FAQ

1e plans are part of the extra-mandatory occupational benefit scheme (2nd pillar). Employees can decide for themselves how their savings are invested in a 1e plan. They can choose from up to ten investment strategies specified by the employer. There is no redistribution from active insured persons to pensioners in a 1e plan. The pension capital is paid out as a lump-sum payment / in capital form in the event of vested benefits or upon retirement.

All legal entities (including general partnerships) can join the finpension 1e Collective Foundation. In the case of a sole proprietorship, we will be happy to clarify for you whether and how an affiliation is possible.

Both fixed and variable salary components from CHF 132,300 to CHF 882,000 can be insured in a 1e plan.

The registered office of the foundation is in Lucerne. For tax considerations, if you move abroad, it may make sense to transfer your pension assets to a vested benefits foundation domiciled in the canton of Schwyz before withdrawing them. The canton of Schwyz has the lowest withholding tax rate in Switzerland.

Before you deregister in Switzerland in order to benefit from low withholding tax at the foundation’s domicile, you should, however, have the tax consequences of the withdrawal at your new place of residence abroad clarified by a tax advisor. There are countries in which such withdrawals of assets from the Swiss pension system are regarded as income and are therefore taxed at a very high rate. If this is the case, it may be better to withdraw the pension assets before you move abroad and pay tax on them as normal at your place of residence in Switzerland.

Our processes and procedures are largely automated. This enables us to work more efficiently. In addition, we can guarantee better risk control. Overall, the advanced digitalization allows us to offer very attractive conditions.

Contact us by e-mail at 1e@finpension.ch or by phone at +41 41 500 22 26. We will be happy to show you what information we need to make you an offer.

It is worthwhile for companies with employees who earn more than CHF 132,300 per year. The possibility of investing independently and at the same time protecting the pension plan against redistribution brings great added value to the insured employees.

A 1e solution from finpension increases your attractiveness as an employer for high level employees. For larger companies which do their reporting in accordance with IFRS/USGAAP, there is a further advantage. The balance sheet can be relieved by transferring pension assets to a 1e plan (IAS19).

The implementation of a 1e plan needs to be properly structured, but thanks to our extensive experience, it can be implemented in a short time. If a company decides to implement a 1e solution, the first thing we do is get the HR on board and work out a common understanding of the process. It is very important for us to make the processes as simple as possible for the HR managers.

As soon as employees are registered, they receive an e-mail from us with a link that allows them to set up their personal 1e account.

Employees can also book an appointment for a personal meeting with one of our pension experts. They will receive a separate invitation to this meeting, which will also be sent by e-mail.

In principle, yes. We assess the risk capacity of all insured persons. Based on this assessment, insureds can choose from strategies that are within their own risk tolerance level.

In general, savings contributions are invoiced quarterly, and risk and administrative costs are invoiced annually in advance.

The administrative costs amount to CHF 100 per insured person per year.

The employer must conclude an affiliation contract with us for salary components over CHF 132,300. Has your employer already joined the finpension 1e Collective Foundation? If so, you will receive an e-mail containing a link that you can use to set up your personal 1e account.

No, this is not possible. In order to benefit from the advantages of the finpension 1e Collective Foundation, the employer must join the foundation.

In general, the existing pension fund remains unchanged for the basic pension for salary components up to CHF 132,300. The finpension 1e Collective Foundation serves as an additional pension solution for salary components above CHF 132,300.

No. finpension 1e Collective Foundation only manages capital that comes from savings contributions on units that exceed a salary of CHF 132,300. finpension does not have access to information about your insurance in the basic pension plan.

The employer can define up to ten investment strategies, of which one must be low-risk. Thanks to our independence, employers have a free choice of investments and can tailor the strategies to their individual needs.

Yes, a change of investment strategy is possible at any time free of charge and can be made directly in the app. The adjustment of the individual 1e account to the new investment strategy takes place on the second bank working day of the week.

The strategies are defined by the employer (pension fund commission). The finpension 1e Collective Foundation supports the employer in this process.

Your pension assets will lose value in the event of a negative performance. The individually selected investment strategy is decisive for the development of the pension assets. There is no capital guarantee. Insured persons have at least one low-risk investment strategy at their disposal.

No, this is not possible. An individual account is kept for all insured persons.

In principle, you save tax simply because you have a 1e pension plan: You pay no wealth tax on the pension capital and no income tax on the earnings. You can save even more taxes with voluntary purchases. Voluntary purchases can be deducted from your taxable income.

At any time, provided you have purchasing potential. You can find out whether you have purchasing potential by going through the online guided process. You can find the process in the app. At the end of the process, you will receive the payment instructions. The foundation must receive the payment by 31 December at the latest to still be eligible for deduction for the corresponding tax year.

Yes, an early withdrawal is possible in the event of a move out of Switzerland, as an early withdrawal for residential property or when taking up self-employment. You can download the according form in the app under documents.

Yes, this is possible. You can download the according form in the app under documents.

You can find all the information in the app. You can also download a daily updated pension statement and a performance report for your 1e account.

A voluntary purchase is an additional voluntary payment into the pension fund. A voluntary purchase can be used to improve personal pension provision. In addition, voluntary purchases can be deducted from the taxable income (like payments into pillar 3a). If you live abroad, the deductibility of voluntary purchases must be clarified with the tax authorities in advance.

A voluntary purchase is possible if there is a pension gap.

A pension gap exists if the current pension assets are smaller than the theoretically maximum possible retirement savings that would have been reached if the current savings contributions had always been paid in since the beginning of the pension plan, usually since the age of 25.

Accordingly, pension gaps can arise in the following situations:

• You have not worked temporarily.
• You change employers.
• You have received a salary increase.
• Your employer improves the pension provision.
• You have divorced.

To calculate the maximum purchase amount, you need to answer a few questions that are asked in the online voluntary purchase process.

The number of voluntary purchases is not limited. This means that you can also divide your desired amount into several partial payments without any problems. You will receive a tax certificate for each payment. However, we recommend that you go through the online questionnaire “Voluntary Purchase” again before each payment.

From a tax perspective, voluntary purchases are most interesting in the years in which you earn the most. These are the years in which you pay the most taxes, not only in absolute figures but also as a percentage.

However, you should not pay in so much in one year that you do not have to pay any taxes at all. As a rule, it is better to smooth out taxable income over several years by breaking income peaks with high marginal tax rates.

Voluntary purchases must be received in the account of the finpension 1e Collective Foundation on the last bank working day of the year at the latest in order to be deducted in the current tax year. Late payments can only be deducted in the following year.

1. Answer the online questionnaire “Voluntary purchase” (login required).
2. Pay the desired amount, but no more than the calculated maximum purchase amount, into your finpension 1e Collective Foundation account.
3. Deduct the contribution(s) from the taxes by listing the contributions in the tax declaration under deductions and enclose the tax certificates with the tax declaration.

The tax deductibility and the effects of a voluntary purchase should be checked with your tax advisor or the tax authorities in the following cases and in case of uncertainty:

• Open advance withdrawal (WEF): Purchases are not possible if you have not fully repaid the WEF withdrawals.
• Moving in from abroad: Purchase restrictions apply to persons who have been affiliated with a Swiss pension fund for less than 5 years.
• Work as a self-employed person: If you have paid contributions into the large Pillar 3a as a self-employed person, these contributions must be deducted from your purchase potential.
• Surplus pension assets: Vested Benefits accounts not contributed to the pension fund and surpluses in other pension schemes must be deducted from the purchase potential of the 1e plan.
• Cross-border commuters: From 01.01.2021, voluntary purchases will be more restricted if your tax domicile is not in Switzerland or if there is no ordinary taxation.

The finpension 1e Collective Foundation cannot guarantee the tax deductibility of voluntary payments and purchases can only be reversed on the instruction of the tax authorities.

In the case of a voluntary purchase, a blocking period of 3 years is levied on the entire 2nd pillar pension capital, irrespective of the pension foundation. This blocking period also applies to early withdrawals.