{"id":8787,"date":"2024-09-25T17:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T15:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smolio.ch\/wissen\/the-pension-fund-probably-your-largest-financial-asset\/"},"modified":"2024-09-25T11:06:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T09:06:13","slug":"the-pension-fund-probably-your-largest-financial-asset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smolio.ch\/en\/wissen\/the-pension-fund-probably-your-largest-financial-asset\/","title":{"rendered":"Retirement assets in the pension fund: your largest financial asset"},"content":{"rendered":"Lesedauer<\/span> 4<\/span> Minuten<\/span><\/span>\n

When we hear the word “wealth”, we think of high incomes, company profits, inheritances and real estate.\nFor most people, however, the retirement assets in their pension fund will be the largest financial asset they will ever have.\nBut according to studies1<\/sup>, 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you<\/span>over 25 years old and <\/span>have a job? Then<\/span>there is a good chance that you and your employer will pay contributions to a pension fund<\/span>.\nDie Pensionskasse sucht dein Arbeitgeber aus – nach seinen Kriterien. Zwischen den Pensionskassen gibt es grosse Leistungsunterschiede.<\/strong> Daher ist es wichtig f\u00fcr dich zu verstehen, was du hast bzw. haben wirst.\nDenn wie gesagt, die Pensionskasse ist f\u00fcr die meisten von uns das gr\u00f6sste Finanzverm\u00f6gen. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Three main factors determine your retirement pension from the pension fund <\/h2><\/div>\n\n

Three factors are decisive for your retirement pension from the 2nd pillar.\nFirstly, the assets that you accumulate in your pension fund over the years.\nSecondly, the conversion rate applied to it.\nAnd thirdly, your retirement date. <\/p>\n\n

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Retirement assets in the pension fund<\/h4><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Over the years, an amount accumulates in your individual account with your pension fund which, depending on the pension fund, is called retirement assets<\/a>, savings assets, pension assets or similar.\nThis amount is made up of contributions and interest income, which are credited to your account. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.\nThe decisive factor here is whether your pension fund also insures non-mandatory <\/a>benefits in addition to the mandatory<\/a> insured salary component.\nThis is because only around 1\u20447 (15 %) are insured exclusively under the mandatory scheme.\nThis is why a large proportion of the retirement assets (61 %) are attributable to the extra-mandatory scheme.1<\/a><\/sup> 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.\nThis is a misperception, as many employers insure all salary components above the BVG entry threshold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u00bc of your retirement assets as a lump sum.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n\n

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Conversion rate<\/h4><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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If you wish to draw a pension, your retirement assets in the pension fund are converted into a lifelong pension at the conversion rate<\/a> and paid out.\nMost pension funds use a uniform conversion rate for mandatory and extra-mandatory assets. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.\nThis is because your pension fund is allowed to set the conversion rate for the extra-mandatory retirement assets.\nVery few people know this, around a third of those surveyed.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n\n

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Retirement date<\/h4><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The normal retirement age<\/a> is currently 64 for women and 65 for men.\nIf you want to retire early, you can withdraw your retirement assets from most pension funds from the age of 58.\nYour pension fund statement will show you the financial losses you will have to accept if you retire early.\nIf you would like to postpone retirement, some pension funds allow you to postpone drawing your pension until the age of 70 at the latest. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n\n

So what determines my pension?\nThese are d The sum of the contributions, the income on them, the conversion rate at retirement age and the retirement date.\nIn 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 <\/span>.\nSie richtet z<\/span>udem Hinterlassenenrenten an Witwen, Witwer und Waisen aus oder ein Todesfallkapital, wenn du vor der Rente stirbst. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n

All these pension fund forecasts are based on <\/span>projections assuming that your income will not change.<\/b> Neither upwards nor downwards.\nAnd that the regulations on the conversion rate will not change either.\nOur pension calculator calculates the retirement income for you and your partner from the AHV, pension fund and 3rd pillar.\nFirst, we simplify the BVG mandatory scheme.\nWe recommend completing your data with the information from your pension fund statement to get a more accurate picture of your retirement income. <\/span><\/p>\n\n