How old is your company? Is it an ambitious start-up or can you look back on a long and proud history? Find out which retirement provision solution best suits your personal situation.
Occupational retirement provision is an investment in employees. It makes them loyal to the company in the long term and can offer extra arguments for recruitment processes. At the same time, it has to be secure and sustainable – in every phase of the company's development. After all, the demands on pension funds can change over the course of the company’s life cycle.
Individuals who set up a sole proprietorship and don't have any employees at this stage normally take out pension provision under pillar 3. Self-employed persons without pillar 2 can pay up to 20 percent of their net income into pillar 3a, currently a maximum of CHF 36,288. It may be possible to join a pension fund via a professional association or with the state pension fund.
Both variants offer the option of saving for old age, as well as insuring against the risks of disability and death. The pension fund solution facilitates a seamless return to an employment relationship if self-employment is not permanent. The advantage of pillar 3a is that it offers more flexibility. Either way, it is important not to leave too many gaps in your retirement provision in the early stages, as these can only be partially compensated for later.
The situation is different if you are founding a start-up with one or two employees. A pension fund solution is then mandatory, at least for your employees. If you do not have much money available at the beginning, you can, for example, choose higher risk benefits in the start-up phase and a minimum solution for savings. As soon as the company has become established, it is advisable to expand the pension fund, increase the retirement benefits and make purchases into pillar 2.
If the company is established on the market and has reached a certain size, it is worth asking: "How much leeway does the pension fund offer us?"
A BVG solution with extended pension benefits might become an option now, e.g. for the management team. For example, higher savings contributions for retirement savings capital or improved risk benefits can be included there. Solutions in which a company pursues an individual investment strategy are of interest for the most profitable investment possible. This can often significantly increase the value of pension funds assets in the long term
Vita Invest's occupational retirement provision offering has three strengths: First, every company benefits in full from the investment income it generates itself. Second, Vita Invest ensures generational fairness, meaning that persons in gainful employment and retired persons have the same guarantees and benefit directly from investment performance to the same extent – persons in gainful employment thanks to higher interest and retired persons thanks to an annuity bonus. Third, risk benefits for death and occupational disability can be adapted individually to the needs of each company.
Will flexible retirement become an issue? Regardless of whether it's for yourself or your employees: it's worth setting the course early for retirement – for example with pillar 2 purchases offering tax benefits.
It is likely to be on your mind for a long time: one day, your life's work will transfer into other hands, or the company will be dissolved. For you as an entrepreneur, it is now important to define the framework conditions for your own retirement: would you like to receive your pension benefits as a lump sum, as an annuity or in a mixed form? Individual financial and pension planning makes sense.
If the company is sold, occupational retirement provision should not be forgotten during the negotiations: if there is a change of pension fund, the new solution should offer benefits that are just as good as those in the previous one. Comprehensive advice ensures that a good long-term solution can be found for everyone involved.
