ER Account

Many people in Switzerland wish to retire early. However, early retirement is costly. If you retire before the age of 65, your retirement pension is reduced both on the basis of the lower conversion rate and the lower level of retirement capital. As the savings process ends prematurely, fewer savings contributions are made and the compound interest effect does not apply fully. You should therefore closely examine the financial consequences. With pre-financing in the savings account for the "Pre-financing of early retirement" (ER account), you can close this financial gap in full or in part. An insured can make voluntary buy-in payments to this account to effect an increase in the pension at retirement, in case of early retirement, and/or for the financing of a supplementary pension.

Further Information

You have no buy-in potential in the pension plan, i.e. you have fully bought into the regulatory benefits in the pension plan.
You are fully able to work at the time of purchase.
You have fully recovered all possible early withdrawals for the purchase of residential property (WEF) or from divorce transfers.
Please be aware that as an active member of the Pension Fund Swiss Re you can make a maximum of three buy-ins up to a combined CHF 1 300 000 per year.

a) The costs of financing the difference between the insured retirement pension at age 65 and the early retirement pension at the chosen age for early retirement, plus

b) The costs of financing a supplementary pension of the desired amount (not to exceed the amount of a maximum single AHV pension) and for the chosen duration (until maximum age 65 for men and women; transitional provisions apply for insureds born between 1961 and 1963). The amount of the supplementary pension paid out remains unchanged throughout the duration of payment and is not adjusted in line with any AHV increases.

Insureds have an entirely free choice and decide freely on the modalities

Age at the time of early retirement
Complete or partial compensation for reduction in benefits (upper limit: retirement pension at age 65 based on the savings capital in the Pension Plan (excl. ER Account).
Pre-financing of a retirement pension and/or supplementary pension or lump-sum payment
Amount of contributions and time of buy-ins, but the total Pension Fund buy-ins in any given year are limited to a maximum of CHF 1 300 000
Note: Tax law provisions must be complied with at all times (three-year blocking period, consolidated view).

At no time are insureds under any obligation other than that of complying consistently with tax law.

Buy-ins can be made in the desired amount until one month before the age of early retirement (note: tax treatment of lump-sum payments and consolidated view by the tax authorities – in case of uncertainty, please contact the relevant tax authorities).
Personal buy-ins can generally be deducted from direct taxes paid to the Confederation, cantons and municipalities. The Pension Fund cannot guarantee the tax deductibility of buy-ins. Please contact your relevant tax authorities if you have questions in this regard.
Benefits resulting from buy-ins cannot be drawn as lump sums within the next three years.

+ This applies to the retirement savings capital in the Pension Plan and the ER account

as well as the savings capital in the Capital Plan (consolidated view).

+ An exception is made for repurchases of benefits following divorce.

Early retirement should be taken at the age planned for when voluntary buy-ins are made.
Continued insurance beyond the pre-financed retirement age results in negative consequences for the insured:
1. Insured retirement benefits are reduced if they exceed 105% of the retirement pension from the savings capital in the Pension Plan at age 65.
2. Surplus savings capital in the ER account is applied as follows:
  - No interest on the retirement savings capital, no retirement credits or savings contributions
  - Any residual share reverts to the Pension Fund

Benefit on early retirement
- Available savings capital used to increase the retirement pension and/or for a supplementary pension or lump sum. The savings capital used to finance the pension from the Pension Plan including the ER Account is capped at CHF 4 000 000. The remaining savings capital is paid as a once-off lump sum.
Benefit in the event of disability or death before retirement
- Available savings capital paid out as a lump sum
Leaving benefit
- Available savings capital transferred as vested benefit to the new pension fund or to a vested benefits account.

Buy-ins by an insured member of the Pension Fund can only be credited to the ER Account if there is no further buy-in potential for the Pension Plan.

The maximum possible amount of the ER Account corresponds to the sum of the following two amounts:

the costs of financing the difference between the prospective retirement pension at the normal retirement age and the early retirement pension at the desired retirement age;
the costs of financing the maximum supplementary pension for the chosen duration.

If insurance continues (ie if you continue to work) beyond the pre-financed early retirement age, your retirement benefits will be reduced to a maximum of 105% of the retirement pension from the Pension Plan at age 65. The excess savings capital in your ER Account will be treated as follows:

No interest, retirement credits, or savings contributions on the retirement savings capital in the ER Account
Any residual portion reverts to the Pension Fund

As a rule, Pension Fund buy-ins can be deducted from taxable income, but this ultimately depends on the decision of the tax authorities. Following a buy-in, no lump-sum withdrawals may be made during a period of three years. If you fail to respect this required period, the tax authorities may retroactively deny the tax deductibility of your buy-ins. The buy-in amount contributed in the last three years may not be paid out as a lump sum.

The following must also be taken into account for contributions:

Insureds who have made an early withdrawal from their pension fund assets to purchase property will no longer be able to make Pension Fund buy-ins until the withdrawal has been paid back in full.
Contributions are permissible only if you have no vested benefits held in vested benefits institutions, except any you have reported those to the Pension Fund.
With every contribution, the blocking period of three years for lump-sum payments begins anew.
If you have moved to Switzerland from abroad and were never previously a member of a Swiss pension fund, your maximum annual buy-in for the first five years after joining the Pension Fund is limited to 20% of your insured salary.
If you have any Pillar 3a funds exceeding the maximum balance permitted under BSV (table for calculating the maximum Pillar 3a balance; available in German only), the excess portion of your Pillar 3a balance will be set off against your maximum possible buy-in amount.
In any given calendar year, a maximum of three buy-ins can be made to the Pension Fund (Pension Plan, Capital Plan and ER Account). Total buy-ins cannot exceed CHF 1 300 000 in any given year.
Insureds who have paid pension compensation following divorce may repurchase this amount in full or in part at any time.

All buy-ins have to be done over your personal bank account. Please ensure that following information is provided with the payment order:

First and last name
Insurance number (you can find this number on your pension benefits statement under "personal details")

You can only buy into the ER Account once you have reached the maximum retirement savings capital in the Pension Plan.

Year	Interest rate
During the year 2025	1.25%
Definitive for the year 2024	12.00%
Definitive for the year 2023	5.00%
Definitive for the year 2022	2.00%
Definitive for the year 2021	8.00%
Definitive for the year 2020	1.50%
Definitive for the year 2019	4.00%

Effective immediately, Pension Fund buy-ins can be initiated only via the "MySwissRePension" portal.

To start, click "Simulations" in the menu bar and select the Plan you wish to buy into.

In the "Buy-in to the ER Account" simulation, enter your prospective retirement date, then click "Next". This will take you to a screen where you enter the desired buy-in amount and the purpose of your buy-in. Then, click "Next".

This will show you the simulation result. In a change from the previous procedure, you now need to click the link on the result screen to generate the payment slip for the buy-in.

Example of a buy-in to early retirement at age 60

The insured, currently aged 45, wishes to buy into early retirement at age 60. To do that, he or she can buy in a maximum amount of 327% of the insured salary at age 45.