thanks for your explanation, today i found out one more thing surprise me, if i have a colleague have exactly the same salary as I do, and each month i pay 500chf and the company pays 500chf to my BVG, but for him, each month the company pays 600CHF and she pays 600CHF, i dont mind how much she pays to her own pension fund, but please note the company is paying more money to her than to me in the fund even though we have exactly the same salary, is this fair and normal?

Re: Swiss pensions consolidated summary

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thanks for your explanation, today i found out one more thing surprise me, if i have a colleague have exactly the same salary as I do, and each month i pay 500chf and the company pays 500chf to my BVG, but for him, each month the company pays 600CHF and she pays 600CHF, i dont mind how much she pays to her own pension fund, but please note the company is paying more money to her than to me in the fund even though we have exactly the same salary, is this fair and normal?

Are you both of the same age

I have already pointed out that the BVG contribution depends on age. And justdoit, too, poses the question about your age and your colleagues age.

Moreover, your insurance premiums may be different.

The BVG is very meticulously regulated and monitored. Very unlikely that there are irregularities.

my age is 30, my colleague is 40

That explains it... the contribution rate depends on the age of the employee. So nothing illegal

ah ha...this i didnt know, so as a company , if you hire a young guy, basically is cheaper than hire an old guy, is that right? and as an old guy, and based on company and person share half half of the BVG, from his own part,he has to pay more pension fund than a young one even getting the same salary.

Thus, elderly unemployed have great difficulty finding reemployment.

So is it possible for me to withdraw AHV and BVG when i leave Switzerland and go back to the US? It will be 20 months when i leave the country. I did read through it but couldn't find any conclusive info for US citizen. Thank you.

Hi, ive just moved back to Australia and am chaisng my pension fund. the HR from my previous employer said its all set to go but she is missing my "proof of registration" into my city. In Australia we dont do that! so i asked my new HR here and she had no idea, I asked the department of immigration and they said they have no idea and dont issue proof of residency. So im stuck? I also own my own place so I dont have a rental agreement. Its really pissing me off, but there must be lots of people who move outside of europe who have similar systems in their home countries??

Thanks!

Sarah

In Britain the police will issue a certificate of residence. Or you could ask your tax office, or best of all your social security office for a certificate.

Are you sure about that ? The police are unlikely to have any knowledge of a person who is not involved in nefarious activity. We have no normal register of residency for home nationals, except perhaps the electoral roll which "is widely regarded as the most definitive residential database available in the UK for address validation, fraud prevention and tracing purposes".

Suggest you ask the Swiss consulate or embassy what is considered acceptable alternative evidence.

My father had a similar issue with some french "proof of being alive" certificate for his french state pension. In the end he has to go to the french embassy in london each year to be stuck with a pin...

Daniel

I took all my IDs and persuaded the Swiss Post office to stamp my letter as "being alive".

Hi Sarah,
If you are referring to AHV refund,I believe that for 'proof of registration', a current utility bill with your name and address is sufficient if you don't have the 'registration' system in your country.Please ask your previous Swiss employer HR to double check with the AHV authorities in Geneva.

Please provide us with an update if this is correct.Good luck!

Ref the OP some points for possible updating:
1) The list is now at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/qrops.pdf
2) In that list is "Swisscanto Sammelstiftung der Kantonalbanken"

Not completely accurate - I have investigated and there are two exceptions:

1) If you buy/own a house within the officially recognised commuting distance of the border. I know someone who used it for buying in France.

2) If you have spilt residence, you can buy/pay off mortgage where your spouse lives, provided you own it together. This we had confirmed by my wife's pension advisor.

What I don't know is if the 2nd pillar can be used for homebuying after leaving Switzerland - I somehow doubt it.

Otherwise a brilliant overview

Entirely possible according to http://www.verbindungsstelle.ch/docu...version-en.pdf

Section 3 states:
"As a peculiarity of Swiss benefit law, early drawing in favour of owner-occupied home ownership continues to be possible within the range of the compulsory occupational benefit even if the residential property is located in the new EU or EFTA country of residence."

i'd question the current validity of that doc, 5 years is a long time bi-lateral agreements. it's probably correct but i wouldn't bet my pension on it without seeing a more up to-date timestamp (c;

Cool,
This is so far the best explanation for the pension issue,
Thnaks a lot for the valuable help!!