Transferring Vested Benefits to a Foreign Account

Hi you all,

Is it possible to transfer money directly from my Swiss vested benefits account to a normal checking account in Germany?

Hi there,

When you leave Switzerland, take up residence in a European Union (EU) or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member country and become insured by that country's social security, you cannot withdraw your compulsory 2a retirement savings. You can only cash out the non-compulsory portion of your 2a savings (voluntary contributions you make in addition to those required by law).

Exceptions to this rule are:

1. You have reached the legal age for retirement asset withdrawals (5 years ahead of legal retirement age).

2. The money will be used to purchase a primary residence for your own use in an EU or EFTA member country.

3. You are not insured by the social security service of your EU or EFTA country of residence. Depending on the country in question, this may be the case if you are self-employed, among other reasons.

4. You only have a small amount of money in your vested benefits account (less than the equivalent of one year's worth of 2a pension fund contributions based on your last salary in Switzerland).

If you meet the criteria for a withdrawal of vested benefits, you can have the Swiss vested benefits foundation which acts as the escrow agent for your vested benefits account transfer the money to a foreign private account (checking account).

You can find more information in these forum threads:
Moving vested benefits to low-tax canton before leaving Switzerland
Age limit for vested benefits withdrawal
Withdrawing Swiss pension fund when self employed

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Vested benefits account comparison
3a retirement account comparison