, or maintain a property within the European Union. This is a form of internal financing where your company finances the accumulation with gross money, while you privately immediately reap the benefits of the property.
Additionally, you can work with a bullet loan or a deferred repayment loan (wedersamenstelling). With this, you privately only pay the interest on the loan, while the company, through IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) premiums, saves the capital that will pay off the loan in one go at the end of the term. This significantly reduces the pressure on your private cash flow compared to a classic mortgage loan that you have to repay with net income.
Curious how you can strategically use your IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) for your home? Discover the possibilities of real estate financing.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to my IPT if I suddenly lower my salary?
Because the 80% rule is based on your normal and regular remuneration, a decrease in your salary will directly lead to less fiscal space in your pension plan. This can result in exceeding the limit, meaning the premiums are no longer fully deductible in corporate tax. It is therefore crucial to maintain a stable salary policy if you want to save maximally for the future.
Is a VAPZ (Vrij Aanvullend Pensioen voor Zelfstandigen) still useful if I already have an IPT?
Yes, a VAPZ (Vrij Aanvullend Pensioen voor Zelfstandigen) is often the first logical step. You pay the premiums privately (or the company pays them for you as a benefit in kind), which reduces your taxable income and leads to lower social contributions. The fiscal advantage in personal income tax can amount to more than 50 percent. Only after the VAPZ (Vrij Aanvullend Pensioen voor Zelfstandigen) has been optimized, do we at Lyff. look at the remaining space in the IPT (Individuele Pensioentoezegging) for the really big steps.