# Job Change & Retirement Provision: What You Need to Know — innoVorsorge AG > Changing jobs affects your pension fund and provision. Learn what you need to consider when switching employers. Adresse: https://www.innovorsorge.ch/en/blog/job-change-provision Diese Fassung wird beim Bau aus dem Inhalt der Seite erzeugt. --- 4 Feb Written by Lukas Bachmann # Job Change & Retirement Provision: What You Need to Know You sign the new employment contract, resign from your old employer, look forward to the change. And in the coming weeks, things happen in the background that no one systematically informs you about — with financial consequences that can be five to six figures. A job change is one of the most underestimated moments in Swiss retirement provision. Pension fund assets are shifted, risk insurance policies expire, tax planning opportunities open up. Those who only see the new job usually miss the three or four decisions that really matter. ## What Happens When You Leave the Old Pension Fund When you resign, you are entitled to the so-called **leaving benefit** — your entire retirement savings accumulated so far. The calculation is based on the Vested Benefits Act (FZG): - **Defined contribution** (standard today): sum of all contributions paid in + entry benefits + interest. - **Defined benefit** (rarer, especially public sector): according to a more complex formula. - **Minimum amount** (Art. 17 FZG): contributed benefits and entry benefits plus interest (BVG minimum rate); risk premiums do not count. The old pension fund must transfer the leaving benefit within 30 days of availability. After that, default interest applies (BVG minimum rate + 1%). Typical leaving benefit by age and salary ## The Most Important Scenarios After Leaving #### Scenario 1: Seamless change to a new position The simplest case. Your leaving benefit goes directly to your new employer's pension fund. You do not need to do anything except inform the new fund of the old fund's details. The new fund then calculates your **buy-in potential** – the maximum amount you could additionally pay into the fund. Fully deductible from taxable income. Highly attractive for higher earners. #### Scenario 2: New position starts with a gap (e.g. one month off) Delicate. In this case, the statutory **one-month continued coverage** (Art. 10 para. 3 BVG) for death and disability applies. If you do not have a new pension fund after this month, you are uninsured from day 31. Options: voluntary continued insurance with the BVG Foundation (application within **90 days**) or private risk life insurance or disability insurance. #### Scenario 3: Longer break, world trip, sabbatical Here you need a **vested benefits account** or a **vested benefits policy** as interim storage. You can park the balance until the reference age – with later employment, a maximum of five years beyond that. #### Scenario 4: Starting self-employment If you become self-employed as your main occupation and are no longer subject to BVG, you can withdraw your entire pension fund balance **in cash**. Requirement: proof from the AHV compensation office. Application within one year of starting self-employment. Taxation occurs immediately as capital benefits tax. #### Scenario 5: Moving abroad **EU/EFTA area:** If you are compulsorily insured in the destination country for old age, disability and death, the **compulsory portion** remains blocked in Switzerland. Only the non-compulsory portion can be withdrawn. **Non-EU/EFTA** (USA, UK, others): Full cash withdrawal possible – at the earliest 90 days after departure. ## Vested Benefits Account vs. Vested Benefits Policy | Feature | Account (Bank) | Policy (Insurance) | | --- | --- | --- | | Interest | low, no minimum rate | fixed guaranteed, but low | | Risk protection | none | death/disability included | | Costs | low | premiums + administration | | Securities solution | yes, higher long-term return | usually not | ## The 3-Year Lock-In Period for Pension Fund Buy-Ins One of the most important rules that hardly anyone knows — and that can cost thousands of francs in taxes. Art. 79b BVG Anyone who voluntarily buys into the pension fund may **not withdraw the capital (including interest) from this buy-in in the form of capital for three years**. On violation: the tax authority reclaims the claimed tax deduction retroactively. **Example:** You are 59, pay CHF 80,000 into your pension fund and thereby save CHF 24,000 in taxes (at 30% marginal rate). Two years later, you retire and withdraw the retirement savings as capital. The tax authority determines: the buy-in is within the lock-in period. Consequence: the **CHF 24,000 in tax savings are claimed back** — plus interest. Buy-in only for pension withdrawal: the lock-in period does not apply here. ## Splitting: The One-Time Opportunity When Leaving A rarely used but valuable lever: when leaving a pension fund, you can split your leaving benefit across **up to two vested benefits accounts**. This is the only opportunity — once consolidated, it remains on one account. Why this matters: with a later capital withdrawal, you pay capital benefits tax. This is strongly progressive. Splitting saves thousands in taxes With even larger amounts, the effect grows. Those who withdraw CHF 1 million in three tranches can save **CHF 20,000 to 40,000 in taxes** compared to a one-time withdrawal. ## Forgotten Pension Fund Assets: A Swiss Billion-Franc Problem Every year, Swiss employees search for forgotten pension fund balances — **billions of francs** sit in vested benefits accounts whose holders have forgotten them. Those who have changed jobs several times, especially with foreign assignments, know this problem. The good news: the **Central Office 2nd Pillar** at the BVG Security Fund offers a **free search**. Online form at sfbvg.ch, or in writing to Central Office 2nd Pillar, PO Box 1023, 3000 Bern 14. **Tip:** After each job change, check whether the leaving benefit was actually transferred to the new pension fund or a vested benefits account. A brief written confirmation from the old pension fund is worth its weight in gold — 20 years later, you will not remember what the payroll department was called. ## The Most Common Mistakes From our consulting practice: - **Pension fund buy-in three years before retirement** — and then capital withdrawal. Tax reclaim triggered. - **No splitting done.** Everything consolidated on one account — later only withdrawable as a whole. - **Risk protection in the gap forgotten.** Anyone who has an accident or dies between two jobs leaves dependents without pension fund claims. - **Lost assets after multiple changes.** With three or more job changes at companies that have merged or disappeared, the risk is real. - **Wrong choice of pension vs. capital** at later retirement, because the course was set wrongly years earlier at the job change. ## Your Job Change Checklist #### Go through 3 weeks before the last working day Old pension fund: have leaving benefit confirmed in writing New pension fund: have buy-in potential calculated Check risk protection in the gap (if break) Decide on splitting (if vested benefits account needed) Check tax optimization with buy-in (caution from 3 years before retirement) Check Central Office 2nd Pillar every 5-10 years ## Conclusion A job change is administratively trivial — but financially one of the moments where decisions move several thousand to several tens of thousands of francs. Most of these decisions cannot be reversed later: once consolidated, you cannot split again. Those who missed the continued coverage have missed it. The effort of going through the points in a structured way at the next change is small. The benefit over 20 or 30 years is six figures. Have a job change coming up? In a free strategy meeting we go through the most important decisions with you — independent, without product sales. [Book a free strategy meeting →](https://www.innovorsorge.ch/en/strategy-meeting) No sales. No commission. Only independent advice. ### Sources - [BSV — Job change fact sheet](https://www.bsv.admin.ch/dam/bsv/en/dokumente/bv/merkblaetter/bsv-merkblatt-stellenwechsel-de.pdf.download.pdf/bsv-merkblatt-stellenwechsel-de.pdf) - [BSV — Forgotten vested benefits](https://www.bsv.admin.ch/bsv/de/home/sozialversicherungen/bv/grundlagen-und-gesetze/grundlagen/vergessene-freizuegigkeitsguthaben.html) - [BSV — Departure EU/EFTA](https://www.bsv.admin.ch/bsv/de/home/sozialversicherungen/bv/grundlagen-und-gesetze/grundlagen/ausreise-nach-europaesche_union.html) - [Vested Benefits Act (FZG)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1994/2386_2386_2386/de) - [BVG Security Fund — Search for assets](https://sfbvg.ch/aufgaben/suche-nach-guthaben) - [BVG Foundation — Voluntary insurance](https://aeis.ch/einzelperson/bvg-berufliche-vorsorge/freiwillige-versicherung-fuer-einzelpersonen) - [VZ — Vested benefits when changing jobs](https://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/wissen/freizugigkeitsguthaben-beim-stellenwechsel) - [VZ — PK buy-in: 3-year lock-in period](https://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/wissen/pensionskassen-einkauf-das-sollten-sie-wissen) - [VZ — Staggered withdrawal](https://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/wissen/grosses-sparpotenzial-mit-gestaffelten-bezuegen) [BackPillar 3a Catch-Up Payments: How to Fill Gaps from Past Years](https://www.innovorsorge.ch/en/blog/pillar-3a-retrospective-payments-2026)[Investing in the Retirement PhaseNext](https://www.innovorsorge.ch/en/blog/investing-in-retirement-phase)