Buy-in
A pension fund buy-in can increase your benefits, allowing you to enjoy greater financial security in retirement and reduce your tax bill at the same time. You can carry out a buy-in directly in the active member portal myPublica.
What is a pension fund buy-in?
A buy-in is a way to increase your personal savings with PUBLICA and improve your retirement benefits. It is also tax-deductible. Even if you have paid into pillar 3a, buy-ins are still possible.
Buying in when you join PUBLICA
When you join the Swiss Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA, you are free to choose your own buy-in amount – up to the maximum – for the first 90 days. After that, a minimum of CHF 2,000 applies. You can see your buy-in potential and carry out a buy-in directly in the active member portal myPublica.
Check your buy-in potential and fill the gap
Check the amount of your buy-in potential – if any – in myPublica or on your pension certificate. In simple terms, your buy-in potential is the difference between the maximum possible pension assets and your current pension assets.
Buy-in restrictions
If you have made an early withdrawal to buy a home, you need to pay this back first before you can carry out a buy-in. Replacement buy-ins following a divorce can be made at any time, up to the amount transferred under the divorce settlement. You can find more information on statutory benefits in your pension plan’s regulations.
Four reasons for a buy-in
Important things to bear in mind in relation to buy-ins
- You can only carry out a buy-in if you have a buy-in potential. This is often the case when you increase your working hours, change jobs, come back to Switzerland from abroad or get a pay rise.
- If you have withdrawn some of your pension assets to buy a home, this money has to be paid back before you can carry out a buy-in.
- Some pension plans specify a minimum buy-in amount in their regulations. You can also see this in myPublica.
Also worth knowing
To ensure that your buy-in is deductible from your taxes for the current year, you should transfer the amount by mid-December at the latest. The law does not allow us to issue tax certificates backdated to the previous year for payments made after the end of the year. You must also bear in mind that your buy-in will not qualify as tax-deductible if you draw a lump sum or make an early withdrawal within three years.