A pillar 3a is suitable for anyone over 18 years of age who wishes to save for retirement. Pillar 3a is particularly suitable for young people who want to start saving for retirement. That’s because you decide how much and when to pay. Even smaller amounts paid in over many years can make a tidy sum in the end. 

The maximum tax-deductible contribution is defined by the Federal Social Insurance Office. The amount of CHF 7,056 (as of 2024) corresponds to the statutory established maximum for employees. If the amount is increased in the future, you can contribute to the new maximum. 

Generally, self-employed persons may pay up to 20% of their net income into a pillar 3a. As our savings contribution and associated costs are oriented to a maximum contribution of CHF 7,056  (as of 2024) per year, self-employed persons may only pay in CHF 7,056 per year when they take out a policy with us.

If a payment exceeds the maximum, we reject it. Exceptions are 3a transfers. These are allowed to exceed the 3a maximum.

You only have to make an initial minimum payment of CHF 500. After the first payment, you’re completely free to choose when and how much you wish to contribute. 

Why is there an initial minimum contribution? As the costs are deducted from the value of your fund assets monthly, we established CHF 500 as the minimum first payment. This allows the insurance cover can continue, even when you do not contribute for a while. 

You can have as many 3a accounts as you want. However, you are only allowed to pay in the yearly 3a maximum in total across all your 3a accounts. 

We recommend opening a new pillar 3a once you have saved CHF 40,000 to CHF 60,000 in your existing account. This helps avoid tax progression at the time of withdrawal. It is worth opting to have your pillar 3a capital paid out in different tax periods. 

You can pay via wire transfer or LSV. You can also enter a pillar 3a transfer via “My Payments” in your customer portal.

You can manage your payments at any time in your online customer portal. You can make a new payment, change the payment method, the amount or payment frequency, or delete an existing payment. You can also make a 3a transfer there.

The amount is not as important as the regularly in which you save. If the pension is a part of your general budget you won’t forget the contribution Regular payments also compensate for market fluctuations and contribute to a more balanced portfolio value. Most of our customers make monthly contributions as this is the simplest way to manage their budgets. With automatic debiting (LSV) you don’t need to do any further thinking about your payments.

You can adjust your payments at any time. From a tax perspective, each payment into your pillar 3a is worth it, as you can deduct the contribution from your taxable income. 

We do not charge any hidden costs. You can view the costs of your pillar 3a at any time. We charge a monthly cost of 0.0625% of the value of your portfolio for managing your pillar 3a. The funds in your investment plan cost, on average, 0.0175% per month. These costs have already been taken into account in the unit price.

Your payments into the pillar 3a can be deducted from your taxable income. The specific tax savings depend on the tax rate, which differs from local authority to local authority. In any case:  the more you pay in, the more tax you can save. 

Your payments into the pillar 3a are deducted from your taxable income. The 3a assets, including earnings, remain tax-free until your retirement. When you withdraw your 3a capital, it will be separated from your other income and taxed at a lower rate.

Your savings are intended solely for pension provision. As a result, you can generally only withdraw the money once you have reached retirement age. There are a few exceptions, however: You can withdraw your pillar 3a savings earlier if you are buying your own home, become self-employed or move abroad for good. 

You can cancel your pillar 3a if you want to switch providers or withdraw the capital early. And of course once you reach retirement age.