God knows if it fits here but hey it is related.

The 3rd pillar is also cash-in-able. This you can fully take with you when you leave Switzerland.

Note also that the 3rd pillar can and maybe should be cashed in every five years to reduce the capital borrowed on property. The reason for this is:

The 3rd pillar when cashed is seen as income. This means it has an EET status. Exempt on paying in, Exempt on interest paid and Taxable when paid out.

If you take a look at the tax tables in Switzerland you will see the tax is progressive. This means that the tax you pay has an increasing percentage the more you earn. If you let the 3rd pillar grow then the amount in there becomes substantial and when you cash it in you get whacked for tax. If however you actually bit for bit use it to reduce your mortgage then the tax rate, because the cashed in amount is smaller, is much less. This more than compensates for the tax advantage of debt unless you are earning over 300K per year in which case you probably should not be worrying about the tax you pay anyway ;-)