YEL calculator

Calculate the impact of YEL income on your social security benefits and estimate the size of your insurance contributions using the YEL calculator.

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YEL Calculator for the Self-Employed

Five tips for using the Calculator for the Self-Employed

Use the YEL calculator to estimate the impact of your YEL income on your social security and the amount of the YEL contribution.

1. Enter your YEL income in the YEL income field

The YEL income is an estimate of the annual value of your work input. It must match the annual salary that would be paid for the same work to an employee with the same skills as you have. With our YEL income calculator, you get an YEL income recommendation based on your business sector and your company's turnover.

2. Add accrued pension

If you would like to also include your pension accrual up to this point, enter the estimate of your accrued earnings-related pension from your pension record in the Your accrued pension field. You can check your pension record at any time in Varma Online Service. If you are not yet our customer, you can see the record in the Työeläke.fi service.

3. Choose due months of YEL contribution

The instalment months and the number of instalments affect the YEL contribution. The YEL contribution is lowest if you pay it in one instalment in January. If you pay at the beginning of the year, the contribution will be credited with interest. If you pay at the end of the year, the contribution will be debited with interest.

4. Find out what kind of pension and social security your YEL income provides

Remember that besides your pension, your YEL income determines your social security, such as sickness allowance, unemployment security and parental allowances, while you are working.

The last point: Remember to deduct YEL contributions in taxation

Remember that your YEL contributions are fully tax deductible.

Read more how to deduct YEL contributions in taxation

What do you need to know about YEL insurance?

As self-employed, organise your pension cover with YEL insurance

As self-employed, you are responsible for organising your pension cover by taking out statutory YEL insurance. You must have YEL insurance if you are self-employed or a light entrepreneur for at least four months and the estimated value of your work input is at least EUR 9,423.09 per year in 2026.

Read more about when you need YEL insurance

YEL insurance is based on YEL income

Your YEL income is an estimate of the monetary value of your work input on an annual level. Your YEL income should equal the salary that would be paid to an employee with the same professional skills as you have for carrying out the same work.

Read more about how YEL income should be determined

YEL contribution depends on your YEL income

The YEL insurance contribution is calculated as a percentage of your YEL income. The YEL contribution percentage for 2026 is 24.40%. If you are newly self-employed, we will automatically give you a 22% discount on your insurance contributions for the first four years.

Read more about YEL contributions

YEL income determines your social security

Besides pension, the YEL income determines your social security while your are working as self-employed. If you have a child and take parental leave, Kela will calculate your parental allowance based on your YEL income. If you fall ill, also Kela’s sickness allowance will be calculated based on the YEL income. When your YEL income is at least EUR 15,481 per year in 2026, you can join an unemployment fund for the self-employed.

Apply for a change in your YEL income in Varma Online Service

How does the YEL income affect my social security?

YEL insurance guarantees you an income. The YEL income not only affects your old-age pension but also other pensions under the Earning-related Pension Acts and various benefits to which you may be entitled even before retirement age.

A self-employed person accrues an earnings-related pension of 1.5% of their annual YEL income. An exception to this is YEL insured persons aged between 53 and 62, who accrue a pension of 1.7% of their YEL income during the transitional period 2017-2025.

Kela uses an annual income, based on the self-employed person's YEL income, to calculate the sickness allowance. The annual income is calculated for the 12 calendar months preceding the calendar month preceding the month in which the sickness allowance starts. If the YEL income has changed during the 12 months in question, Kela uses the average YEL income to calculate the daily allowance.

A self-employed person is entitled to sickness allowance if they are disabled due to illness and have been employed or self-employed for at least three months before the disability. If the work condition is not met, sickness allowance is only paid after 10 consecutive days of disability.

Read more about sickness allowance for self-employed persons on Kela's website

YEL insurance is not paused because of a short illness. However, YEL insurance can be terminated for longer periods of sick leave. When you return to work after sick leave, take out a new YEL insurance policy.

YEL insurance also secures the self-employed person's income in the event of disability. You can receive a fixed-term cash rehabilitation benefit or a permanent disability pension during a long-term illness if you are unable to return to work through vocational rehabilitation, for example. The amount of the benefit and the pension will depend on the amount of your YEL income.

Read more about disability pension

Read more about vocational rehabilitation

With YEL insurance, you will also secure your income during family leave. Kela's daily parental allowances include pregnancy allowance, parental allowance and partial parental allowance. The amount of all these daily allowances is based on the annual income, which is calculated on the basis of the YEL income of the self-employed person.

The annual income is calculated for the 12 calendar months preceding the calendar month preceding the month in which the parental allowance starts. If the amount of the YEL income has changed during these 12 months, the average YEL income is used.

Read more about parental allowances for self-employed persons on Kela's website

If you do not work as a self-employed person during your family leave, your YEL insurance can be terminated on your last day of work. When you return to work in your company, take out a new insurance policy.

Apply for termination in Varma Online Service

If you work during family leave, your YEL insurance will not be terminated. However, your YEL income should be reviewed if your contribution to the company is reduced during the period of family leave.

Apply for a change in your YEL income in Varma Online Service

A self-employed person can also face unemployment. YEL insurance also secures your income in the event of unemployment.

If you are not a member of an unemployment fund, you may be eligible for Kela's general social security benefit.

Read more about the general social security benefit on Kela's website

You may be eligible to receive earnings-related unemployment allowance if the confirmed income under your YEL insurance is at least EUR 15,481 in 2026 and you belong to the Entrepreneur Fund. The amount of earnings-related daily allowance is based on your YEL income. By keeping your YEL insurance up to date and joining the unemployment fund, you will receive an unemployment allowance based on your earnings in the event of unemployment.

Read more about the earnings-related unemployment allowance on the website of the Entrepreneur Fund

When you have YEL insurance, you can also take out voluntary accident insurance for self-employed persons. Your annual income for accident insurance is linked to your YEL income. Your YEL income will also affect any loss of income and pensions that may result from a work-related accident.

YEL insurance also provides cover in the event of the death of a breadwinner.

Read more about the survivors' pension, i.e. child's and surviving spouse's pension

Take out YEL insurance easily online or over the phone

For the insurance application, you only need

  • online banking codes or a mobile certificate
  • an estimate of your YEL income and working hours.

If you already have YEL insurance with another company, we will terminate the insurance with that company on your behalf.

If you are newly self-employed, you automatically get a 22% discount on your insurance contributions for the first four years.

Take out YEL insurance

You can also take out YEL insurance over the phone. Call us at 010 244 1010 and we will go over your situation together. You can reach our sales from Monday to Friday, 8:00–16:00. You can also leave us a contact request.

Help with using our services

Take care of your YEL matters online

In our online service, you can, for instance

  • apply for a change in your YEL income
  • view your past and future YEL contribution
  • request an extended term of payment for an invoice

Sign in to the service using your personal banking codes.

Log in to Varma Online Service

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