Last update: 17.09.2024 08:37
What are teenage years? These are the first 3 years of AHV contributions. In principle, everyone in Switzerland must pay AHV contributions. As an employee, you are obliged to pay OASI contributions from January 1 after reaching the age of 17. If you are not gainfully employed, you are obliged to pay OASI contributions from January 1 after reaching the age of 20. These 3 years are called youth years.
A full pension requires, among other things, that you have paid annual contributions “from the start” until normal retirement age.
Or you have accrued childcare credits for individual years.
Or your (spouse) partner has paid in at least twice the minimum AHV amount if you have not paid in yourself.
As a man, you must therefore currently have 44 years of contributions: Retirement age 65-21 = 44. If you lack contribution years from the age of 21, you can compensate for missing years with up to 3 years of youth.
Incidentally, your first year of life begins at birth and ends before your first birthday.
This means that you turn 17 after you turn 17, i.e. you celebrate your 17th birthday.
From the following January 1, you must therefore pay AHV contributions for the first time (if you are gainfully employed) because you have reached the age of 17.
Example: Carmen was born in February 1978.
She celebrates her 17th birthday on February 12, 1995.
Accordingly, she must pay AHV contributions “from the January following her 17th birthday”, i.e. January 1, 1996.
If she is not gainfully employed, Carmen’s obligation to pay contributions begins 3 years later, i.e. on January 1, 1999.
If you would like to know more, you can find out more about years of absence and contribution gaps at AHV or read the article on the “pension discussion” article.
