Retirement checklist: stress-free retirement planning

Swiss Life would like to offer you the following tips:

From 50 to 55

• Determine your assets (account balances, real estate, pension assets, securities, life insurance, participations etc.) and your debts (mortgage etc.) and explicitly record your liquid assets.
• Set out a detailed budget for after you retire. This will show you whether your projected income after retirement will cover your expected expenses. As a general rule, the first and second pillars ensure income of up to 60% of your last salary, and you will typically need around 80%. Our pension check helps you to clarify your needs.
• If there is an income gap, determine how much additional capital you will need to close it. Tip: if you start saving early (via pillar 3a, pension fund purchase, etc.), you can close any income gaps in a targeted manner.

Approx. five years prior to retirement

• Set a date for your retirement early on. Do you want to retire early, later or at the normal age? Clarify what is possible with your employer and check the regulations of your employer's pension fund to check the early retirement options.
• If you intend to make a lump-sum withdrawal, you should notify your pension fund before the deadline expires.
• Are you thinking about your living situation – do you want or have to change it after retirement?
• Assets from occupational provisions and from pillar 3a are taxed as one-off income. When redeeming a 3a account, you must withdraw the entire balance all at once.

Our tip: to save on taxes when withdrawing funds, it is advisable to open several 3a accounts and stagger the withdrawals over a period of several years. You can also optimise the capital gains tax, particularly for any WEF* withdrawals. It may also make sense to postpone your withdrawals.
*Encouraging home ownership

• Set up a detailed budget for your income and expenses. At Swiss Life you will find trustworthy advisors who will support you in all important decisions and work with you to establish a reliable financial plan.
• Check whether you need to switch your assets to lower-risk investments in order to secure your income over the long term.
  

Approx. one year prior to retirement

• Choose how you wish to withdraw your assets from the pension fund: as a monthly pension, as a one-off lump-sum payment or as a combination of the two. It is important to think carefully about this decision – because once you’ve made it, you can’t change your mind. Here you can find more information on the topic.
• Choose an asset manager if you do not want to manage your assets yourself – we would be happy to advise you!
• Organise your legal security now. Who will care for your needs if you are no longer able to make judgements due to illness or accident?
• Clarify whether you wish to appoint an executor in your last will and testament.
• Consider inheritance planning now so you can pass on your assets in a self-determined manner and according to your wishes. If you would like to pay out part of your estate to your children during your lifetime, prepayment of inheritance could be the solution you need. We are happy to advise you.
  

Approx. four months prior to retirement

• To receive your pension promptly, you should notify the AHV of your retirement at least three months prior to your last working day.
• Now is the right time to pay in the 3a contribution for the year of your retirement.