Saving for retirement Planning your retirement

How can I best plan my retirement?

Retirement age marks the start of an exciting time with lots of new opportunities. You will finally have more time to do what you want – vacations, traveling, hobbies, sports, grand-children, friendships, and the list goes on. So there are plenty of reasons to look forward to retirement. But you need to make sure you don’t put off making the important decisions. By carefully planning your financial future, you can look forward to a carefree retirement.

• Early 50s is when you should start reading up on the pension fund rules and gathering general information. For example, you should find out whether your pension fund lets you retire early or if you can semi-retire. That way you will have an initial overview of your options.
• Mid 50s is when you should start thinking about what is the right time for you to retire. What are the benefits of retiring early, retiring when you reach retirement age or deferring retirement? You should also think about if you want to ease into retirement or if you want to just stop working from one day to the next. Please note: Flexible retirement and semi-retirement are only possible with pension funds; they are not an option with OASI. 
• Your 60s is when you need to decide how you want to draw your retirement savings: as a pension, as a lump sum or a mixture of both? What option you decide on will depend on your individual circumstances. This blog post includes a guide for you. Please note that depending on the pension fund, lump-sum withdrawals have a registration deadline of up to three years.

How much will I receive when I retire?

Once you retire, your income will come from several different sources:

• OASI pension – max. CHF 2,520 for individuals / CHF 3,780 for couples (as of 2025)
  • only if you have contributed for the full number of years (with no gaps from age 21 up to the reference age or retirement age) and
  • have an average annual income of at least CHF 90,700 (as of 2025)
  • education credits/care credits raise the average earned income
• OPA pension or lump sum, depending on your retirement savings
• Any money saved in the 3rd Pillar (3a and/or 3b)
• Any social security/daily benefits
• Any earned income from part-time jobs
• Any income from investments and rent

Planning your early retirement – what do you need to know?

If you want to retire early, your pension will be considerably smaller. Until now, you could draw your OASI pension one or two years prior to the regular retirement age. The introduction of the OASI Reform 21 will give you more flexible pension options in the future. You will be able to draw your OASI pension between the ages of 63 and 70. Women in the transitional age group will be able to draw their pension starting at age 62.

The reference age (formerly: normal retirement age) for both men and women is 65. For women born in 1961 or later (transitional age group), the reference age will be gradually raised by three months every year. In general, you can make a full or partial withdrawal two years before you reach the reference age (formerly: normal retirement age). You should also consult the rules of your pension fund. 

Tax optimization for retirement 

When and how you take out your retirement savings from the pension fund or your 3a accounts makes a tremendous difference, because taxation varies greatly depending on the time and amount of the withdrawal. So, if you gradually take your OPA savings out of your 2nd Pillar account over a longer period of time, you could easily save several thousands of francs in taxes. You can make withdrawals starting five years before and up to five years after the regular retirement age. This same principle applies to withdrawing your funds from your 3rd Pillar pension over multiple tax years.