Last update: 17.09.2024 08:35
Your pension income depends on the regulations in the Swiss pension system and your own pension provision.
What will change in the Swiss pension system in 2019?
And how will this affect your future pension?
There will be some changes from January 2019.
Read on and stay on top of things.
The Swiss pension system is based on three pillars. The first two pillars, i.e. AHV and occupational pension provision, are intended to ensure a livelihood and the accustomed standard of living. Private pension provision in the 3rd pillar is intended to provide scope in old age.
At least that is the plan.
In recent years, various factors have led to this well-considered plan no longer working perfectly.
Major adjustments are therefore necessary with a reform of the Swiss pension system.
These will be presented to us in 2019 as the AHV21 reform.
Minor adjustments will now be made at the turn of the year.
In the 1st pillar, the AHV retirement pension will increase on 1.1.2019
Every two years, the Federal Council reviews whether AHV and IV pensions need to be adjusted due to inflation.
The last time the Federal Council adjusted pensions was on January 1, 2015.
The current review has resulted in a pension adjustment in the 1st pillar of the Swiss pension system. The minimum retirement pension will therefore rise to CHF 1,185 per month (+CHF 10) from January 1, 2019.
The maximum individual pension will also rise to CHF 2,370 (+CHF 20).
For married couples, the so-called capping caps the sum of the individual pensions at 150% of the maximum amount of the two individual pensions.
So from January 1, 2019, married couples together will receive a maximum pension of CHF 3,555 (1.5 times CHF 2370).
For you, this means that your AHV pension will increase with a full contribution period.
The contributions for self-employed and non-employed persons for AHV, IV and EO will increase slightly in 2019.
They will now amount to at least CHF 482 (+4CHF) per year.
Voluntary AHV/IV insurance will also become CHF 8 more expensive.
The annual contribution is now CHF 922.
In 2017, voters rejected the AHV reform 2020.
A new reform proposal for the Swiss pension system was therefore developed this year.
AHV21 proposes 3 elements:
Firstly, the retirement age is to be made more flexible.
Secondly, the retirement age for women is to be increased with compensatory measures.
Thirdly, for every franc of tax revenue lost as a result of the planned corporate tax reform, one franc is to flow into the AHV.
In addition, adjustments to VAT and salary contributions are planned.
The third element is therefore additional funding for the AHV.
If AHV21 is accepted, this will have two consequences for you.
On the one hand, you will be able to plan the timing of your retirement more flexibly in future.
On the other hand, as a woman you will have to pay contributions for longer in order to receive the maximum pension.
You can find out more in the following video.
The minimum interest rate in the 2nd pillar remains unchanged at 1%
Since 2017, a minimum interest rate of 1% has applied to mandatory occupational benefits insurance , the second pillar of the Swiss pension system.
The Federal Council has decided to maintain this at 1% in 2019.
The minimum interest rate only applies to assets in the mandatory occupational pension scheme.
In the non-mandatory area, your pension fund is free to determine how much interest it pays on your retirement assets. The low minimum interest rate means that your retirement assets will only grow slowly. And this is relevant, because your pension will be paid out of your retirement assets in future.
If you only receive mandatory benefits from your pension fund, private pension provision is therefore all the more important for you.
The coordination deduction in the mandatory occupational benefit scheme increases to CHF 24,885 (+CHF 210) and the entry threshold to CHF 21,330 (+CHF 180). This means that an additional CHF 180 of your income is insured in the AHV.
As you probably know, the AHV works according to the solidarity principle and intergenerational contract: contributions from (younger) insured persons are used to cover current pensions.
By contrast, the mandatory occupational pension scheme is basically an individual pension plan in which only your income components above the coordination deduction are insured.
Accordingly, 210 francs less will be insured in the (individual) 2nd pillar if no deviating regulations apply in your pension fund.
At the same time, the upper limit for the insured salary increases by CHF 720 to CHF 85,320.
This means that potentially more of your income is subject to pension fund savings.
The 2nd pillar survivors’ and disability pensions paid out since 2015 will increase by 1.5% in line with inflation.
Pensions paid before 2015 remain unchanged.
The maximum amount for pillar 3 in 2019 increases to CHF 6,826
Other benefits and contribution rates are also derived from the minimum AHV pension.
This includes the maximum amount that you can pay tax-free into pillar 3.
As the AHV minimum pension will increase in 2019, the maximum amount in pillar 3a will also increase for 2019. This is new:
- For employees with a pension fund: CHF 6,826 (+CHF 58)
- For self-employed persons without a pension fund: 20 % of net earned income, maximum CHF 34,128 (+CHF 648)
If you are self-employed and do not have a pension fund, you can use a higher maximum amount.
This is so that you can reduce your pension gap yourself.
Your payment into the 3rd pillar of the Swiss pension system must be made into your 3a account by December 31 of the year.
Only then can you take advantage of the tax deduction for the current year. SmartSmolios pay this in at the beginning of the year, as this allows you to take advantage of the higher interest rate on the 3a account compared to a savings book or current account. It is also clever if you pay in monthly with a standing order.
Firstly, you then save regularly and ensure that you have used up the maximum amount at the end of the year.
Secondly, if you invest in securities, you benefit from the average cost effect.
This article explains how to invest your 3rd pillar in equity investments and which arethe best offers with the lowest costs for passive pillar 3a investments in 2019.
So, what are you waiting for?
Mach den ersten Schritt zur finanziellen Unabhängigkeit
In einer Minute siehst du deine Vermögensentwicklung und dein Einkommen während der Rente.
