Pension planning for the self-employed: AHV, pension fund, pillar 3a and risk cover

As an employee, you notice little of your own pension planning day to day. Your employer deducts AHV contributions from your salary, registers you with the pension fund, insures you against accidents and keeps paying your salary when you are ill. When you become self-employed, all of this falls away. None of it happens automatically, and some of it you only notice once it is missing.

This article is aimed at self-employed people running a sole proprietorship. If you set up a GmbH or AG and pay yourself a salary, you count as an employee for social insurance purposes; the differences are explained in the article Choosing a legal form. Figures refer to 2026.

AHV: paying contributions on your own

As a self-employed person you pay the full contributions to AHV, IV and EO (old-age, disability and income compensation insurance) yourself. In 2026 they amount to at most 10 percent of your earned income (AHV 8.1, IV 1.4, EO 0.5 percent). For incomes between CHF 10,100 and CHF 60,500 a sliding scale with lower rates applies, and the minimum contribution is CHF 530 a year. On top of that come the administrative costs of your compensation office. From 2027 the thresholds will rise slightly, and the minimum contribution will increase to CHF 541.

The basis is the income shown in your tax assessment. Because this often arrives one or two years later, the compensation office first charges provisional contributions based on your own estimate. Once the assessment is available, the difference is settled. There is a trap here: if your actual income is more than 25 percent above the estimate, the compensation office charges 5 percent interest on arrears on the additional payment. If your business does better than expected, it is best to report this early and adjust your provisional contributions.

There is no unemployment insurance for the self-employed. If you give up the business, you have no entitlement to daily allowances from your self-employed activity. That makes the reserve, discussed further below, all the more important.

Pension fund: voluntary, but possible

Occupational pension cover (BVG) is not compulsory for the self-employed. Without a pension fund, your provision consists of AHV and whatever you build up privately. For many people this is not enough to maintain their standard of living in retirement, and in the event of disability or death the gap is often even larger.

You can insure yourself voluntarily, and there are three common routes:

• Association scheme: many professional and trade associations run their own pension scheme that members can join. The conditions are often tailored to the sector.
• Your employees' pension fund: if you have staff, you can insure yourself with the pension scheme that covers your employees.
• Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution (Stiftung Auffangeinrichtung BVG): it accepts self-employed people who have no other option. The plan is simple and essentially corresponds to the legal minimum.

A pension fund is more than a savings account. Contributions and later buy-ins are deductible from taxable income, and you are insured against disability and death under fixed rules. The downside: you tie up money that the business may need, and contributions are due regularly, even in a weak year.

If you run a GmbH or AG and pay yourself a salary above CHF 22,680 (as of 2026), the question does not arise: you are then compulsorily insured. How to find a suitable solution in that case is described in the article Choosing a BVG solution without commissions.

The larger pillar 3a

Without a pension fund, you can pay considerably more into pillar 3a than employees can. The limit is 20 percent of your net earned income, up to a maximum of CHF 36,288 a year. This amount applies unchanged in 2025 and 2026. For comparison: with a pension fund, the maximum is CHF 7,258.

For the self-employed, net earned income means the profit from the income statement after deducting AHV contributions and after tax adjustments. With a profit of CHF 90,000, the limit is therefore just under CHF 18,000, not the maximum. Contributions are deductible from taxable income, which for middle and higher incomes quickly adds up to several thousand francs in tax a year.

If you are voluntarily insured with a pension fund, the smaller pillar 3a of CHF 7,258 applies to you. You cannot have both. Since 2026 you can also make up for gaps from previous years, at the earliest for contribution years from 2025; the conditions are explained in the article on pillar 3a catch-up payments.

Two practical tips: spread your savings across several 3a accounts or custody accounts, so that you can withdraw them in stages later and reduce the withdrawal tax. And set the amount so that it does not endanger the business's liquidity even in a weaker year. You can decide on your pillar 3a contribution afresh each year; there is no obligation to pay in the same amount every year.

Risk cover: illness, accident, disability

Retirement can be planned. A long absence due to illness or accident cannot, and for the self-employed it is usually the greater risk.

Daily sickness allowance: as an employee you continue to receive a salary for a certain time when you are ill. As a self-employed person you have no income from day one, but your fixed costs keep running. Daily sickness allowance insurance pays an agreed daily amount after a waiting period. The longer the waiting period, the lower the premium; with a good reserve you can choose a waiting period of 30, 60 or 90 days. It is important to take out the insurance while you are healthy, as pre-existing conditions may be excluded.

Accident: the self-employed are not automatically insured under the Accident Insurance Act (UVG). In the event of an accident, your health insurer pays the treatment costs, but no daily allowance and no disability pension from accident insurance. You can take out voluntary UVG cover, with Suva or a private insurer depending on your sector. This gives you essentially the same protection as employees, including daily allowance and pension.

Disability and death: without a pension fund, the only income if you become unable to work due to illness is the disability (IV) pension. The maximum full IV pension is CHF 2,520 a month (as of 2026), and only with a complete contribution record and corresponding income. If you have a family or commitments such as a mortgage, you should close this gap with a disability income pension and, if necessary, a lump sum on death. This can be done through a pension fund or a separate risk insurance policy. Pure risk insurance is usually much cheaper than products that combine saving and insurance, and it is easier to adjust when your situation changes.

Liquidity reserve

The reserve is the least exciting part of pension planning and often the most important in the first years. It bridges the waiting period of your daily allowance insurance, a weak quarter or an additional demand from the compensation office, without you having to touch your pillar 3a or your retirement savings.

As a guideline, we consider three to six months of private and business fixed costs sensible, kept separate from the provisions for taxes and AHV. If your income fluctuates strongly or you depend on a few large clients, rather more. The reserve belongs in a separate account that you do not use day to day.

When starting out: withdraw pension money or not

If you become self-employed and are no longer compulsorily insured, you can have your vested benefits from the pension fund paid out in cash; if you are married, your spouse must give written consent. The same applies to pillar 3a savings, provided you withdraw them within one year of starting self-employment.

This can provide start-up capital without a loan. But it is also your retirement provision that you are putting at the risk of your own business, and in the event of disability it is then missing. The withdrawal is also taxed separately. We advise making this decision only once the business plan is in place and it is clear whether the money is really needed. Once withdrawn, it cannot be paid back tax-free.

How we can help

Which of these building blocks make sense in your situation, and which do not, depends on your income, family, sector and plans. In the Advanced package we record your starting position, review liquidity, pension set-up, pillar 3a and insurance, and summarise the results in a report. If needed, we go through it with you in a final meeting.