Which strategy for my 3a VIAC account?

Hello everyone,

I am 25 years old and completed my studies this year. I am interested in opening my first 3a account for tax purposes. I have decided to open it with VIAC.

I am seeking advice and assistance regarding the different strategies available. Should I opt for Swisscanto or Credit Suisse?

Moreover, I am hesitating between choosing the Global 100 or Global Sustainable 100 option. Which one would be more suitable for me?

I would greatly appreciate your advice as I am feeling a bit unsure about what to decide.

Using a search function could help - discussed in different places around the forum

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Actually, I did not find a clear answer to my questions when I searched.

Back in march, there was a lot of discussion about switching from Credit Suisse to Swisscanto but I did not find which one I should pick to start.

Additionally, I did not see any topic explaining the difference between global 100 and global sustainable 100.

The difference between the funds of the two providers is negligible. There’s some useful information about the subtle differences here → VIAC- swisscanto vs credit suisse performance - #3 by TeaGhost

The sustainable ones use “ESG” funds, personally I wouldn’t use them as it is in my opinion just a marketing trick to get more fees from clients, read up on greenwashing.

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I‘m still with CS. Will that eventually change to UBS? Any downside to just keep CS so far?

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Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I chose the Global 100 with CS. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Sooner or later ot will change to UBS, but that will probably take a few years.

No, I don’t see any downside. I rather see a downside switching, as you will pay subscription and redemption spreads to switch.

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Hey all, do you count your investments in pillar 3a towards your savings rate? I would assume so since you’re also “saving” this money for retirement, but just wanted to know if some people calculate their savings rate without their 3a contributions.

The only thing that matters is that any investment (not only 3a) should not be accounted for as expenditure. So it will “automatically” count towards your saving rate.

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Personally, I include 3a in my net worth calculation and regard it as an investment rather than as savings. I see savings as something put aside for short/medium-term use, whereas investment is more like I put something in and forget about it. Which also makes sense because in terms of liquidity, savings should be more liquid than investments. But that is IMO.

I account for 3a, the savings part of 2nd pillar including employer contributions (both as part of income and savings) and any kind of amortization on existing debt (not interest) to compute my savings rate.

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Why wouldn’t you if you do calculate your savings rate?
Of course not the total 3a, but the annual contribution.

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Personally, I include 3a in my net worth calculation and regard it as an investment rather than as savings. I see savings as something put aside for short/medium-term use, whereas investment is more like I put something in and forget about it.

@kawansky Interesting. I definitely see what you mean, however I was rather talking about the savings rate in terms of the money that I put aside for retirement. As I won’t be able to touch my pillar 3a 5 years before official retirement age, I guess all contributions to it should be included when I calculate my monthly savings rate.

Any money you still have at the time of retirering is either money that has been put aside for retirement or the proceeds thereof.

If you save money one month and then spend that money the month after (that is, spend in excess and need to tap into your savings), then the savings rate for that next month will be negative and the computed savings rate for the two months will effectively reflect the abilty you’ve had to put and keep money aside during those two months.

I would not overcomplicate things. Just count income not spent as savings, compute yearly savings rates to see if you keep on track, monthly savings rate if you want data more often to keep you motivated and work from there.

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