YEL Income (Earnings Basis)

Table of Contents

1. YEL Income
2. What Is YEL Income?
3. How YEL Income Affects You
4. Income Limits for 2026
5. How to Set the Right Income
6. Keep Your Income Updated
7. Summary

YEL Income

YEL income is the monetary value of your work input as an entrepreneur. It is the foundation of your pension and social security. It is not your withdrawn salary, turnover, or profit—it is what you would pay an external professional to do the same job. A well-set YEL income yields better pension accrual and daily allowances and avoids under-insuring yourself.

What Is YEL Income?

• Work input estimate: The amount you would pay yourself as salary if you were an employee in the same role.
• Not salary or revenue: It is neither the company’s turnover nor your withdrawals, but the market value of your work input.
• Basis for coverage: Your YEL contribution, pension accrual, and social benefits are all calculated from it.

How YEL Income Affects You

• YEL contribution: Calculated from YEL income; too low an income means too little protection.
• Pension: Future earnings-related pension accrues from YEL income.
• Social benefits: Sickness, parental, and rehabilitation allowances are based on YEL income.
• Unemployment security: You can join the Entrepreneur Fund (Yrittäjäkassa) and get earnings-related benefits when your YEL income is at least 15,481.00 €/year (2026).

Income Limits for 2026

• Lower limit: 9,423.09 €/year (about 786 €/month) – YEL becomes mandatory once you exceed this and your business runs at least 4 months.
• Unemployment threshold: 15,481.00 €/year – minimum to access earnings-related unemployment security.
• Upper limit: 214,000.00 €/year – maximum confirmable YEL income.

How to Set the Right Income

• Benchmark against the salary you would pay another professional with similar skills on your field to do the same work.
• Use pension insurers’ industry calculators; they give a recommendation and a range (+/- 30%).
• If the recommendation misses your situation (e.g., atypical hours, special expertise, team size), provide extra information to your pension insurer and request an adjustment.

Keep Your Income Updated

• Pension insurers review YEL income at least every three years to keep it aligned with your work input.
• Income is indexed annually with the wage coefficient so it tracks general wage growth.
• Update your YEL income when your role, turnover, or work input changes; changes cannot be made retroactively.

Summary

YEL income is the cornerstone of an entrepreneur’s pension and social security. Set it to the real market value of your work, use calculators for a baseline, and adjust when your business changes. That ensures your YEL contributions, pension accrual, and daily allowances stay at the right level—and that you qualify for unemployment protection when needed.