Tak21 vs Tak23: Belgian Life Insurance (Compared)

📅 Last updated: 8 May 2026
 ·  🏷 Topic: Tak21, Tak23, life insurance, retirement choice
 ·  🇧🇪 For: Belgian retail investors

Tak21 and Tak23 are two Belgian categories of life insurance with a savings component. They are often offered as an alternative to direct investing, and are common in pension saving (pensioensparen), EIP and VAPZ. The core difference lies in guaranteed vs. variable return.

The core difference

How does each work?

Tak21:

• The insurer guarantees a minimum interest rate.
• At the end of the year you may receive profit-sharing (a bonus from the insurer’s profits).
• Your capital can therefore only rise or stay stable — never fall.
• The insurer covers the market risk; you pay for that in lower expected returns.

Tak23:

• Your premium is invested in one or more investment funds (chosen by the insurer or selectable by you).
• The return follows the markets — it can be substantially positive in good years and negative in bad years.
• No guarantee of capital preservation (unless specifically included).

Taxation (common to both)

On contribution: premium tax of 2% on each payment. (Exception: pension-savings insurance products are exempt from the 2% premium tax.)

On surrender within 8 years:

• 30% withholding tax (roerende voorheffing) on a notional return of 4.75% (the fictitious-return rule) for Tak21.
• Standard Tak23 policies carry no withholding tax (roerende voorheffing) on the return: the 30%-on-4.75% fictitious-return rule applies to Tak21 only. Since 2026, gains on non-pension Tak23 contracts may instead fall under the new 10% capital gains tax on surrender (see below).

On surrender after 8 years:

• Under certain conditions exempt from withholding tax on the return.

💡 The 8-year rule is a key factor. Anyone investing for less than 8 years pays the notional-return withholding tax. Anyone who leaves it for 8+ years can, under certain conditions, be fully tax-exempt on the return.

When does Tak21 make sense?

• You want absolute certainty about capital preservation (for example money for a house purchase in 5 years).
• You have no appetite for fluctuations — the sleep-easy factor outweighs return.
• You use it for inheritance planning with beneficiaries — a fiscally interesting structure.
• You expect low market returns in the coming years (an opinion, not a forecast).

When is Tak23 generally more advantageous?

• You have a 15+ year horizon — fluctuations are then no problem and historically equities outperform Tak21 rates.
• You know what you are doing as far as the underlying fund is concerned — choose a broadly diversified world fund with a low TER, not a sector or specialty fund.
• You thoroughly compare the all-in costs (entry, management, exit) — some Tak23 products have 2%+ annual costs, which erodes the return advantage.

The big pitfall of Tak23

Many Tak23 products have high management costs (1–1.5% per year on top of the TER of the underlying fund, sometimes up to 2.5% in total). Over 30 years, 1% extra costs means roughly 25–30% less final capital.

Always calculate:

1. What is the all-in cost per year (premium tax + management + underlying TER)?
2. What is the expected return over your horizon?
3. Compare with direct investing in a world ETF via a broker (TER 0.2% + TOB 0.12%).

For most long-term investors, direct investing in an ETF is cheaper than Tak23 — unless inheritance planning or the 8-year-rule exemption are specifically valuable.

Tak21 or Tak23 in pension saving?

In pension saving (pensioensparen) you choose between a pension-saving insurance (Tak21 or Tak23) or a pension-saving fund:

Note: pension-savings insurance (Tak21 or Tak23) is exempt from the 2% premium tax — a meaningful cost advantage over standard individual Tak21/23 products.

Note: pension-savings insurance (Tak21 or Tak23) is exempt from the 2% premium tax — a meaningful cost advantage over standard individual Tak21/23 products.

• A pension-saving fund (mixed: equities + bonds) is generally cheaper and more flexible — comparable to direct investing, but with the tax advantages of pension saving.
• Tak23 pension saving can make sense for those who value the insurance elements (beneficiaries on death, guaranteed payout).
• Tak21 pension saving gives you a guaranteed return but leaves a lot of growth on the table.

💡 A common rule of thumb: 30+ years to retirement → fund or Tak23, 5–10 years to retirement → Tak21 or a gradual wind-down.

Capital gains tax (from 2026)

Since 1 January 2026, gains on individual (non-pension) Tak21 and Tak23 products are subject to a 10% capital gains tax on surrender, buy-back, or partial withdrawal. An annual exemption of EUR 10,000 applies. Pension-linked products (pension saving, EIP, VAPZ, group insurance) are excluded. For contracts in force before 2026, only gains accrued after 31 December 2025 are taxable — the contract value on that date is the new acquisition value (step-up).

Capital gains tax (from 2026)

Since 1 January 2026, gains on individual (non-pension) Tak21 and Tak23 products are subject to a 10% capital gains tax on surrender, buy-back, or partial withdrawal. An annual exemption of EUR 10,000 applies. Pension-linked products (pension saving, EIP, VAPZ, group insurance) are excluded. For contracts in force before 2026, only gains accrued after 31 December 2025 are taxable — the contract value on that date is the new acquisition value (step-up).

Sources

1. Wikifin — Tak 21 life insurance and Tak 23 life insurance
2. FSMA — Life insurance
3. Assuralia — Insurance sector overview (general homepage)

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