Am I late for pillars?

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
1

Hello everyone,

I have been wondering, if I am already late for putting money in my pillars. I came to CH 4 years ago, without the idea of staying so long. Now, I’m in a situation where I have cash, that I have been putting into some ETFs monthly. However, I never put money in pillars.

The plan now is to leave CH in around ±2 years, therefore I am not sure if I should start maxing my pillar 3 now.

Would you suggest to anyways max it out?

I guess there will be people in similar situation, and maybe it could throw some light :slight_smile:

2

Yes, maxing out makes always sense, even if you leave Switzerland in two years (let’s see ;D)

  1. You save on your taxable income (depends on your type of residence permit).
  2. When withdrawing it, a preferred tax rates applies. I would choose a provider like Finpension.
  3. You invest in cost preferred securities.
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3

If you plan to leave in 2 years, you need to evaluate the pro and cons.

Important things to consider

  • when you leave CH, are you allowed to keep your 3a and 2nd pillar invested or you would be forced to sell them and withdraw ?
  • if you are forced to withdraw, would withdrawal tax rate be based on CH or the new country ?
  • if you are not forced to withdraw , and let’s say you can keep the money in Vested accounts, would return be interesting vs Taxable account?
  • normally voluntary payments to 2nd pillar need 3 yr locking period , if you are forced to withdraw, then what happens to the tax advantage that you received during the two year period
  • are you filing regular tax returns or you are on Quellensteuer only ? That would depend marginal tax rate advantage for 3rd pillar

Answers to these questions would determine the advantages and disadvantages. And that should help make a decision.

I know I didn’t answer the question with yes or no. But the problem is it all depends on many other variables :slight_smile:

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4

Yes i See. Thanks for that. It will give me thing to think about before getting into it.

5

Good points. And do you know if I can contribute retroactively to “compensate” the years that I did not contribute to the 3a?

6

Unfortunately, this is not possible.

They are discussing it in the parliament, but I would not gamble, that this will come through, soon.

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