I am not sure if this is the right section One of the points on the back of a government form has the following text. I find it confusing. What are they trying to say? Are they saying that if one partner is married and the other is unemployed then the AHV contributions will be considered paid ONLY if the partner from gainful employment pays the double minimum AHV contribution?

So if say a wife is unemployed or running a tiny business and is paying the minimum AHV contribution then the husband who is employed needs to pay double the minimum AHV contribution along with wife's minimum AHV contribution for the married couple's AHV contribution to be considered fully paid?
If wife paid CHF 450 then the husband needs to pay CHF 900? In the worst case scenario say if both partners are unemployed then should it not be 450 + 450 = CHF 800 for married couple instead of 450 + 900 = CHF1350?

450 being the approx. minimum annual AHV contribution that everyone has to pay.


Ok I don't fully understand. Any chance someone could clarify it for me. Thanks in advance.

From what I understand of what it says, if you have a partner that is working and one that is not, the one that is working has to pay at least double the minimum amount for the year to cover both partners. This is the part I am not very certain about as it is in legal German, and even though German is my mother tongue I have a really hard time with legal stuff. If I understood it correctly than it says that if yous salary is at least 8,812 (gross) if you are employed than you automatically payed enough to cover your partner as well (if they do not pay at all). The part that makes me very uncertain is that I read it as saying that the 8,812 if for the entire year, but I guess that this would be well below the poverty line, but if you are right about the minimum amount needed a year (which I cannot recall) the math might work out after all.

I would say that in the scenario you described as your wife is already paying the minimum, as long as you also pay the minimum than you are all set. They are really more concerned with the case where one partner is not employed at all, and thus does not pay anything at all.

You have this more or less correct. Although German is not my mother tongue, legal German comes rather easy...

What they are saying is that if you are married, then...

If your wife is working ignore - as she will pay the contribution herself.
If your wife is not working then you need to be paying double the minimum in order to later claim a pension as a married couple and not a single person ie indeed SFr. 900 per year.

If you do not pay for your wife then you will receive a single persons pension and she will not be covered...

I do not intend to hijack this thread, but I am going to be in a similar situation and I would like to clarify this point a bit more.
I am going to be employed and from what I have been told the AHV is going to be deducted from my salary. My wife will not be working, so I will have to pay 450CHF per year additionally on her behalf. Did I get it right?

Is this contribution (450 CHF) mandatory? Richard, from your last sentence it sounds that it is not and it is just a matter of, if one wishes to receive a single persons pension or as a married couple. Could you clarify this.
Thanks,
Andy

Yes.

It is mandatory for every person who stays in Switzerland and is more than 18 years old, no matter if he is a foreigner or if he's not making money. If somebody doesn't pay the 450 Fr. for a calendar year, his pension will be significantly cut back.

You can find the whole regulation in English here. Since AHV is regulated at the national level, the link is useful for those living outside canton Zürich, too.

Thanks, Nathu, for the feedback!

Thanks for the explanation everyone. If one partner stays unemployed and pays only the minimum AHV contribution for rest of their life then what kind of pension will they get?

Here's an online calculator. They give no warranty and they emphasize that it's just an estimation. If you want exact figures, you'll have to contact the authorities. As you can see, the number depends on the time spent in Switzerland, marital status and some other factors.


Edit: The online calculator does a referrer check. To get to the correct website, it is necessary to do one of the following two things:
a) Go to this website and click on "Theoretische Rentenabschätzung"
b) Open a new, empty browser window and paste the following URL:
http://www.ahv-services.ch/reschweb/rentenform.aspx

That is a good resource - I haven't seen it before and it will be very useful in giving estimates to relocating staff. I checked the estimate against my calculated actuals and there is just a few % in it.

Nice one.