The price of YEL insurance - YEL contribution

Alex is a newly graduated 23-year-old hairdresser starting his first business. Alex estimates his annual turnover will be EUR 35,000. Alex estimates that if another equally skilled person performed the job, he would pay the person an annual salary of EUR 26,800. This means that Alex’s annual YEL income is EUR 26,800.

In 2026 the YEL contribution is 24.40% of the confirmed income. Alex’s YEL contribution is EUR 6,539 per year, or EUR 545 per month. As Alex is a first-time entrepreneur, he receives a 22% discount on his contributions for the first four years. After the discount, Alex’s YEL contribution is EUR 425 per month. Alex can deduct the YEL contributions in the taxation of the company.

The calculation is an example, and the number of instalments may affect the YEL contribution. 

With this YEL contribution, Alex will accrue his pension and improve his social security. Social security includes, for example, daily allowances paid by Kela. As Alex has YEL insurance from Ilmarinen, he has access to our convenient online service and continuous and flexible support from our experts. 

Nina is a 35-year-old part-time entrepreneur who works part-time as a consultant, for 10 hours per month. Nina estimates that if she hired another consultant who was equally skilled to do her job, she would pay her a salary of EUR 25 per hour, or EUR 3,000 per year. This means that Nina’s annual YEL income is EUR 3,000. For 2024, the lower limit for YEL income was EUR 9010.28 per year, so Nina’s confirmed income is below the minimum. Therefore, Nina does not need YEL insurance yet.

In 2026, Nina increases her working as a consultant to 50 hours per month. Nina still estimates that another person would be paid EUR 25 per hour, or EUR 15,000 per year if the person performed Nina’s work. Therefore, Nina’s YEL income is then EUR 15,000 per year. This confirmed income exceeds the lower limit, and Nina now needs YEL insurance.

The YEL contribution is 24.40 % of the confirmed income. Nina’s YEL contribution is EUR 3,660 per year, or 305 euros per month. As Nina's YEL insurance has been valid for less than 4 years, she receives the 22% new entrepreneur discount. After the discount, Nina’s YEL contribution is EUR 238 per month. 

The calculation is an example, and the number of instalments may affect the YEL contribution. 

With this YEL contribution, Nina will accrue her pension and improve her social security. Social security includes, for example, daily allowances paid by Kela. As Nina has YEL insurance from Ilmarinen, she has access to our convenient online service and continuous and flexible support from our experts. 

You cannot shop around for the cheapest YEL insurance, as the contribution percentage is the same regardless of pension insurance company. The price depends on the entrepreneur’s confirmed YEL income, age, new entrepreneur discount, the number of instalments and the choice of instalment months.

You will receive the cheapest YEL insurance when you select once per year as the number of instalments and January as the instalment month.

YEL contributions are tax deductible.

You cannot shop around for the cheapest YEL insurance, as the contribution percentage is the same regardless of pension insurance company. 

However, we provide you with much more than just the insurance:

You can manage your matters easily – the comprehensive entrepreneur’s online service is available to you 24/7 – you can view, for example, the amount of confirmed income and the amount of pension you have accumulated.

Your pension is safe – we will take care of your payments, so when the time comes, you will be able to enjoy the pension you accumulate.

We care about your work ability – if your health deteriorates and hinders your work, we will help you continue working as an entrepreneur.

You’ll have an expert team at your disposal – whether it’s about an insurance or a pension – our team will be happy to help you.

You can get flexibility depending on your situation – for example, you can easily apply for a due date extension for your YEL contributions online. 

In 2026, the lower limit of confirmed YEL income is EUR 9,423,09 per year, or approximately EUR 786 euros per month.

Based on the 2026 minimum YEL confirmed income, the YEL contribution is EUR 2,277 per year, or EUR 182.75 per month (or EUR 1,711 per year, or EUR 142.58 per month, for a new entrepreneur), if the YEL insurance is paid in one instalment in January.

For pension and social security, it is important that the YEL income and the YEL contribution determined based on it are set correctly from the outset. However, in order to accumulate the daily allowance, the confirmed income must be at least EUR 15 481 in 2026.

The price of YEL insurance always depends on the YEL income, the age of the entrepreneur, the new entrepreneur discount, the number of instalments and the instalment months.

As a part-time entrepreneur, you determine the amount of YEL income according to your work input. When assessing your YEL income, consider how much you would pay a person as skilled as you in your field if they were doing your job. If your work input as a part-time entrepreneur is small, it is likely that your confirmed YEL income will also be smaller, which means that the YEL contribution will also be lower.

You can use our YEL calculator to calculate the confirmed income recommendation and the price of YEL insurance.

According to the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ YEL Act application instructions, the part-time or seasonal nature of entrepreneurship may sometimes be a reason for deviating from the recommendations on confirmed YEL income.

You can use the discount period (48 months) in up to two parts. For example, if you have a YEL insurance policy for 8 months and you terminate it, you will have 40 more months to use. You can take advantage of the remaining discount months if you take out YEL insurance again later.

We understand that there may be different stages during entrepreneurship and we want to support you in all of them. If it’s not possible for you to pay the YEL contribution on time, you can apply for an extension of the due date of your invoice in our online service. In the online service, you can also change the instalment months and the number of instalments.

You can also apply for temporary flexibility in the YEL contribution, which can be used to temporarily reduce the YEL contribution by 10–20%.

If you reduce your YEL contribution, this will also reduce the amount of your accumulated pension for the flexibility year. A temporary contribution reduction will not affect your other social security besides your pension.