We are leaving Switzerland and HH.RR. inform me that my pension funds willbe moved to "freeze" account. Speaking with the Bank (post) they said that the money will be available when I will be 60!
Is there any way to recover my pension funds?
Hi,
Not if you are an Swiss or EU citizen.
Tom
Thanks for the info.
This is really disappointed, I hope the account has no cost at all.
You can move this "locked in" money to a "locked in" managed fund for a better return when you retire.
Talk to these people, they are decent, http://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/Home-EN?lang=en-us
But beware, there are many sharks about promising lots of money, but keeping a large fee for themselves!
Thanks st2lemans,
I was talking with the people at Post Bank and they say that I can move the money to a european account, and then get the money from there.
I just moved to Switzerland at end of November, started work 1st December, but one thing I was told and read in my research before coming was that any pension paid in while here, if I then leave Switzerland for good, the value of the account will be paid out to me upon leaving.
Am trying to remember where I read it, I read all sorts of info from all sorts of sites before my move here, but if I do remember I will post a link
Not if you are Swiss or an EU citizen. (Mentioned above) This is the law in the EU from a few years ago. Citizens cannot move around Europe and then claim social security, we are forced to save for a pension. As you are British your information was about 5 years out of date.
Only non-EU can withdraw the pension. I just checked with the authority.
For U.S. expats returning there, it is also not possible to cash out of the pension fund for Tier 1, which is frozen until retirement age when it can be claimed (save your pension card!). But it is possible to cash out of pension Tier 2 or roll into a new pension fund in the U.S. I recently read a good article in the Hello Switzerland magazine that it is possible to move the pension funds from a higher-taxed Swiss canton to a lower-taxed on (e.g. from Vaud to Schwyz) in advance of the cash-out, thereby saving potentially a lot in taxes depending upon how long you have been contributing.
I was told that my retirement fund would be paid out as soon as i leave the country. I hope I got the right info....
Be wary of anyone approaching you with offers of assistance to transfer your pension funds.
Depends who gave you the info.
My wifes Pension fund was paid out in full as we moved back to the US. If you stay in the EU then you can't cash it out I believe.
Thank you all for the comments.
I was in contact with the pension company i'm registered to today and as it seems they will pay out what ever i can claim since i don't have a new job in the country where i am going. If i get hired before leaving switzerland, the money can be transferred to the new pension company/ retirement fund (do not know the english word for it). That is if it's in the Eu. Anyways, as long as i don't loose the money i'm happy (no matter if it gets transferred or cashed out).
Need some help. I lived in Geneva for 8.5 years & paid into the swiss pension scheme. I now live back in the UK. How can I recover the contributions I made ?
Many thanks,
So if you are an EU citizen but on leaving CH move to a non EU country, it is possible to recover your pension contributions?
I'm an EU citizen (UK) now living in the UK. As I'm over 60 I thought there was something I could do to recover the payments I made while living in Switzerland ? Thanks
Do you mind posting a link to that article? Thanks.
This is a pretty good summary on the Swiss social security systems for foreign nationals, both regarding the time in Switzerland and the situation upon leaving Switzerland. It is published by the Swiss government.
The information is available in
- Arabic
- Albanian
- English
- French
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Serbian
- Spanish
- Tamil
- Turkish
https://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/de/home...cherungen.html
EDIT: and German
That depends on where in the EU you are going, it depends on the local countries law. If you leave for the UK you can take cash.
Google Swiss LOB guarantee fund for more info.