What do you actually know about your pension assets?
Publié le 12.11.2019 HNEC
It’s actually a paradoxical situation: During our entire working lives, we pay into the pension systems, yet only very few people show much concern about the often considerable assets accumulating there for them. This is ironic because – in contrast to prevailing opinion – as a pension fund beneficiary, you definitely have a say in the matter.
By means of occupational pension plans (2nd Pillar) and private pension plans (3rd Pillar), capital can be built up specifically to provide for retirement. As long as no claim event occurs, it is possible to take advantage of various options to optimize the retirement funds in line with your needs and personal risk tolerance and capacity.
2nd Pillar: determining how your pension fund contributions are invested
Something many people do not realize is that an entrepreneur can divide his company’s occupational pension plan into a basic and an executive plan. This offers three key advantages:
- You can avoid cross-subsidizing excessive pension commitments in the compulsory occupational pension plan
- You can select different investment strategies within the 1e executive pension solution
- You have better insight into your personal pension portfolio; performance and costs incurred are transparent
In addition, personal factors such as risk tolerance and capacity, or the investment horizon, can also be taken into account. This makes sense, as younger insureds often want to invest more in equities, while risk-averse insureds prefer a more defensive strategy.
But even people who, as employees, are not in a position to choose their own pension fund often have several options for optimizing their retirement plan, too – for example with tax-efficient purchases, different pension plans, or a targeted withdrawal strategy.
3rd Pillar: Creating flexibility and getting the most out of it
In particular in restricted Pillar 3a, pension assets can be built up in a tax-optimized manner by making annual contributions (for the year 2019, a maximum of CHF 6,826 for employees with a pension fund membership, or a maximum of CHF 34,128 for self-employed persons without a pension fund). Depending on the insured’s family and/or financial situation, a long-term insurance solution or flexible 3a bank savings (in an account or in securities) can be the right vessel for this.
As the 3rd Pillar (encompassing restricted Pillar 3a and unrestricted Pillar 3b) is significantly less regulated, a large number of options concerning pensions, tax optimization, and diversification of the total assets are available for gainfully employed persons, but also for private persons without earned income.
Providing for yourself independently – with our support
Make a timely appointment with one of our financial planning specialists, who will show you your personal options and clarify their financial advantages.