(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) I have talked in detail about the retirement system in Switzerland, the so-called three pillars. However, I have not yet talked about a not well-known part of this system: 1e pension plans. In this article, I want to cover in detail 1e pension plans. These pension plans are sometimes called pillar 1e. We will see what it is all about, who can profit from it, and more! 1e Pension Plans In Switzerland, most people are aware of the existence of the three pillars, even if many people are not entirely knowledgeable about them. However, most people do not know about the 1e pension plans, or pillar 1e. The reason is simple: it is reserved for people with a very high salary. Let’s see how. While the name is 1e, it is actually closer
Topics:
Mr. The Poor Swiss considers the following as important: retirement
This could be interesting, too:
Baptiste Wicht writes Early retiree in Switzerland – Dror’s Story
Claudio Grass writes Is gold too expensive?
Mr. The Poor Swiss writes Freya 3a Review – Pros & Cons
Mr. The Poor Swiss writes What is the pillar 1e?
(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
I have talked in detail about the retirement system in Switzerland, the so-called three pillars. However, I have not yet talked about a not well-known part of this system: 1e pension plans.
In this article, I want to cover in detail 1e pension plans. These pension plans are sometimes called pillar 1e. We will see what it is all about, who can profit from it, and more!
1e Pension Plans
In Switzerland, most people are aware of the existence of the three pillars, even if many people are not entirely knowledgeable about them. However, most people do not know about the 1e pension plans, or pillar 1e. The reason is simple: it is reserved for people with a very high salary. Let’s see how.
While the name is 1e, it is actually closer to the second pillar than to the first pillar. In fact, a 1e pension plan covers the salary higher than 1.5 times the maximum coordinated salary (86’040). So, the 1e pension plan will cover the salaries between 129’060 CHF and 860’400 (maximum covered by the second pillar). Therefore, if you have a salary lower than that, you cannot profit from a 1e pension plan.
Another reason people do not know about it is that employees cannot choose to invest in 1e pension plans. It is up to the employer to provide a 1e plan for their employees. So, even if your salary is higher than this limit, your employer would still have to enroll you in such a plan for you to profit.
It is important to note that people with a 1e have both a 1e and a second pillar. If you are eligible for a 1e pension plan, only the part of your salary higher than 129’060 CHF will contribute to the 1e plan. The rest will go as usual to the second pillar.
As for contributions, they are the same as the second pillar. You generally contribute some percentage of your income each month to the second pillar. And your employer contributes some percentage as well. The same is true for your 1e pension plan. The difference is that your contribution is split between your second pillar and your 1e pension plan.
For these two reasons, most people do not know about this pillar.
Advantages of the 1e pension plan
While not well-known, this pillar is very interesting for employees.
Indeed, employees enrolled in a 1e pension plan can choose their investment strategy. Where most second pillar pension funds are extremely conservative and have extremely low returns, a 1e fund can be much more aggressive and yield nice returns in the long term.
This can make a major difference in the long-term for your retirement assets.
This also makes the 1e pension plan very interesting for additional contributions to the second pillar. With the second pillar, additional contributions are not great since the returns on (most) second pillars are really bad. But if the money is invested heavily, the second pillar contributions become as interesting as the third pillar contributions, but with a much higher limit per year.
On the other hand, since your assets are invested, there is no guaranteed interest rate. So, not only are the returns not guaranteed, but you can actually lose money in your retirement assets. So, you need to choose your investment strategy according to your risk capacity and asset allocation.
There are also advantages for employers since this could make them more attractive on the job market.
As of 2020, there was about 5 billion CHF managed in 1e pension plans in Switzerland. While these plans have existed since 2006, they only started becoming popular since 2017 because, before that, the pension funds had to bear the losses, making this plan unattractive for fund providers. But now, employees are bearing the losses (and profits, of course), so more and more providers are offering such plans.
Disadvantages of 1e pension plans
There are few disadvantages to these 1e pension plans.
The first disadvantage is that very few people can profit from it. Even in Switzerland, most people will not have access to a 1e because of the high salary required. And even if they have the necessary salary, their employer may not offer this option.
The second disadvantage is that a 1e pension plan will tie you to an employer. Indeed, when you change employer, you will have to transfer these assets to a new provider. It means that you will be forced to sell these assets. If this happens at the wrong time in the stock market, it could be detrimental. If you are transferring to a vested benefits account, it may be easier since they will be reinvested again. But if you transfer to another employer, they will likely be poorly invested again (unless the new employer has a good 1e again).
But there are a few exceptions to this disadvantage.
- If you transfer from one employer to another and they both use the same 1e foundation, it should be possible to transfer your shares directly. This is possible with yourpension for instance.
- Some 1e foundations also have vested benefits accounts. And these foundations often have a path between the 1e and the vested benefits accounts. For instance, you could transfer the shares directly from yourpension to valuepension.
Other differences
There are a few other differences between the standard second pillar and the 1e pension plan.
In most cases, you will not be able to get a pension from 1e pension plan. You will only be able to get a full capital payment. Other than that, the rules for withdrawal (and early withdrawal) are the same as for the second pillar.
An important difference is that assets are segregated per investor (or sometimes per strategy). In a standard second pillar, the funds are put together, and the fund is paying for retirees with the money coming from the current employees. In a pillar 1e, the money is entirely for you. You only pay the investment fees. This is a great advantage since you can profit more from the stock market’s performance and choose your strategy.
Example of 1e pension plan: yourpension
Finpension is a great company! They already have the best third pillar and the best vested benefits accounts. And they also have a 1e pension plan offer: yourpension. In fact, they started with the 1e, continued with the vested benefits, and finally went into the third pillar.
They are a great 1e foundation offer as well. They let you invest in one of 10 different investing strategies. Some are very conservative, while others are very aggressive. This is is great for young people and for people close to retirement. And as usual, they are using index funds to minimize the fees.
With yourpension, your money is entirely segregated from other employees of the same company. That way, you can use a very conservative (yet more aggressive than a bad second pillar) strategy and profit even if some of your colleagues are more aggressive. And the contrary is possible too: you can be aggressive and profit even if most of your colleagues are conservative.
So, if you are looking for a good 1e foundation for your employees or want to recommend one to your boss, yourpension is very likely a great choice!
Conclusion
Overall, the 1e pension plan is a great option to improve the returns on your second pillar. The main problem is that it is only offered to a tiny portion of the Swiss population. First, you need a very large salary to enroll. And second, it is still up to your employer to enroll its employees. You cannot enroll by yourself.
I believe that this kind of pillar should be offered to many more employees. And we should be able to enroll by ourselves like we choose the third pillar. But I doubt it will ever change. (And maybe I am salty because I do not have access to tone).
If you can enroll in such a plan, I believe it is a great opportunity if your risk capacity allows it.
With that, you know all you need to know about the 1e pension plan, the least well-known part of the three pillars system.
If you have access to a 1e pension plan, I would love to hear of your experience with it.