Your Pension from Switzerland
The Swiss Pension Insurance
The insurance provider of the compulsory Swiss pension insurance is the “Eidgenössische Alters-, Hinterlassenen- und Invalidenversicherung AHV-IV”.
Its administration is centralized and covers all Swiss cantons.
Whether you want to apply for your pension, survivors' benefits or a disability pension, we are the experts and will be happy to help you through the Swiss administrative jungle.
Let us look after your interests and we will optimize your pension and check how we can increase the return on your contributions.
Do a quick check to find out whether you are entitled to draw a pension from the Swiss Social Security Administration!
Invest half an hour of your time - we will do the rest!
Here is how:
Click here or call us at +1-505-328-7777 and ask for our questionnaire. Fill out the questionnaire and send it back to us via e-mail or the Postal Service.
We will analyse your data and quickly give you a Feedback.
There are no obligations to you and you alone decide how to proceed. If your data shows that upon retirement you are owed any money from the Swiss government we offer to you our expert services to get you your money! This is solely your decision!
For the questionnaire and its quick analysis we will charge a one-time fee of $ 25.00
Social Security Benefits
The Swiss Pension Insurance offers the following:
(a) a retirement pension for men from the age of 65, for women from the age of 64 at the earliest,
(b) disability benefits in the event that you become incapacitated for work before the age of 65,
(c) survivors' benefits in the event of the death of a spouse,
(d) survivors' benefits in the event of the death of one or both parents.
Men and women can apply for their respective pensions one or two years earlier or defer the receipt of their benefits for one year, but not more than five years (which then increases their pension amount).
If an insured person becomes so ill that they are clearly no longer able to work for a longer period of time or are even permanently unable to work, they can apply for a disability pension.
The amount of benefits depends on the degree of disability and the level of entitlement to an old-age pension. Reintegration measures to restore the ability to work take priority over the payment of the pension.
In the event of the husband's death, the surviving wife can receive survivors' benefits depending on the age of the widow and the duration of the marriage; the widow's own income is taken into account.
In the event of the wife's death, the surviving husband can apply for survivors' benefits if he has children.
The same applies to civil partnerships.
Divorced spouses can receive survivors' benefits under certain circumstances.
If one or both parents of a child die before the child reaches the age of 18, the surviving child can receive half or full orphan's benefits. If the surviving child is still in vocational training, benefits are paid until the child reaches the age of 25.
Conditions for receiving a pension
In order to receive a pension, you must have paid contributions for at least 12 months.
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Your entitlement to a pension begins on the first day of the month following the month in which you reach the statutory retirement age.
The entitlement expires at the end of the month in which the insured person dies.
The mandatory retirement age for all men is 65.
For women, the retirement age starts at 64 and is gradually raised to 65 by 2028. gradually increased to 65 by 2028.
Insured persons can bring forward the drawing of their pension by one or two years (early withdrawal) or postpone the drawing of their pension by a maximum of five years (deferral).
In the case of married couples, it is possible for one spouse to defer drawing their pension and the other to bring it forward.
Types of Insurances
As a Swiss employee, you are compulsorily insured in the pension insurance scheme there. Your employer deducts the social security contributions from your salary each month and forwards the amounts to the insurance provider. The insurance provider in turn registers the month for which the money was paid and the amount of your salary, which is used to determine the amount of your monthly contributions.
The same applies to employees who are undergoing an apprenticeship or other form of vocational training.
Under certain conditions, the statutory pension insurance can be converted into a voluntary one.
Men and women who have raised their own children in switzerland receive credits to their accounts with the insurance provider in the form of monthly contributions.
All the monthly contributions paid and credited to your insurance provider's account are added together to determine the insurance period you have accumulated. Together with the amount of your contributions, this determines the amount of your pension.
It is therefore important that ALL monthly contributions are registered by the insurance provider and properly credited to your account.
We will help you to ensure that your account properly contains all the information; we will make inquiries at your request to provide evidence to the insurer in the event of missing data so that you receive the maximum payouts.
Insurance Categories
It is the rule that all employees need to contribute to a mandatory pension insurance. The employer withholds the amount of the contribution from the employee's monthly paycheck and forwards the money to the insurance carrier.
There is also the possibility to insure oneself on a voluntary basis.
It is important that you check whether in the past you have made voluntary contributions and whether those contributions have been credited to your account with the insurance carrier.
In order to increase the yield of your contributions you may in the future be able to enter into a voluntary insurance scheme.
Please consult us! We will investigate and determine the correct state of your account and make suggestions how you can optimize your pension.
Procedures Of The Swiss Pension Insurance Carriers
Pension insurance companies use a fully digitized system that makes all data immediately available.
However, the laws and regulations of Swiss insurance providers are different, complex and subject to constant change. As a result, every time an application or claim makes its way through the systems, a rather time-consuming process is required. On average, it takes around four months for a pension claim to be approved, even if all the necessary documents have been submitted and accepted.
Additional requests such as the approval of new documents and/or the addition of periods require a longer processing time, which can be up to 24 months.
Unfortunately, we have no control over how long it takes to process an application. The best time-saving procedure is for us (with your help) to provide the insurance carrier with as much and as accurate information as possible. In this way, we avoid time-consuming queries from the Swiss social security authorities and financial losses for you.
When planning your retirement, please take into account the time it may take for your application(s) to pass through the system.
We will help you to ensure that your account contains all the correct information; we will make inquiries at your request to provide evidence to the insurer in the event of missing data so that you receive the maximum payouts.
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In order to receive a Swiss pension, an application must be submitted in Switzerland.
This also applies when you reach the age limit at which you can receive an old-age pension; the old-age pension is not paid automatically, but must also be applied for.
Each application consists of several pages that the applicant must complete.
For the Swiss social insurance takes around four months to process the application, provided that all documents have been submitted, there are no queries and no additional evidence is requested.
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All pension insurance providers record the periods, your annual contributions, the amount of your salary and all other information and data relevant to your pension in your so-called Individual Account (IK).
This account reflects your career history insofar as it is relevant to the calculation of your pension.
Missing data, incorrect records or errors will have a negative impact on the amount of your possible pension payment.
We will find out for you what information has been credited to your pension account so that you can check whether all the data is correct.
We will show you how you can check the accuracy and completeness of these records and, if necessary, help you to make the necessary corrections and/or additions to your data.
Your pension account is as important as your bank account! Make sure you have it under control!
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You can request corrections to your pension account at any time, even after many years.
If data is missing or incorrect in your account, you are probably not responsible for these errors.
However, you must prove that the information is actually incorrect.
Evidence may include employment references, certificates, payslips and even the testimony of a witness.
We offer our specialized service to help you correct incorrect or missing data in your pension account.
We investigate at source and, if necessary, interview witnesses, make enquiries at government offices and even find people who can shed light on your problem.
As this can add up to an extensive amount of work, we will advise you whether it is worth our time and your expense if the result would only lead to a small increase in your pension payments.
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If our research shows that periods and/or contributions are missing from your pension account or that, for example, one or more of your jobs have not been recorded, this will of course have a negative impact on the amount of your pension payment.
We will help you to research and add the missing periods and contributions to your pension account.
If documents are missing, we will go to the source and support you in your investigations.
We interview witnesses, make enquiries at offices and authorities and even try to locate certain people if they can shed light on your problem.
If it turns out that our research will be quite extensive and time-consuming, we can give you an estimate of whether the effort and cost of obtaining the requested documents will be worthwhile for you.
We are experts!
Insurance Periods
Each month in which you have paid either a compulsory contribution or a voluntary contribution counts as an insurance period.
These and all other periods must be credited to your account with the insurance provider.
In addition, certain periods can be credited to you even if you have not paid any contributions. For example, periods spent bringing up children, caring for relatives or undergoing vocational training and further training can be credited.
Periods during which you received disability benefits, unemployment benefit or military service will also be credited.
Under certain conditions, an insured person can receive substitute periods credited to their account without having to pay contributions.
Are you sure that all your periods have been credited to your account?
Please ask us to check these questions for you so that you receive full and correct crediting of your periods. You will increase the return on your pension.
Swiss Pensions in the US
As a recipient of pension insurance benefits from a Swiss insurance provider, you can have your payments transferred to a bank account abroad in the currency of your country of residence.
To do this, however, you must be registered with the Swiss consulate or another Swiss representation in your country of residence.
You can apply for your pension from the Swiss pension insurance fund from any country outside Switzerland.
All you need to do is request the relevant application forms from the administration in German, French or Italian and ensure that all supporting documents are in one of these languages.
We specialize in assisting insured persons living abroad, provide support with pension applications and handle all transactions with Swiss insurance institutions professionally.
We offer you an all-round service that goes beyond mere correspondence, such as assistance with your pension application, our forecasts, ensuring that your account shows all periods and replacement periods. We collect all the necessary evidence and documentation, research missing documents and more.
Pensions From Foreign Countries
Have you worked in more than two countries and paid pension insurance contributions there?
In principle, provided you have met all the requirements in the respective countries, you can receive pensions simultaneously from each country in which you have worked and made your contributions.
The resulting income tax due on these payments to you must be paid by you in the country in which you are resident or in the country to which these pensions are transferred.
The tax rules are different in each country, so we cannot provide any information on tax issues. However, we can help you to find experts who can give you binding advice on tax issues.
We work with experts who are fluent in the languages of the countries concerned and can put you in touch with legal advisors or lawyers who can also represent you in court if necessary.
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The respective Social Security Administrations of Switzerland and the USA have signed an agreement, which guarantees pension payouts to citizens residing in each partner-country ('Bilateral Agreement').
If you have paid social security contributions into the Swiss system you are entitled, even if you have left Switzerland, to partial social security payments. You have to – as is required by Swiss residents - fulfill a minimum of 12 months of contributions. Your pension payouts will commence at your mandatory retirement age or upon the death of your spouse. If you are disabled and your incapacity is 50% or more you can receive your disability payments in your foreign country of residence.
If you are a Swiss citizen or a naturalized US citizen the Swiss Social Security Administration will transfer your pension to any country of your residence.
While receiving a pension from Switzerland, you may also receive Social Security payments from the USA at the same time.
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In general, if you fulfill all requirements, you are allowed to receive your pension from Switzerland simultaneously with any Social Security payouts from the USA.
All you have to do is ask us to assist you with setting up your application and to guide you through the laborious and complex process until success is guaranteed.
Your need to apply for your US pension with the US Social Security Administration. Upon request our American partner can assist you there as well.
Please talk to us!
Pension And Divorce
If you get divorced, Swiss pension insurance generally involves a “splitting”.
This involves splitting the pension entitlements acquired by the husband and wife individually during the marriage, usually in such a way that the sum of both entitlements is divided equally between the two spouses.
This is a complicated procedure with many consequences, as the person with the higher entitlement has to give up part of their entitlement.
Make sure that this procedure is carried out correctly, regardless of whether you had to surrender claims or were able to gain them!
We will support you!