Hello. I've had a nice time in Switzerland and now it's time for me to be moving along to pastures new. Pastures German as it happens. One of the things I still have to sort out is a Freizuegigkeitsknoto (Vested benifit account??) for my occupational pension money (pillar II) to go into when I leave. Can anyone recommend a particular account or give any general advice on what to look for?

Thanks a lot!

The best way I can see at the moment and depending on the amount of your BVG, is to move it out of Kanton Zurich where the withdrawal of BVG tax is higher (it's taxed at retirement or if withdrawn early i.e. going to live in NON EU countries).

I will use a pension company that offers other solutions beside the vested benefit account. I will be able to invest my BVG into a fund or be able to have my own individual portfolio of shares, bonds etc. The benefits of the latter is that any dividends or interest paid will not be taxed the 35% withholding tax and I should hopefully get a much better return. I can also move bonds, shares into the BVG from my external portfolio as long as the same amount is exited at the same time. A bit complex but tax wise interesting and hopefully a better return than the interest offered on the Vested Benefits account.

I can also split my BVG into 2 separate blocked BVG accounts. 1 can be blocked till 60 and the other 65.

I still have many questions regarding the set-up and of course fees are involved but half that of UBS Private Banking.

If anybody has any experience regarding the flexible BVGs, I would be interested to hear from them.

Is it possible to mention the name of that company?

Thanks for the info.

I'll second that.

I am not quite sure what you are getting at here, other than a way to convert bonds into cash legitimately. You also need to be careful what you are saying about the restrictions on BVG accounts.

In practice a Freizugigkeitskonto is simply an investment account in which you can place cash from the funds of your pension scheme when you are either not working, have changed jobs or are leaving the country. Many banks and insurance companies offer this type of account and additionally pay a fixed interest of 1.5% either now or at the next quarter end. This might not seem an attractive growth rate so it is possible again with practically every company offering these accounts to switch to a Freizugigkeits depot account. With this type of account it is possible to invest in a range of BVG type funds which offer a (usually) better rate of return. As an example long term bonds over 25 years offering 4% are not unusual and this provides a "win" of 2.5% over the standard offerings.

Note here that for the OP it is necessary to ascertain what the motivations are and what can be done with the money in the BVG account. Is this all mandatory BVG or is there additional monies in there? All money that is not mandatory can be cashed in on leaving Switzerland, and this is actually more tax efficient than leaving it in for the reason that monies paid out of the BVG in the form of pension are subject to tax at the normal rate whereas capital payments are taxed at 40% of the normal rate...

In reply to MUZE7 and OMMTHREE

The company I will use is Pensfree in Kanton Schwyz to invest my BVG
http://www.pens-expert.ch/en/free/

After months of researching it's the best solution I can find for my personal circumstances regarding fees, fund cost ratios, performance and taxes. I can invest it how I want (no Freizuegigkeitskonto) - up to 50% in equities is allowed for BVG. Or I can also choose one of their BVG funds.

Good luck

Is Pensfree trustworthy? I guess it depends how protected these Freizugigkeitstiftungs are by the government in terms of guarantees, and that I do not know.

Edit: I would not recommend UBS. Interest on vested benefit is lower than competitors at 1.75% and I do not like their fee structure.

How about UBS Freizuegigkeitskonto [vested benefit account] . They will maintain this blocked account for you and keep updating you with the yearly statements.

Others, your views on this please..

I've also had great experience with Pensfree. English speaking and very helpful.

I am resurrecting this tread to see if something changed.

Basically, I am moving to the USA and I want to put my Pillar 2 money in a vested benefit account. Given all the FATCA issues, does anybody have a recommendation for a bank that would not make problems with people living in the USA?

Dear experts

I am starting a new job now. Do I have to transfer my pensions to the new employer or can I transfer it to the bank. Also does it look strange if I not transfer it to the new employer? At what point does the employer need to know my former pension name and what option I choose?

Thanks,
Sahasrara

It depends on your new employer, but most employment contracts require that you transfer previous contributes to the new fund. Unless you are joining a company with a really bad pension fund, I'm sure that there is much advantage to keeping it in a blocked account...

You are obliged to transfer your pension to the new employer - by law.

Can you give me a reference for that?

Bundesgesetz über die Freizügigkeit in der beruflichen Alters—, Hinterlassenen- und Invalidenvorsorge (Freizügigkeitsgesetz, FZG)
Art. 3 Abs. 1 Übertragung an die neue Vorsorgeeinrichtung: Treten Versicherte in eine neue Vorsorgeeinrichtung ein, so hat die frühere Vorsorgeeinrichtung die Austrittsleistung an die neue zu überweisen.

I have not found the official English translation, sorry.

I **think** you will only be obliged to transfer the obligatory contributions. Any contributions in excess of that made by your employer or yourself can be kept in a Freizugikeitskonto.

This information is based on advice I had from Migros to transfer my funds IN as two separate payments as it made it possible to get the obligatorische part back out without distrubing the nicht-obligatorische funds.