Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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According art. 15.1. of the Regulations the surviving spouse of a deceased insuree is entitled to a spouse's pension provided they:
a) have one or more dependent children or
b) are at least 70% disabled themselves or
c) are aged 35 or over and were married to the deceased for at least two years. If a written request for a partner's pension was submitted and granted prior to marriage, this two-year qualifying period shall be calculated from the moment of submission of the request concerned.
Should the surviving spouse not meet any of these criteria, they shall be entitled to a one-off lump-sum payment amounting to five annual pensions.
(Remark: partners with the civil status "registered partnership" are equal to spouses by law)
According art. 15.6 of the Regulations the PVS may, upon written request by the insuree, pay benefits equivalent to a spouse’s pension to the surviving long-time partner of a deceased insuree, provided
a) it can be shown that the long-time partner had been living with the insuree continuously in the same household for at least five years by the time of the insuree’s death or
b) the long-time partner is responsible for bringing up at least one child whom they have had with the insuree.
Long-time partners of married insurees or married beneficiaries drawing PVS pension shall not be entitled to partner’s pensions of any kind.
Moreover, a long-time partner who meets condition a) or b) above shall only be entitled to a partner’s pension provided he is aged 35 or over, is unmarried and was not related to the deceased insured employee.
Should an retiree receiving a PVS old-age pension die leaving a spouse or long-time partner entitled to PVS pension benefits, their survivor shall according art. 13.4 of the regulations receive a survivor’s pension amounting to 60% of the deceased’s previous old-age pension.
in case the surviving spouse or long-time partner is more than ten years younger than the retiree, the survivor’s pension will be reduced by 1% of the deceased’s previous old-age pension for every (whole or part) year in excess of these ten years.
Should the marriage or long-time partnership have only begun after the insuree had reached ordinary retirement age, the survivor’s pension will be reduced by 20% for every year after such ordinary retirement, multiplied by any reduction effected under paragraph 2 of this provision.
PVS employees can choose between two plans: "Savings Plan Standard" and "Savings Plan Plus".
Savings Plan Plus allows greater participation in the occupational pension provision for employees, starting at age 25 or age 45 (depending on the employee’s company). Thanks to higher employee contributions, the amount of old-age savings until retirement will grow at a faster rate than with the standard plan. This will allow you to improve your future retirement benefits (pension or lump-sum payment). The higher deductions for employee contributions will reduce your taxable income, which constitutes an additional positive benefit. Additionally, the purchaising potential will increase.
Employees can switch their savings plan as of 1 January of each year, provided notice (via a separate form, available on our homepage) by 30 November of the previous year.
The employer savings contribution is idential in both plans.
In addition to risk contributions, the employer and the employees generally pay monthly savings contributions that are credited to the employee’s individual savings capital (old-age savings). This savings capital also increases by the amount of annual interest that is credited.
On the date of their retirement, employees insured by PVS can choose between a pension or a lump-sum payment (based on the individual savings capital). They may also choose a combination of a pension and a lump-sum payment. The pension is calculated by multiplying the assets on the date of retirement by the conversion factor (currently 5.90% if the employee retires from PVS at age 65).
Example:
Individual savings capital as at the date of retirement at age 65: CHF 400'000
Conversion factor: 4.96%
Annual pension = CHF 400'000 x 4.96% = CHF 19'840.00
First, the employer must be informed of the employee’s wish to retire. In the event of early retirement, a formal notice of termination must be submitted.
At the same time, the PVS pension scheme must also be informed of the date of retirement using a specific form (available at the pension scheme management).
Insured persons who would like to receive a capital withdrawal or lump-sum payment (or a combination of a pension and a capital withdrawal) must also use the aforementioned form to make this request. The deadline for doing so is at least three months before the effective retirement date.
As part of the statutory provisions on the promotion of home ownership (WEF), insured persons who do not draw a pension generally have the option of using a certain portion of their individual savings capital resp. old-age savings to finance a home that they occupy throughout the year.
If you are thinking about taking advantage of this option, the separate ‘Mortgage/WEF’ tab contains further information along with the form to be submitted to the office.
The office can also provide you with an individual offer that shows you the extent to which your expected benefits will be reduced as a result of the early withdrawal.
In addition to early withdrawal, you have the option of pledging the individual savings capital resp. old-age savings, which has the advantage of not reducing the expected benefits as the result of an early withdrawal.
Voluntary purchases provide insured persons with the option – through additional contributions made on a voluntary basis – of investing more in their own pension and thus improving their future benefits. Voluntary purchases of this kind can also be deducted from the taxable income declared on the insured person’s tax declaration, which can lead to considerable savings.
Voluntary purchases generally require the corresponding purchasing potential (or a pension gap). You can use the annual pension statement to determine how much purchasing potential, if any, you have ("maximum purchasing amount").
In addition to the basic prerequisite of available purchasing power, voluntary purchases are subject to the following additional restrictions (not exhaustive):
- Following a voluntary purchase, all of the savings capital resp. old-age savings is blocked for three years, i.e. no capital withdrawals as a result of retirement, early withdrawals as part of the promotion of home ownership or cash disbursements as a result of permanent departure from Switzerland will be permitted.
- If an early withdrawal has already been taken as part of the promotion of home ownership, the withdrawal must first be repaid to PVS.
- Persons who have moved to Switzerland and have never been affiliated with a Swiss pillar 2 pension scheme can purchase a maximum of 20% of the insured salary per year for the first five years.