Heidi › Pensions
How does the Swiss three-pillar pension system work?
Three layers. The first pillar, the AVS, is public and compulsory for everyone: it covers the bare minimum. The second pillar, the pension fund, is compulsory from 23,040 francs of annual salary and is built up with your employer. The third pillar is optional, and you can deduct it from your tax.
The goal written into the Constitution: that the first two pillars together pay you around 60% of your final salary. The third makes up the rest — and you are the one who fills it.
For a newcomer, the decisive point is none of these three pillars, but the missing years. A full AVS pension takes 44 years of contributions. Arriving at 35 means starting out with a third less pension, for good.
The maximum AVS pension, per month, in 2027
1,280 francs at the minimum. That is the ceiling, whatever your salary.
The maximum deductible into pillar 3a in 2027
36,864 francs for a self-employed person with no pension fund.
The three pillars at a glance
AVS and AI
The state. Covers the bare minimum for everyone, including those who have never worked.
Compulsory
Pension fund
Your employer and you. Keeps up your usual standard of living in retirement.
Compulsory from 23,040 CHF of salary
Private savings
You alone. Fills the gap, and cuts your tax bill every year.
Optional
First pillar: the AVS
Funded as you go: the people working today pay the pensions of those who have retired. You start contributing on the 1 January after your 20th birthday if you are working, and from 21 in all cases, even without a job.
| 2027 amounts | Per month |
|---|---|
| Minimum pension | 1,280 CHF |
| Maximum pension | 2,560 CHF |
| Ceiling for a married couple | 3,840 CHF |
| 13th AVS pension payment | one twelfth of the annual total |
The 13th payment has been paid on top since 2026, following the popular vote of March 2024.
A full pension assumes 44 years of contributions. Each missing year takes away roughly one forty-fourth of the pension, a little over 2%.
Someone arriving in Switzerland at 35 is 14 years behind: their AVS pension will be cut by around 32%, and no catching up is possible beyond five years back. For a newcomer this is the most important thing on this page — and the one nobody tells them when they arrive.
Second pillar: the pension fund
Funded by saving: the money is yours, it is invested for you and it follows you from one employer to the next. Your employer pays in at least as much as you do.
| 2027 figure | Amount | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Entry threshold | 23,040 CHF | Below this annual salary, joining is not compulsory |
| Coordination deduction | 26,880 CHF | The slice of salary already covered by the AVS, taken off before the calculation |
| Upper limit | 92,160 CHF | Above this, the compulsory part stops rising |
| Minimum coordinated salary | 3,840 CHF | The insured floor if the calculation comes out lower |
Contributions rise with age: around 7% of the coordinated salary between 25 and 34, 10% between 35 and 44, 15% between 45 and 54, and 18% from 55. Your employer pays at least half of them.
Three situations let you withdraw all or part of the second pillar before retirement: buying your main home, going self-employed, or leaving Switzerland for good. In that last case, the compulsory part stays locked if you move to an EU or EFTA country where you will remain insured.
Third pillar: your own share
| Pillar 3a | Pillar 3b | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-deductible | Yes, up to the ceiling | No, apart from some cantonal cases |
| 2027 ceiling, employee | 7,373 CHF a year | None |
| 2027 ceiling, self-employed | 36,864 CHF a year | None |
| Access to the money | Locked until 5 years before retirement age | Free at any time |
7,373 CHF paid in × a tax rate of 25% ≈ 1,840 CHF less tax
Every year, and the money stays yours. It is the only investment the state pays part of.
Open several 3a accounts rather than one. At retirement, the capital is taxed when you withdraw it, at a rate that rises with the amount taken out. Three or four accounts withdrawn in different years bring the final tax bill down a long way.
And if you have gaps in your pension fund, buy-backs are deductible too, often for far larger amounts than the 3a.
The three most common mistakes
- Assuming the AVS will be enough. Its maximum is 2,560 francs a month, whatever salary you earned. Rent in French-speaking Switzerland swallows half of that.
- Ignoring your missing years. They only show up at retirement, and by then it is too late. Ask for your AVS account statement, it is free.
- Withdrawing your second pillar when you leave Switzerland without doing the sums. The withdrawal is taxed, and it wipes out rights you cannot get back.
How much will you really get, with your years and your salary?
Heidi does the sums for your situation.
Read next
- Retirement as a cross-border worker: AVS, the second pillar and the second right to choose
- Family allowances for cross-border workers: Switzerland or France?
- What happens to my second pillar when I leave my Swiss job?
- Unemployment as a cross-border worker: where to register, who pays and how much?
- G permit: conditions, going home and changing employer
- Quasi-resident status: who can apply, and by when?
- Who gets my taxes as a cross-border worker: France or Switzerland?
- How much do you take home in Switzerland as a cross-border worker?
- How many days of remote work can I do without losing my cross-border worker status?
- Do I have to file a tax return in my first year in Switzerland?
- Am I entitled to a premium subsidy for my health insurance?
- What does a month of living in Switzerland really cost?
- What do I need to do in my first 14 days in Switzerland?
- B, L or C permit: which one applies to me and how do I get it?
Sources
- Office fédéral des assurances sociales — Amounts applying from 1 January 2027 (PDF)
- Caisse fédérale de compensation — AVS and AI pensions from 1 January 2027
Written by the Heidi team and updated on 7 November 2026. The amounts quoted are those published by the OFAS for 2027. The second-pillar contribution rates are the legal minimums: your pension fund may offer more. This page is for information, and does not replace an official pension calculation.