Who tf pays for a weather app? We have SRF Meteo 
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I have 1000s ideas but I believe the only problems are:
- find customers
- swiss mentality (aka you can’t sell here if you don’t know someone)
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Maybe the last MMM post, especially starting from this section, could be an interesting read and help us all put things into perspective 
I can relate to this more than I expected. I’m actually leaving my job now and moving into FIRE, (considering Expat FIRE in South East Asia) and during the last few months I’ve also noticed that a lot of the usual motivation just disappears.
I don’t think it necessarily means something is wrong with the job. I still like my workplace and what I do, but I decided to prioritize my time and focus on my own projects, starting with the biggest one: FREEDOM!
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Hi there,
my 2 cents, how i would do it:
with 280K in annual salary and only 300K in 2nd pillar, you can probably load over a million in it. So I would continue working and put into the 2nd pillar whatever amount that will decrease your income tax to basically 0 (I would sell some stocks to achieve that). That alone would bring a smile to my face every day I go to work. I get to keep all my money!! In the meantime take care of yourself, do a lot of sports, prioritise yourself over the work.
Then in a few years, when you (almost) have filled up your second pillar, does not have to be the full 5 years, you retire, with > 1.5m in your second pillar. You transfer it 50/50 to VIAC and finpension invested in the world market. This money is not part of your taxable wealth, not counted for AVS payments, no income tax on dividends! You get a 20K+ saving per year vs your current plan, and the money will continue growing with the market.
Then you can use a much more aggressive withdrawal rate for your other savings. Your brokerage account stocks only need to last until the age of 60. Use the money liberally. Even without any market growth your 2-3 million in stocks would be more than enough of a bridge if you are 50 (age is super important of course). If you stay invested, have 2-3 years cash on hand, you are protected against almost anything. And your AVS payments and wealth tax will be decreasing year on year as your taxable wealth decreases, so that takes care of inflation.
Then cash in over 60-65yo in smaller chunks your 2nd and 3rd pillar, they could have doubled in this time period.
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Good plan, but don’t reduce tax to zero, else you pay more tax overall since you get taxed on withdrawal. Decrease down to what your withdrawal tax rate will be at most.
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I was not aware of this strategy. I mean I did put some extra money in the 2nd pillar, but I thought this was a special one off case or sth. Does the VIAC Freizügigkeitskonto produce good returns? When you load up on the 2nd pillar so aggressively, can you then still withdraw this money when leaving Switzerland? (to outside of EU). Just asking out of curiosity. I guess that’s something I missed out on. Always thought pillar 2 is best paid in the minimum.
Yes, you can, but the manner in which you do it can arise suspicion e.g. if you never paid extra in and then pay in a massive amount, take a deduction and then leave immediatey to withdraw, you could get questioned for tax avoidance.
It is normal to increase voluntary contributions in final years of work as pay/tax is highest then.
I’d suggest maybe spreading over 5-7 years as a balance.
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This almost sounds too good to be true 
I’m thinking to pay into my 2nd pillar as much as needed to reach the 800k required to pay down the mortgage. This would be 500k over 3 years and would lower my income tax quite a bit.
Then I would use this amount to pay down my mortgage. As I understand, the tax rate for that should be significantly lower than my income tax.
Does that make sense?
I also think I need a very good financial planner/advisor who can help me to find the best way. Can anybody recommend a good advisor who is capable to recommend such special constructs, that go beyond usual standard requests?
What’s special about this? That’s how 2nd Pillar work. (You need at least three year between last buy in and withdrawal tho)
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Hello
Problem is with this strategy you’ll be linked to the house. It should be your primary home so even selling it then renting you’ll need to reimburse 2p unless you reach official retirements age. Then from what I read you are willing to stay in Switzerland so this plan should work for you.
Regarding your job situation you can afford to be average to push the 5 y. Good luck
Just comments
If you redeem in 2nd pillar to reduce tax, there are 3 years you cannot withdrawn on your 2nd pillar any amount even what was already on the 2nd pillar before, if you proceed, the tax office will re-assess for the past years and will cancel the taxes reduction and ask reimbursement. Even if you change to another canton, they will exchange the information.
To check but i think that should be for each type of withdrawn, also after 50years you cannot with drawn full 2nd pillar.
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you can take out the maximum of following 2:
- balance at age 50
- half of current balance (at the age you want to withdraw)
So if you plan to FI or FIRE or get fired in your 50s, it may be useful to do voluntary contributions up to age 50. After you turn 53, you have the option to redeem pillar 2 or vested benefits for reducing mortgage.
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This is close to the route I’m taking. I’m leaving my job and made some second-pillar buy-ins before this transition for the tax deductions.
Next, I plan to split my vested benefits between VIAC and Finpension for diversification, mainly in equities. I expect to stay in Switzerland for a few more years. Moving abroad could happen before or after the Swiss reference retirement age — leaving work and leaving Switzerland don’t have to come as a package.
Before any move, I’d also consider transferring the VIAC portion to finpension to potentially reduce Swiss withholding tax on withdrawal, depending on the destination and overall tax picture.
For me, this is about making the transition work financially, giving myself time to decide what comes next, and enjoying more freedom along the way.
Anyone here followed a similar route? What would you do differently?
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