You probably have over 100k of cash sitting around in your current account and they thought heck let's talk to this guy we might be able to squeeze an extra 0.5% a year out from him by offering him a coffee and a "talk".
In all seriousness it's just a private banking exercise and nothing to worry about. It's better than someone giving you a ring and going through a detailed conversation about your investment options on the phone. Private banking means they actually invite you for a coffee and a talk with no pushy sales tactics.
Exactly. This is the time of year they start noticing if people are not taking advantage of the tax saving potential of the 3rd Pillar account and start talking about savings of around CHF 2000.- . It is not relevant for everyone (Quellensteuer / low earners etc.) but is worth looking at.
The 3rd Pillar is basically an extra pension plan that you have created for yourself. A bank would like for you to turn your 3rd pillar over to them because they will tell you that they "are the experts and know best what to do with your money." And you should just give it to them and not worry about it because "its too complicated for you anyway", is what they will tell you.
I would suggest you withdraw it all and put it into an account where you have access to it and it is not tied up. Just leave it there until you are ready to invest it yourself. The hidden fees and expenses you pay to your banker to "invest" your money for you will eat up any interest that you will earn on the principal.
You can't withdraw funds from a Pillar 3a fund, with some exceptions (invalidity, buying a house, setting up your own business, or leaving Switzerland permanently). Or are you referring to excess cash lying around, not in Pillar 3a accounts?
Provided the 3a money is withdrawn prior to retirement age, it is taxed at a highly concessional rate. No con.
I'm surprised someone with your knowledge would call 3rd Pillar accounts a con.
The withdrawal tax rate at retirement age is quite a low rate assuming that you have more than one 3rd Pillar account to minimise this rate. No income tax is levied on the interest paid out on money held until it's withdrawal. You don't have to pay wealth tax on monies / securities in a 3rd Pillar account and most importantly the amount paid in every year can be used to offset your income reducing your tax liability.
For the average Joe this is more than adequate as a tax efficient deferred tax savings account. The cost of opportunity for the money is more than offset by the benefits offered.
I thought that if you are planning to buy an apartment / start your business... etc (any reason that entitles you to withdraw the money before retirement)... in several years, then it is a good idea to push money in to the 3a. It saves some tax each year, and when you withdraw it in several years you will pay some tax but much lower than the tax you would have saved during these years. Am I right?
Broadly, yes, you're right, but you can't withdraw the money before retirement for "any reason"; the reasons are few and quite restrictive, as I detailed in an earlier post in this thread.
I had the same call ages ago. In the beginning i was worried but i did go. It was nothing really. My advisor just wanted to meet me and suggest ways i invest my savings. No pressure at all. Took 10 minutes max and it was nice to meet the person responsible for my account
Do not go. The big banks here are predatory and are interested only in taking control of your money and charging their "management fees". They only win, and will give you little more than a cup of coffee 10 years from now when you find you've lost 10s of thousands in their recommended "funds".
Some yes but it was the lowest risk possible. Anw my aunt works in a bank and i trust her more than anybody else. So i went to the meeting but then i asked my aunts advice on what to do
If you have invested in equates the final value will be several (possibly 10 times) the amount invested. The tax paid at the end of the day could hugely exceed the tax saved at the beginning. As Switzerland does not have any capital gains tax on movable property (shares etc) its a very bad deal.
I had something similar at ZKB. It was just a friendly chat and he asked if I had any questions about any of the bank's services and he mentioned one or two that might be useful to me and gave me some brochures. There was no sales pitch beyond that an no pressure. He was surprised to hear that I was filling in my own tax returns and knew more about taxes and investments than he had assumed and at the end of our conversation I don't think he had any expectation to sell me anything, but he remained pleasant all the same. So much more pleasant than talking two some of these cold calling companies with their Generali schemes who go on pushing even after all the signals and indicators have gone to "no".