Key moments in his professional life and their impact on his occupational retirement provisions

18 at last! Daniel celebrates his birthday on January 6. He recently started the third year of his apprenticeship as a bricklayer at an SME construction company, and is glad that he is already earning 1,862 Swiss francs a month. At the end of January, however, he notices that he has been paid a few francs less than in the previous month. Yet he wants to go skiing with friends.

Astonished, he goes to his superior. She sends him to the HR department. The personnel manager explains to him why the deduction was made: from now on, he has to pay risk contributions to the occupational pension scheme. As a generous employer, the construction company pays 60 percent of these contributions. This is used to finance disability and death benefits.

This gives Daniel food for thought: he has never given any thought to the fact that he might become disabled or die before he is old. He is relieved that he is now covering these risks.

After completing his apprenticeship, Daniel continues to work in the company and is promoted to foreman after three years. Soon after his 25th birthday, he again notices that less money is being paid into his account than in the previous month. Once again, he asks the personnel manager, who informs him that from now on the employer will pay additional monthly savings contributions to the pension fund for his personal retirement provision. The company will now pay 60 percent, while Daniel pays 40 percent of the contribution. This money will be available to him upon retirement, either as a lump sum or as a pension. For most employed people, these retirement assets make up the lion's share of their retirement provision.

If Daniel wants to make even better provisions for his old age, his company offers him the option of paying in a higher savings amount. Daniel decides to take this option. He asks the personnel manager during the meeting: "How does this work? Will I always pay the same amount towards the occupational retirement provisions for the rest of my life?" The personnel manager explains to him that the percentage in the BVG increases every ten years: For him as a 25-year-old this is 7 percent; from the age of 55 it is as high as 18 percent.

This arouses Daniel's interest: from now on, he no longer turns the page when he sees something about "pension funds" in the newspaper. He gathers information on the topic, as well as resolving to cast his vote in political votes concerning pension provisions from now on. To optimize his retirement provision even further, he opens a 3a retirement savings account and pays a small amount into a fund savings plan every month.

Major changes have occurred in Daniel's company: the SME has been taken over and as a result the corporate culture changes significantly. Daniel no longer feels happy in the new environment. During the summer holidays, he decides to resign and take some time off. Once again he consults the personnel manager, who explains to him that his previously saved retirement assets must now be transferred to a vested benefits institution as an account or custody account. He can choose the institution himself; possible providers include banks, insurance companies or wealth management companies.

When he joins a new company, he will transfer this amount to the new pension fund and continue to accumulate his retirement assets there.

During his time off, Daniel looks into the topic of retirement provision again and decides that he will ask about the pension fund solutions of his potential employers during his job interviews, because he is aware that there are definitely differences there.

Daniel doesn't stay unemployed for long, but uses the opportunity to climb the career ladder. He finds a great position as a customer advisor at a manufacturer of construction machinery and starts with a significantly higher salary. During the job interview, the HR expert points out to him that the salary increase gives him the option to buy into the pension fund, i.e. to pay in additional money and thus increase his retirement assets.

Daniel does not have any money left for this at the moment, but plans to make the purchase next year. One thing that particularly catches his eye is that he can deduct the purchase amount from his taxable income in his canton of residence.

At a construction machinery exhibition, Daniel meets an attractive woman and falls in love. It soon becomes clear to the couple that they want to get married, especially since Daniel's girlfriend is already pregnant. It is very important to Daniel to provide for his family. When he informs his employer about the wedding, he immediately asks what protection his occupational retirement provision offers him. He discovers that if the worst should happen, his wife would receive a widow's pension and his child an orphan’s pension from the BVG. The HR employee recommends that he arrange an individual retirement planning consultation with his insurance company and, if necessary, supplement the risk coverage privately.

Daniel takes the HR expert's advice and gets individual advice, together with his wife. As a result, they both take out term life insurance to cover each other. Daniel also decides to take out private disability insurance as part of the 3rd pillar.

After their daughter is born, Daniel and his wife decide to reduce their workload to 70% each. This allows them both to spend more time with their child. Daniel's employer is open to this solution – and informs him that his pension fund has a modern plan for part-time employees: The coordination deduction is reduced according to the workload. This means he has fewer losses in his retirement and risk benefits. Unfortunately, the situation is different for his wife: she continues to be subject to the full coordination deduction. She thus has to reckon with noticeable reductions in her retirement benefits.

Daniel and his wife seek further advice, and increase her savings contribution in pillar 3a in order to at least partially compensate for the retirement provision losses.

Daniel enjoys the time with his family, but the new life situation also takes a lot out of him: he wants to be the perfect father and husband, but at the same time has high expectations of his performance as an employee and first has to find his bearings in his new role as a part-time employee. Then, when his twin sister falls seriously ill, everything becomes too much for him and he suffers a burnout and is consequently unable to work.

His employer's pension fund provides a case manager who supports Daniel and helps him to return to everyday life. Thanks to psychological counselling and supported by targeted relaxation training, he is able to return to work after a few months and has learned to distance himself more in future.