Last update: 25.09.2024 11:06
When we hear the word “wealth”, we think of high incomes, company profits, inheritances and real estate. For most people, however, the retirement assets in their pension fund will be the largest financial asset they will ever have. But according to studies1, only around half of those surveyed count their pension fund assets as part of their own wealth, even though for many people these make up the majority of their savings.
Are youover 25 years old and have a job? Thenthere is a good chance that you and your employer will pay contributions to a pension fund. Die Pensionskasse sucht dein Arbeitgeber aus – nach seinen Kriterien. Zwischen den Pensionskassen gibt es grosse Leistungsunterschiede. Daher ist es wichtig für dich zu verstehen, was du hast bzw. haben wirst. Denn wie gesagt, die Pensionskasse ist für die meisten von uns das grösste Finanzvermögen.
Three main factors determine your retirement pension from the pension fund
Three factors are decisive for your retirement pension from the 2nd pillar. Firstly, the assets that you accumulate in your pension fund over the years. Secondly, the conversion rate applied to it. And thirdly, your retirement date.
Over the years, an amount accumulates in your individual account with your pension fund which, depending on the pension fund, is called retirement assets, savings assets, pension assets or similar. This amount is made up of contributions and interest income, which are credited to your account.
The amount of retirement assets in the pension fund therefore depends on how much you and your employer(s) pay in in total and how much your pension fund earns as a return. The decisive factor here is whether your pension fund also insures non-mandatory benefits in addition to the mandatory insured salary component. This is because only around 1⁄7 (15 %) are insured exclusively under the mandatory scheme. This is why a large proportion of the retirement assets (61 %) are attributable to the extra-mandatory scheme.1 However, most respondents in the Fairplay Study (70%) think of people with high incomes when they think of extra-mandatory assets – only 30% are convinced that they themselves are also insured under the extra-mandatory scheme. This is a misperception, as many employers insure all salary components above the BVG entry threshold.
Your pension fund determines whether you can withdraw your assets as a lump sum or converted into a lifelong pension or a mixture of the two when you retire. According to the law, you may withdraw at least ¼ of your retirement assets as a lump sum.
If you wish to draw a pension, your retirement assets in the pension fund are converted into a lifelong pension at the conversion rate and paid out. Most pension funds use a uniform conversion rate for mandatory and extra-mandatory assets.
Let us assume that this enveloping conversion rate is 5.2 %. According to the Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission, this will be the average conversion rate for all pension funds in 2023. This means that you can expect a pension of CHF 800,000 * 5.2 % = CHF 41,600 per year on CHF 800,000 of retirement assets in the pension fund.
The conversion rate on your retirement assets can therefore also be lower than the current conversion rate of 6.8 % for retirement assets calculated in accordance with the BVG mandatory scheme. This is because your pension fund is allowed to set the conversion rate for the extra-mandatory retirement assets. Very few people know this, around a third of those surveyed.1
The insurance obligation ends when you reach the normal retirement age, your employment relationship is terminated, your salary falls below the insurance limit of around CHF 22,000 or your entitlement to daily benefits from unemployment insurance ends.
The normal retirement age is currently 64 for women and 65 for men. If you want to retire early, you can withdraw your retirement assets from most pension funds from the age of 58. Your pension fund statement will show you the financial losses you will have to accept if you retire early. If you would like to postpone retirement, some pension funds allow you to postpone drawing your pension until the age of 70 at the latest.
So what determines my pension? These are d The sum of the contributions, the income on them, the conversion rate at retirement age and the retirement date. In addition to the retirement pension from the occupational pension plan, your pension fund will also pay you a disability pension if the worst comes to the worst . Sie richtet zudem Hinterlassenenrenten an Witwen, Witwer und Waisen aus oder ein Todesfallkapital, wenn du vor der Rente stirbst.
All these pension fund forecasts are based on projections assuming that your income will not change. Neither upwards nor downwards. And that the regulations on the conversion rate will not change either. Our pension calculator calculates the retirement income for you and your partner from the AHV, pension fund and 3rd pillar. First, we simplify the BVG mandatory scheme. We recommend completing your data with the information from your pension fund statement to get a more accurate picture of your retirement income.
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Based on this information and your other sources of income, you can make various considerations. For example: Will this expected income be enough for me in retirement? Is it enough of a cushion for me or do I need to put more aside now for later? Will it still be enough if I want to retire earlier or have to stop working earlier? Is it worth buying into the pension fund? Do I want to use part of my pension fund to buy a property? We will take a closer look at these considerations in another specialist article.
Mach den ersten Schritt zur finanziellen Unabhängigkeit
In einer Minute siehst du deine Vermögensentwicklung und dein Einkommen während der Rente.
