Retirement planning: key tips and information

In 2023, the regular retirement age is 64 for women and 65 for men. This means that both the OASI pension and the benefits from your occupational pension fund will only be paid out after your 64th or 65th birthday. Following the OASI reform which came into effect on January 1, 2024, the reference age for women will gradually increase to age 65 starting January 2025. From January 1, 2028, the uniform reference age of 65 will apply to both women and men.

It is never too early to start planning for your retirement. What the money will be used to finance, depends on your wishes and plans. Would you like to retire early? Travel the world after you retire? Or are you saving for your children's education? As a rule, we recommend you start thinking about your retirement around the age of 50.

If you withdraw your pension fund as an annuity, you will receive a steady income for the rest of your life. If you choose a lump sum payment, you will receive your entire pension funds in one installment. Whether a lifetime annuity, a lump sum payment or a combination of the two is more suited to your situation, depends on a variety of factors: your requirements for security, your financial flexibility, your dreams and plans after your retirement. 

As a rule, the old age and survivors’ pension (OASI) and the money from your 2nd pillar pension fund are paid out as a lifetime annuity. However, these are often not sufficient to preserve the standard of living to which you are accustomed. The money from the first two pillars is often less than your previous income. Irrespective of the resources at your disposal following retirement, this gap can be minimized or closed. For example, with a lifelong, private pension or with a payment plan. Get advice from our specialists. We analyze your personal situation and show you the various options available to you.

The OASI pension, i.e. benefits from the first pillar, can be drawn at the earliest two years before regular retirement. The OASI reform has been in effect since January 1, 2024.

With the second pillar, your occupational pension fund, you have the option of taking out your pension benefits as a lump sum, as an annuity or a combination of both.

Many pension funds already offer the option of partial retirement. For example, those who reduce their working hours from 100% to 60% at the age of 63 can then draw 40% of their annuity or pension capital. Under the OASI reform, all pension funds are obliged to facilitate this form of partial retirement.

Depending on the terms of your pension fund, you can often draw the benefits from your pension as early as 58 or 60. However, the consequence of this is that the pension capital / annuities paid out will be permanently lower than in the case of ordinary retirement. This is because the pension capital that you have saved will be correspondingly smaller. 

Currently, you may draw funds from pillar 3a five years before regular retirement age, i.e. at age 59 for women and 60 for men at the earliest.

A financial or retirement plan is a life plan. Up to age 58, building up your assets is the key focus. After your 58th birthday, the focus shifts to planning the third phase of your life. 

To help with your financial and pension planning, our specialists can work out a concept that suits you using your needs and goals. In doing so, we will take into account your current living situation and the benefits from all three pillars. We will identify gaps in your coverage and show you how to minimize or fill these. Since your personal circumstances can change with time, just like your plans and wishes, you should regularly go over your plan and make changes if necessary. 

A financial and retirement plan gives you clarity. You are building the foundations on which you can make the right financial decisions.

As a rule, you should begin thinking about the topic of early retirement as early as possible, but no later than from the age of 50. Start thinking about the question of when you want to retire as soon as possible. Because early retirement is costly: first, you have to bridge the gap financially between early retirement and the time you begin receiving your OASI pension. Second, the final years of contributions have a significant influence on pension fund capital thanks to the accrued interest on your total assets, and you will have to reckon with noticeable losses. Finally, you will no longer be receiving your earnings from gainful employment. 

Tip: the pension certificate issued by your pension fund illustrates how much the amount of your occupational retirement pension will vary depending on the date of your retirement. This will provide you with an initial, rough overview.

There are four forms of retirement:

• Regular retirement: The regular retirement age for women is 64, for men it is 65. 
• Early retirement: Early retirement describes the situation in which you stop work before the regular retirement age. Early retirement is possible from 58 onwards — depending on where you live and which pension fund you belong to.
• Semi-retirement: Semi-retirement is a more gradual retirement spread over multiple steps. The interval between the steps is at least a year. This requirement also varies depending on your place of residence and pension fund.
• Deferred retirement: Deferred retirement refers to retirement after you have already reached the regular age of retirement. Women can defer their retirement until their 69th birthday. Men can defer their retirement until their 70th birthday. This can vary depending on your pension fund. 

To find out which type of retirement is best for you, please contact your customer consultant. We at Zurich will be happy to answer your questions.

The answer to this question differs from person to person. As such, there is no general answer to this question. The decisive factor here is the individual requirements of each pensioner. 

The biggest expenses are:

• Living and household expenses
• Costs for illness and accident insurance including deductibles
• Mobility and leisure expenses
• Insurance
• Taxes

You should compare these expense with your expected pension income and other assets. For more detailed information, please contact your customer consultant.

This varies from person to person and depends on many factors: do you own your own home? Are you expecting to pay for training or further education for your children? Are you planing any big trips? On average, you can expect to receive about 60% of your previous salary when you enter into regular retirement based on the first and second pillars – however, most people need about 80% of their previous salary. This is why it's important to make private provisions for your retirement, for example, using the third pillar. 

This question must be answered on an individual basis. In the medium term, costs for mobility and leisure will decrease. However,  individual health and care costs can increase. You may incur extraordinary costs right after retirement, such as for home renovations, travel, etc.

To answer these questions, it is sensible to make a model calculation based on your future outgoings and income. This involves comparing your individual pension fund and OASI income with your personal outgoings. In addition, there is the question of whether it is sensible to withdraw a specific amount form the pension fund as a lump sum. 

For more detailed information, please contact your customer consultant.

Women are eligible to receive their OASI payments from their 64th birthday, men from their 65th birthday. To ensure that you receive the funds in your bank account, you must register in good time at the compensation office at which you most recently paid in pension contributions.