The main concern of self-employed contractors is retirement and, more specifically, the amount of their pension, which they deem too low, according to a survey by the UCM among 480 of its clients.
Every year, the UCM, which represents the interests of SMEs and self-employed persons in the French-speaking part of Belgium, asks the customers of its social insurance fund about their expectations.
The main concern of self-employed persons still in activity remains the same each year. It is the amount of the pension, considered too low by 83% of the respondents, a very high percentage but one that is decreasing somewhat.
“The objective of alignment with the minimum amount granted to employees has been achieved," the UCM said in a press release on Friday. "Since 2021, the way the pension is calculated is the same and therefore the maximum pension will also be aligned in 2066, given the 45-year-career rule."
"Admittedly, over the years, the sums granted will gradually become proportional to the contributions paid, but it is very slow and unsatisfactory,” the UCM added.
Nearly one in four independents (24%) would like to be able to pay more to accumulate more pension.
For 53% of the independents polled, the retirement age was a concern. This percentage has doubled in four years, notes the UCM, which attributes this to the raising of the retirement age from 65 to 66 in 2025 and 67 in 2030.
According to the UCM, the “executive is too rigid” and there are no end-of-career adjustment formulas for the self-employed.
