Hi All,

Ive heard and read many conflicting opinions on this issue and wondered whether anybody can shed some light onto it?

I am 24 (Born 1985), British, with a Auslander Ausweiss B, have been working here since October 2009 and intend to leave the country next summer (so less than 2 years).

I currently pay 170CHF per month to AHV Beitrag and want to know when im ready to leave if I can get this money back, bearing in mind that I dont intend to come back and live in CH again?

Kind thanks

Sonny

hi sonny sorry i am chipmunk what is the avh payments about, i am a black british guy planning to come and work in zurich can you give me some pointers on the problems or things to expect and the cost of living? i am looking for reasonable accomodation as well?

The money you pay into the Swiss state run AHV insurance system (called AVS in French) is not returned to you ever. It buys you credits with the state pension fund which will be accounted to you when you retire officially.

Your company pension will also not be returned to you unless you retire away from the European Union.

Your third "pillar" is entirely under your control.

Please search this forum first, there are all the answers here. We are not going to type it all out again, and again, and again....

AHV is the Swiss equivalent of the British NI.

Hi,

Modifying the question a bit .... I am here on a 1 year B permit. Can I claim a pension when I reach the official age of retirement in CH ( which is ....??) if I have left CH? Do I have the option to continue to live here (after retirement) on this pension?

Thanks in advance.

SVA

Not entirely true....It will depend on how much you earn and how much your company pays in. The minimum legal amount will not be returned to you if you remain within the EU, however what has been paid in above and beyond that amount will be returned to you.

I understood that you could transfer the AHV payments into a pension fund in your destination country. Or is that just 2nd pillar?

Edit: see below - it's just second pillar.

Here's the dirt from the horse's mouth....

http://www.ahv-iv.info/andere/00134/..._JjKbNoKSn6A--

It gives the details on contributions to the AHV and what happens when you leave the country for an EU or EFTA country.

That's a very interesting document. It says that a person will be paid the due amount of pension from their Swiss contributions regardless of what they've also clocked up in other EU states.

Would this mean, do you think, that over the course of their working life, someone could do 30 years in the UK, therefore qualifying for a full UK pension, then another 10 or so in Switzerland and also get some more pension from the authorities here?

That would be nice!

kodokan

The Swiss will pay you what you are entitled to based on your contributions here in Switzerland. If you are entitled to pension payments elsewhere also, good on you.

Anyone know the retirement age in UK? When could I claim an UK pension for the 8 years that I worked in England?

See here for British Retiring Age. And I didn't even have to write to them to request forms to apply for it. They sent them to me without my asking. Goodness only knows how they found out mine would soon be due. A jolly sight more efficient than the Bern and the Zürich office who somehow managed to 'mislay' our 'Family Book' for six months.

You can delay taking the Swiss pension and thus raise the pension you eventually get. So if you do not ask for it, the admin assumes you want to delay your pension.

I did a calculation and found that delaying would be beneficial if I survive age 85.

I talked to a friend tonight and he confirmed that he was able to get his AHV back after 1 year. He lives in Vietnam so that might be a different case.