finpension free movement experiences: Review 2024

Last update: 03.10.2024 16:01

How do I invest my vested benefits? Make sure you check finpension Vested Benefits. Many people know the company for securities investments in pillar 3a because of the low fees. But in fact they come from the vested benefits business. Benefit from my experience with finpension Vested Benefits and the finpension Vested Benefits voucher code SMLUTQ.

The roots of finpension Vested Benefits go back to 2015. In 2016, the two banking experts Beat Bühlmann and Ivo Blättler founded the finpension 1e collective foundation, which is now the market leader. Since then, they have been digitizing pension provision in Switzerland. A broad-based vested benefits foundation was added in 2018, which is based in tax-friendly Schwyz. It doesn’t get any better than this. finpension AG operates on the market, provides customer support and the finpension foundation(s) manage the pension assets. finpension itself makes a profit and is privately owned. Around 30,000 customers have over two billion Swiss francs in pension assets under management, formerly under the name valuepension. In 2020, finpension entered the pillar 3a business, where it stands out with its excellent price-performance ratio. In March 2024, finpension received a license from FINMA as a securities firm, which allows it to offer its own financial products.

finpension Vested Benefits is a fully digital investment solution for your vested benefits that you can open and manage online. You can choose strategies with different proportions of equities and manage them on the web or in the app.

First, you choose whether you want to register for pillar 3a or finpension vested benefits. Here we choose the vested benefits foundation. Our choice is confirmed and we are informed that the finpension Vested Benefits Foundation already manages more than one billion francs in pension assets. Good, let’s go on.

Now we first create a login. To do this, we need a mobile number and set ourselves a password. It’s worth noting that it doesn’t have to be a Swiss mobile number. You can also choose a foreign number. This is very practical if you are planning to move away from Switzerland or have already moved away and want to manage your finpension vested benefits account from abroad. A definite plus, guys!

You will then receive a confirmation code by SMS, which you enter on the following screen. You will then receive confirmation that your login has been successfully created.

Now we see that we can reach our goal in three steps. We are subtly reminded that we have chosen the best vested benefits account. There is no lack of pride and self-confidence in finpension.

First you enter your gender and date of birth; your investment horizon up to normal retirement age is automatically calculated and displayed. Then there is a check to see whether your investment horizon really extends to retirement. The check makes sense for you because when you join a new pension fund, you are generally obliged to contribute existing vested benefits assets.

Our tip: when leaving a pension fund, ALWAYS divide your assets into two accounts with two different vested benefits foundations. This will allow you to spread the withdrawal over two periods for tax purposes.

Then there is another question about the investment horizon – do you want to withdraw early or defer? You can not only shorten your investment horizon, but also extend it beyond the normal retirement age. Why is that? Logo, once again the topic of tax planning. Because you can still defer the withdrawal of your vested benefits for up to 5 years beyond the normal retirement age within the framework of a transitional period until 31.12.2029, even if you are no longer working.

There is another finesse to the risk capacity. You can select “Yes, adjust investment horizon” to extend the investment horizon by 10 years if you plan to reinvest the money in securities after withdrawal. I think this is a good solution, because most people mistakenly think that they should put all their money into a savings account when they start their pension. In doing so, they shift too much of their assets into nominal values too early, which lose purchasing power.

After two further questions on the pain threshold for losses and the self-assessment of investment experience, we receive the result of the risk capacity check. This completes step 1 in the onboarding process. Let’s move on.

Now choose your investment focus from three options (global, Swiss, sustainable). Or you can put together your own individual investment strategy. I chose global because I want to diversify my money as much as possible and it is unlikely that the next stock market star will come from Switzerland 😉

You then decide on one of the three possible fund providers. Finpension Vested Benefits invests in either Credit Suisse, Swisscanto or UBS funds. All offers are on a par and it doesn’t matter what the costs are – everything is included in the flat-rate fee. As an independent provider, only finpension Freizügigkeit offers this broad selection of funds. The competitors frankly and Viac have a smaller selection. Viac offers funds from Credit Suisse and Swisscanto, while frankly only offers funds from its own Swisscanto.

finpension Freizügigkeit proposes an investment strategy for the selected investment focus (in my case 80% equities).

The lower section shows in detail which index funds make up your portfolio. You can select more aggressive or more defensive risk levels with one click and finish by clicking on “Select strategy”. Six risk levels can be selected with equity shares of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 % – whereby 1 % is always held in cash for each strategy. Likewise, 9% is held in real estate in each case. So what changes is the mix between equities and bonds.

If you want to switch strategies later, you can do so with a few clicks in the dashboard and it’s free of charge. On the right-hand side, you can view the historical performance and potential performance of the strategies. This allows you to see whether your risk capacity and risk appetite match the selected strategy. For example: would I rather have the chance of a big upside with the 100 strategy, but in a bad scenario I would probably only get my capital back after 15 years, whereas with the 80 strategy I would still have capital growth?

You must confirm your strategy in the following pop-up. In addition to the usual legal information, you will be shown a possible performance in three scenarios. Finpension Vested Benefits once again points out that there is no minimum withdrawal benefit or promise of returns. You invest your pension assets on your own responsibility in the chosen strategy – with all the opportunities and risks. For the sake of good order, we would also like to point out that you should adjust your investment strategy if your circumstances change (e.g. marriage or divorce).

If you choose the equity strategy 100, you may not be able to implement it easily due to your remaining investment horizon until retirement. There are certain regulatory provisions (BVV2) that prohibit more than 85% equities. finpension Vested Benefits offers two solutions. Either you choose a lower strategy with an 85% equity allocation.

Or you can confirm that you have other vested benefits accounts and that the consolidated share does not exceed 85%. You can use a self-declaration to confirm the protection provision. As we actually have two vested benefits accounts of roughly the same size, this works for us. Thank you. 🙌

In the third and final step, enter your address, marital status and e-mail address. A little tip: You can find the required AHV number on your health insurance card. Finally, confirm that you are (not) a US person.

Incidentally, with finpension vested benefits you only have to provide proof of identity when you withdraw your pension assets. Unlike with bank accounts, this is not required when opening pension accounts. This makes the registration process easier for you as a new customer. Since April 2023, however, you can optionally carry out a digital ID check in accordance with the FINMA standard. You can start this after completing registration by clicking on your profile and then the “ID check (optional)” button.

Then you have reached your destination and can complete the account opening process. You will then immediately receive the pension agreement and a transfer order by e-mail to your registered e-mail address.

At the end of the registration process, enter the promo code SMLUTQ. With this finpension voucher code, you will immediately receive a welcome bonus of CHF 25 as a fee credit if you transfer at least CHF 1,000 within 12 months.
You can also use this finpension voucher code to pay into or transfer money to your finpension pillar 3a.

Notice

Wir sind dir dankbar, wenn du bei einer Kontoeröffnung unseren Code nutzt. Wir erhalten dann eine kleine Vergütung. Für dich wird es dadurch nicht teurer und wir können die Kosten für den Betrieb der Plattform decken. Wir freuen uns auch, wenn du uns einen Kaffee spendierst ☕️.

Another click takes you to your finpension dashboard. This shows you an overview of your portfolio. For my taste, it is very tidy and clear. To summarize: finpension Free Movement offers a well-guided onboarding experience with thoughtful questions in the sign-up process with no frills.

I have downloaded the form. Then you have to print it out and add some information by hand:

• The address of your existing pension fund at the top right
• In the middle again the name of your pension fund or current vested benefits foundation
• A cross next to “Total amount” or “Partial amount in CHF” (whereby the partial amount must be exactly half of your current retirement assets)
• And finally place, date and your signature

Put the whole thing informally in an envelope. Don’t forget to put the QR payment slip (on the second page) in the envelope too. After all, your existing pension fund or vested benefits foundation should transfer the money to finpension Vested Benefits. Check: Two pages in the envelope? Congrats, you’re done! 🥳

The all-in fee for you in direct business with finpension is 0.49 % for index funds – regardless of which investment strategy you choose. This includes custody account and implementation fees, costs for the investment strategy (TER), transaction costs and free strategy changes.

The fees for asset management are in line with the market, but are not a benchmark. But, dear finpensions, why is the offer 10 basis points more expensive than finpension 3a? The same investment products are used. Obviously the market is not as competitive in vested benefits. The flat fee is certainly a mixed calculation, otherwise the strategies with low equity ratios would have to be cheaper. I think there is still some potential for lower fees in the future.

There is a clause in the fees that binds you to finpension for at least 1 year after the first deposit. Otherwise there is a transfer fee of 400 francs. Not nice, but manageable. And finpension also charges a fee for paying out capital to foreigners resident abroad. After 1 year, 500 francs are due, before that you’d better leave it alone. Because they’re pretty cavalier with a lump sum of CHF 3,000 plus 1% of the termination benefit. 🫢 But these fees will probably never affect most of us.

In our view, the technical solution is state of the art. The web application uses SSL encryption and account access is protected with two-factor authentication.

In the review article on finpension pillar 3a, we have already examined how safe your money is with finpension. We have nothing to criticize here either. According to our finpension vested benefits experience, your money is no more or less secure than with other providers. In this article, we take a closer look at the security of pension assets.

Yes, use the finpension vested benefits voucher code SMLUTQ. You will then receive a CHF 25 welcome bonus if you pay in at least CHF 1,000 within 12 months (one-off or monthly contributions) or transfer vested benefits assets. You will benefit from a welcome bonus of 25 francs as a fee credit.

• Our own finpension free movement experiences are positive. We have our FC money there.
• You can implement your own equity strategies
• Choice of three fund providers
• Best possible tax domicile for the pension foundation – highly relevant from a tax perspective for people who will then draw their FC benefits from abroad
• The highest equity allocation of 99% is possible, which can increase the performance of your pension investments over a long investment horizon. This is not possible e.g. not with frankly, which allows a maximum of 85 % equities
• Very high transparency regarding index funds used and fees
• Can also be used with a foreign mobile number, enabling account management even if you move away from Switzerland

finpension applies a standard fee for all investment strategies. This is unfavorable for you if you want a low equity allocation (0 %, 20 % or 40 %). Then you can implement vested benefits more cheaply with other providers.

With finpension vested benefits, you must be invested. They do not offer a pure vested benefits account. If you choose an equity allocation of 0%, your money will be invested in 99% bonds and only the remaining 1% will be held in cash. Not everyone wants to invest in bond funds.

The very low flat fee covers the administration of your vested benefits. However, as with other providers, there are additional fees for special transactions.

Summary finpension free movement experiences and review 2024

finpension Vested Benefits offers an excellent deal for your vested benefits if you want to park them for the longer term and take advantage of high equity quotas. No other provider allows such high share quotas. Registering with finpension Vested Benefits is quick and the application is simple, intuitive and secure. You can also choose between index funds from three different renowned providers. No other provider offers so much choice. The fee is in line with the market and transparent. In our opinion, you’re doing a lot of things right with finpension Freizügigkeit – which is why we opted for this solution ourselves.