Applying for your OASI pension (1st pillar)
To receive your OASI pension, you must apply in writing to the compensation office where you paid your OASI contributions in the last few years. If you are an employee and do not know which compensation office to contact, ask your employer.
You must send your request at least 3 months before reaching the statutory retirement age in order to give your compensation office enough time to gather all the information needed to calculate your pension.
Submitting an application for your occupational pension (2nd pillar)
In the months leading up to retirement age, contact your compensation office to find out what you need to do to receive your 2nd pillar pension and to find out how much exactly you are entitled to.
Submitting an application for your 3rd pillar
In the months leading up to retirement age, contact your 3rd pillar savings institution to find out how much you have saved in your 3rd pillar account and how you can withdraw the capital.
Submitting an application to receive your OASI pension early (1st pillar)
The OASI 21 reform, in force since 1 January 2024, allows you to draw your full OASI pension as early as two years before the age of 65. You can go into early retirement, but this reduces your pension in accordance with how early you went into retirement/started drawing your pension. If you were born between 1961 and 1969, special transitional provisions apply.
Then independently of whether you retire early or at the normal time, you can also choose whether you draw your pension in its entirety or only a portion of it (which must be between 20% and 80%). Your pension will be reduced accordingly, per month anticipated.
Contact your compensation office to find out about the different options available in your case. Please note: you must apply for an early pension by the end of the month preceding the month in which you wish to receive it.
Submitting an application to receive your occupational pension early (2nd pillar)
Generally you cannot receive your 2nd pillar pension before you reach the statutory retirement age. However, some pension funds allow early retirement from the age of 58.
If you are interested in early retirement, contact your occupational pension office at least a year before you turn 58 to find out whether early retirement is possible and under what conditions.
Submitting an application to receive your 3rd pillar benefits early
In most cases, you can only withdraw your 3rd pillar savings at the earliest five years before the statutory retirement age (i.e. at the earliest at 60.
Contact your 3rd pillar savings institution to obtain detailed information about the amount you have saved in your 3rd pillar account and how you can withdraw the capital. For an early withdrawal, you need submit an application a few months before you decide to retire.
The OASI pension (1st pillar)
Once you have reached retirement age, you may continue to work. In this case, you can postpone the moment you start receiving your OASI pension. You can also choose to stop working but postpone payment of your pension.
You can postpone payment of your pension for at least one year, but no more than five years. You can choose between a total or partial deferral (between 20% and 80%) of your pension. You can, for example, continue to work, reducing your percentage and compensating for the loss of income with part of your OASI pension.
Contact your cantonal compensation office to find out the procedure and provisions that apply in your case.
The occupational pension (2nd pillar) if you continue working after retirement age
Normally, the 2nd pillar is paid out once you reach the statutory retirement age. However, the regulations of your pension fund may also provide for a postponement until the age of 70.
To find out whether postponing your 2nd pillar pension is a good option for you and what conditions apply, contact your occupational pension office.
Your 3rd pillar savings if you continue working in retirement
In most cases, you can only withdraw your 3rd pillar savings, at the latest at the end of the month in which you start receiving your OASI pension.
However, if you can prove that you will continue to work after the statutory retirement age, you can postpone withdrawing your 3rd pillar savings by up to five years after the statutory retirement age.
Contact your 3rd pillar savings institution to find out the amount you have saved in your 3rd pillar account and how you can withdraw the capital.
As long as you are employed, your employer provides your accident insurance. You should remember to take out accident insurance once you retire.
The Federal Social Insurance Office offers various brochures on retirement benefits: you can order them for free, or download them as a PDF file from the FSIO website.
Detailed information on the reform of the OASI (OASI 21) can be found in the leaflet about the stabilisation and modification of the OASI (OASI 21) (available in German, French and Italian).
For more information, check the pages on flexible pensions, social insurance and earnings in retirement.
Once you retire, you should remember to take out accident insurance, which your employer will no longer be providing.