Pensions in multiple European countries

[Phil_MCR]

@adamella

Hi, I have worked in Spain and in the UK in the past years. Since 2009 I am living and working in Switzerland. I would like to know where or who I should contact, here in Switzerland, in order to claim my UK and Spanish contributions or at least, to make them count for at the time of my retirement here in Switzerland. I know I have to claim through the pension institution in Switzerland , but before spend hours trying to find the right office/person to contact, I though to ask in here,because usually I get great advice from people that have been through all this before.

Thanks in advance

@leophillalo

After moving to CH, is it mandatory that you transfer the previous pension fund into your new Swiss fund? Or am I allowed to keep two in different countries? Transfer has turned out to be much more complex than I thought. What are the pros and cons of not transferring?

I saw this useful link today which helps to explain the complex situation where you worked in multiple different countries and how to claim your pension:

State pensions abroad - Your Europe

[md4351]

Question: what is the ideal country to retire? Switzerland is way too expensive for most people to retire. In terms of cost, housing, food, affordable health care, good weather, safety, and ease of traveling what are the best countries in Europe and elsewhere?

[gaburko]

Mihajlo, dat u?

[Elena]

Hello, I am also seeking information on how to make pension years from Germany and the UK count in Switzerland. Is it even possible? Thank you

[Phil_MCR]

See the link above. You have to see first if you qualify for pensions in each country and if not, see whether the years can instead be used to qualify for a pension in another country.

[Elena]

Thank you Phil. I looked at the link. I could not find out whether those specific EU rules apply also to Switzerland

[Phil_MCR]

I think Switzerland signed various agreements with different countries on pensions. You’d have to find the agreements and see what they say for each country.

[KiwiSteve]

The regulations can be very difficult to understand. I asked the authorities in each of the countries relevant for me, NZ and UK. Nothing counted to the Swiss pension but I do get a small British pension. For this I had to apply through the International AHV office in Geneva. My NZ contributions are lost.

[Phil_MCR]

@KiwiSteve

Nothing counted to the Swiss pension but I do get a small British pension

It would be rather generous to double count the years for the UK: both getting a UK pension and having the years also count for Swiss pension.

[Phil_MCR]

There’s also a lot of information here for the UK/Switzerland piece: Relations with the United Kingdom

I seem to remember for UK/Switzerland, that if you qualify for pension under rules of each country you can get a pension under both countries regime. However, if you don’t have enough years for, one country, they can be used and counted (for the purposes of qualifying for a pension) in the other. My memory is fuzzy on this, so best to double check.