Hi guys, I'm terribly sorry to ask this question that has probably been asked oodles of times before, but the information seems to be so spread out over many threads and the topic is already pretty confusing.

I wanted to start this thread so that we can collect, in just one place, the various options for what to do with the Swiss pension pillars 1, 2, and 3 if you leave Switzerland. So far from what I have investigated, you can have several options for pillar 2:

Pillar 2 options:

1. Company pays your pillar 2 as cash, you then take it home with you immediately.

2. Company pays your pillar 2 into a vesting account in a Swiss bank. You then can access this account from abroad when you're 65.

However, I don't know what happens to pillars 1 and 3, and also I'm not quite clear as to the advantages and disadvantages of the two options above for Pillar 2.

Anyone would care to please summarize these in one concise post that we can perhaps make sticky?

After some googling, found this document:

http://www.ahv-iv.info/andere/00134/...2c_JjKbNoKSn6A--

In short, it basically says that if you've contributed to your Pillar 1 pension (AVS) for at least one year, and then you move to a country in the EU or with a treaty (EFTA member state), you can collect the Swiss pillar 1 pension after you're 65 from abroad. This part of your pension that you won in Switzerland will still be administered by Switzerland, so you can't roll it over to another country, but the good news is that it will exist for you when you're older, you won't lose it. Whew!

This is another official one. Check the PDF in English or in another language if you prefer it.

Thanks Longbyt. Yes, the one you pointed to is the general one, which applies to anyone who is not an EU/EFTA member state citizen, and the one I linked to applies to people from an EU/EFTA member state. Great find!

and finally, for those of us who would also have become Swiss citizens but still are leaving, here some info: http://www.quitter-la-suisse.ch/vivre-a-letranger.html (en francais only, sorry)
Of course, the detailed guide on getting the 2eme pilier money out is sold, but there is a lot of free information.

I have found that if you are leaving outside EU EFTA countries then it is best to take your money with you, as here to keep it in vested benefits account your pillar 2 will not grow much. usually the interest rates in swiss are quite low.

Masketier, did you also find out how it is taxed? I believe it is taxed differently if you take it out for investing in real estate or independent work, or if you more in a non-EU country. In the second case, it could be based on a Impôt à la source brackets (and in some cantons these can be quite favorable). Then my additional question is, would that be THEN taxed at the moment of importing it in the other country (in my case, US, where I am not a citizen)?