How to read and use the pension fund statement correctly

• Reported gross/OASI annual salary: This amount should be equal to the amount you received in salary last year. If it isn’t, your 13th monthly salary, bonuses or gratuities were probably not counted. Check the pension fund regulations to see if everything is taken into account.
• Insured annual salary: This is the reported annual salary, which has usually been reduced by the “coordination offset.” This deduction is currently CHF 26,460. This part of your salary is not included in pillar 2, but is already covered by pillar 1. The mandatory BVG pension applies to the annual salary insured in pillar 2 (the coordinated salary): Coordinated salaries from CHF 22,680 to CHF 90,720 are insured (as of 2025.) The maximum insured salary amount is CHF 64,260, while the minimum is CHF 3,585. However, since many pension funds also insure salaries that are above or below the mandatory level, many benefit from extra-mandatory benefits.
• Working hours: Here you can see how many working hours your employer has registered you with the pension fund.
  

• Retirement savings or savings as of 1 January of the year in question: The sum includes all contributions that you and your employer have paid, but without taking into account any withdrawals. For example, withdrawals to finance residential property or as a result of a divorce are deducted from your assets. However, pension fund buy-ins and interest received are included.
• BVG assets: Pension funds with extra-mandatory benefits list two figures: the total retirement assets and the proportion which constitute BVG assets. The fund must guarantee the legally prescribed interest and conversion rate for the assets within the mandatory framework, but are not required to go beyond that.
• BVG interest rate: This is the legally prescribed interest rate, which the Federal Council sets regularly. As a rule, it is applied to your BVG balance from the past year. In 2025, this rate is 1.25 percent.
• Extra-mandatory interest rate: The pension fund can determine the interest it pays for non-mandatory insured capital. This rate can be higher or lower than the BVG rate. There are also pension funds that do not list the interest rate split according to BVG and extra-mandatory pension.
• Annual pension credit: This consists of the savings contributions made by you and your employer over the year. They are added directly to your retirement assets.
• Expected pension capital without interest: This figure predicts the pension capital you are likely to reach by retirement. It assumes you will continue to work for the same salary until then.
• Expected retirement assets with interest: Here, interest income is added to your predicted pension capital on retirement. The interest rate used is estimated by your pension fund. Keep in mind that some pension funds’ interest rate forecasts may be overly optimistic.
• Old-age pension from 65 (with and without interest): An annual pension is calculated based on the expected saved capital – one with and one without interest. The pension fund applies the current conversion rate in accordance with the regulations.
  

• Annual partner’s pension: in the event of the insured person’s death after illness, surviving dependents receive this sum annually. In the event of an accident, on the other hand, accident insurance will be paid out first. The payment is made to spouses, registered partners and children under the age of 18 (up to 25 years of age if in education). Some pension funds also make payments to surviving dependents who lived with the deceased in a cohabiting relationship.
• Lump-sum death benefit in addition to the partner’s pension: In addition to the partner’s pension, pension fund benefits often also include a lump-sum death benefit, which is paid out once.
• Lump-sum death benefit if no partner’s pension is due: If the deceased was single at the time of death, or married but without entitlement to a pension, the amount mentioned here is paid once to the surviving dependents – in accordance with the beneficiary order under the regulations.
• Annual orphan’s pension per child: Children as surviving dependents receive a maximum of the sum listed here annually. It continues to be paid until they have reached the age specified in the pension plan.

Unmarried couples and persons under the age of 45 in particular should take a closer look at the requirements for survivors’ benefits in the pension fund’s regulations. For example, the pension fund may require cohabiting partners to submit a written beneficiary declaration.

• Annual disability pension after a 24-month waiting period: You will receive this amount if you become completely unable to work due to illness. In the event of an accident, accident insurance will come into play first. Check whether the promised cover would be sufficient for you in the event of an emergency or whether you should take further precautionary measures.
• Annual disabled person’s child’s pension after 24-month waiting period. Children of insured persons who have become completely unable to work due to disability receive this amount per year and child.
• Exemption from contributions after a three-month waiting period: If you are unable to work for more than three months, you no longer have to pay contributions to the pension fund. However, you remain insured.

• Annual savings amount: Your retirement assets grow by this amount every year. This is the same amount as the “annual pension credit” listed above.
• Annual premium for risk insurance: Not all of your annual contributions go towards retirement provision. Part is used for risk insurance to finance benefits in the event of disability or death. The ratio between these parts also determines how much capital is available later on for your retirement benefits.
• Total annual amount: This amount is made up of the two figures mentioned above, i.e., the annual savings amount for your retirement assets and the premium for risk insurance.
• Of which at the expense of the employee: In principle, you pay half of the total annual contribution with your monthly pension fund deductions from your salary. Your employer pays the other half directly to the pension fund. Depending on the pension fund, it’s also possible that this distribution is not 50/50, for example if you can make higher savings contributions.

• Purchase of contribution years: you can improve your pension provision in the pillar 2 by paying contributions voluntarily. This will increase your retirement benefits and possible risk benefits. The figure shows you the maximum buy-in amount you can afford.
• Buy-ins for early retirement: to ensure that early retirement does not reduce your benefits, you can pay in this amount. However, this is only possible if you have completely exhausted the option of purchasing contribution years. Note that if you do not retire early, you may risk losing part of this capital.

Before making a pension fund buy-in, find out about its funding ratio. This is a key figure that represents the financial situation of the fund. A value below 100 percent indicates a need for reform in the long term.

Also check the tax advantages. You can deduct the buy-in amount from your taxable income and reduce progressive taxation if the buy-in amounts are spread over several years. The amount of tax savings that can be achieved depends on where you live and your tax situation. Before making a buy-in, however, you must have repaid any advance withdrawals that you used to purchase residential property. In addition, no lump-sum withdrawals may be made within three years of a buy-in, otherwise the tax advantage achieved will be cancelled retroactively.