What is YEL income?

Your pension amount and pension contribution are determined based on your confirmed income from self-employment (YEL income). So are your sickness allowances and compensation based on your voluntary workers’ compensation insurance. Your YEL income also affects the amount of your unemployment allowance and your daily allowances for parents.

Estimate your confirmed income from self-employment with calculator

The calculator recommends your confirmed income from self-employment and its flexibility. The recommendation is indicative.

Calculate your recommended confirmed income

How is the amount of your YEL income determined?

Your YEL income is the monetary value of your work input as a self-employed person. Rule of thumb: your YEL income should correspond to the wage that you would pay to a worker that you hired to do the same work.

Earnings limits in 2024

  • Your confirmed annual income has to be at least 9,010.28.
  • You can insure earnings to an amount of no more than €204,625 euros per year.
  • To get insurance for unemployment, you must earn at least €14,803 euros per year from your self-employment.

Your pension provider will make an overall estimate of your confirmed income. The estimate is based on the median wage of your field of business, the value and amount of your work input, the scope of your entire business activity and your professional skills.

All pension providers use the same YEL income calculation service when confirming your  income from self-employment. Based on your field of business and turnover, the calculator gives you a recommended YEL income level with a certain amount of leeway (+/- 30% of the recommended confirmed income). As a rule, your confirmed income should be placed within those limits. Using the calculation service, your recommended confirmed income is determined in the same way by all pension providers.

If your recommended YEL income level and the leeway do not sufficiently consider the value of your work input, it is possible to deviate from the recommendation based on information received on your self-employment. Such reasons may include:

  • Your self-employment is done on the side or as part-time work.
  • Your working hours are either fewer or higher than average.
  • Your work is unconventional (e.g., assisting tasks, family workers).
  • Your company has other employees who reduce or increase your own work input (e.g., family workers or many employees).
  • Your wage, fringe benefits or other actual earnings that are taxed as earned income are higher than your recommended YEL income.

You can always present additional information on the value of your work input. You will be issued an appealable decision (with grounds for the decision) on your confirmed income.

Keep your estimated YEL income up-to-date

Your pension provider will raise your confirmed income at the beginning of each year using the wage coefficient. That way, your confirmed income will not lag behind the general wage development.

Your confirmed income can temporarily flex both up and down. Go to the site ‘Pension amounts or contributions’ for more information on how your confirmed income can flex.

Contact your earnings-related pension provider when you want to talk about raising your confirmed income or if there are changes in your business operations. The confirmed income cannot be amended in retrospect.

Income from work adjusted regularly in the future

In line with the legal amendment that came into effect in 2023, your pension provider will review your YEL income every three years. Your YEL income will be reviewed if it hasn’t been reviewed on some other grounds in the last three calendar years.

Your pension provider will review your confirmed income by the end of

  • 2023 if your confirmed income is less than €15,000
  • 2024 if your confirmed income is less than €25,000
  • 2025 if your confirmed income is higher than that.

In the first two reviews, your pension provider can raise your confirmed annual income by no more than 4,000 euros per time, which means that your monthly pension contribution can rise by no more than 80 euros after each review.

You can always present additional information on the value of your work input. You will be issued an appealable decision (with grounds for the decision) on your confirmed income.