Pens3a Pension foundation

Use the tax possibilities

People subject to AHV contributions may pay into a tax-qualified Pillar 3a account. These payments can be made annually during the savings phase and are tax deductible up to a legally defined maximum amount.

Your tax advantages:

• Reduction of taxable income

• No wealth tax

• Tax-exempt interest and dividend earnings

If you are married and both spouses are working, both may make tax-deductible payments up to the amount below.

The maximum contributions for 2022

with a pension fund:

a maximum of CHF 7'056

without a pension fund:

20% of annual income, up to a maximum of CHF 35'280

Mixed strategy profiles

Pens3a offers you numerous mixed strategy profiles from investment foundations and investment funds depending on your personal risk capacity and risk appetite. You benefit from institutional rates for all your investment solutions. This brings tangible cost advantages, which positively impacts the value of your assets.

Free choice of bank, free choice of strategy

You can use Pens3a to invest your 3a retirement assets in a varied and customised way and thus gain full transparency in terms of costs and performance. Pens3a works on individual investment solutions with different banks, investment foundations and fund providers. The choice of bank and implementation type of your investment strategy is entirely yours. A mortgage to finance an owner-occupied home brings you additional added value.

Benefit from our network

Investing money is a trust-based business. If you join Pens3a, you can select a bank from our exclusive network in addition to our founding partner Reichmuth & Co:

• Reichmuth & Co

• Bank Vontobel AG

• Sparkasse Schwyz AG

• Zähringer Privatbank AG

Investment strategies with a discretionary asset management mandate

The advantages of customised investment are most effective if you want to implement your strategy using single securities or special themes, such as dividend equity funds or sustainable investments. These strategies are only for larger retirement asset volumes for diversification purposes. You attain maximum benefit when you align your retirement portfolio with your private assets.

PensExpert mortgage: an investment gem

Provide your own credit. Pens3a offers you a unique opportunity to finance your own mortgage through your retirement assets in the form of a fund investment.

A homeowner usually takes a mortgage from a bank and pays interest on the loan. However, with the “IST2 Hypotheken Wohnen” investment group of the IST2 Investment Foundation, many insured parties invest part of their pension capital in the same fund and receive a corresponding mortgage as a private person.

Your advantages at a glance:

• attractive alternative to fixed-income securities

• low-risk investment for improved retirement custodian account stability

• mortgage possible up to 100% of your pension capital

• tax-related interest rate discount

• tax-deductible distribution to the retirement custodian account

Here you find an overview of the available investment funds

Strategy profiles

• Performance Overview as of 30.9.24

Retirement benefits

Pens3a always pays out pension fund assets as pension provision capital. The retirement capital can be paid out up to five years before the normal AHV retirement age.

There are some important points to bear in mind when withdrawing pension assets. Get your hands on planning at an early stage.  

Transfer to private assets

Pens3a enables you to transfer your securities custodian account to private assets if you withdraw capital. Your pension provision coach will work through the details with you.

Additional withdrawal options

Scenario 1: You become self-employed

You can have your 3a assets paid out if you take up self-employment as your main occupation.

Scenario 2: Early withdrawal for home ownership

You may withdraw your 3a assets to finance owner-occupied residential property.

Scenario 3: You leave Switzerland permanently

You may qualify for a payout if you leave Switzerland permanently.

Residence in Switzerland

A one-off tax applies to the withdrawal of pension assets. If you are resident in Switzerland, the pension assets are disbursed separately to other income and taxed at a preferantial rate. 

The taxation of this capital payment varies among the cantons. You can break the tax progression, for example, through early withdrawals for financing owner-occupied property, or by having multiple accounts with staggered capital withdrawals.

First things first: you may, but are not obliged to withdraw.

You may leave your assets in your 3a pension account where they are tax-exempt. Then the current earnings do not have to be taxed as income. Moreover, you are not subject to any wealth tax.

Restrictions that you must take into account.

A number of formalities are involved in withdrawing your pension assets. Our checklist can help you through the process.