Letztes Update: 28. September 2023
Are you dealing with your private pension plan for the first time, and in particular with pillar 3a? You’re not the only one. Find out here how Johanna (34) deals with the topic, how she informs herself and what she decides.
Interview
You are dealing with pillar 3a for the first time this year. How did you come across the topic of private pension provision in the first place?
I was filling out my tax return the other day, and I saw that you can save taxes with the third pillar. I then looked into the subject and came to the conclusion that it would make sense to pay into pillar 3a.
How did you start to get informed?
At the very beginning, I bought a K-Tip guidebook to understand in more detail how the pension system works in the first place and what to look out for. A book seemed to me to be the most neutral.
Making good provisions: pension fund, AHV and 3rd pillar *
What you need to know about the three pillars. What the pension costs and what you get later.
Social security: The three pillars at a glance. The AHV: Who is insured? And what does it cost? These factors influence AHV pensions. IV pension and supplementary benefits. Pension fund: Who is insured? And what does it cost? How the savings process becomes a BVG pension. The pension fund risk protection in the event of death and disability. The freedom of movement when changing jobs. Pillar 3: Private provision and tax savings. Old-age provision: The state also collects.
Later, I asked around among my acquaintances. That’s where I got recommendations, so how they do it, what they decided to do, and where the benefits are.
Online, I didn’t look for it until I already had a direction. I found the range of providers very confusing.
I have filled out forms and calculation tools online, so how much I end up with and how long it will last, what stock ratio I should take, etc. Ah, and I have received promotional emails from insurance companies that you should invest with them now. I also briefly looked into it, but it didn’t help me because it seemed very mysterious to me. I had the feeling that I was just being sold a product whose consequences or implications I could not assess.
How did the vendors’ websites affect you?
Wait, I’m opening one right now. Hm, difficult, you realize that a huge topic is opened, and I do not understand what they want from me and what is really important. And I notice, so even with insurance companies and the like, they have a very strong interest in retaining you as a customer. And the more I perceive this interest, the more skeptical and reserved I become. Then this and that product or account is added, so combination offers and everything inflated, especially with the big players I noticed that. That’s too much for me then, I hang out right away.
How did you feel about the online calculators you mentioned? Did they help you?
Partial. Of course I know how much money I earn, how much I can put aside and how much wealth I have. But all the percentages in the stock ratio and how to invest, I don’t understand that at first.
Was it never an option for you to stop by a bank and get advice?
A colleague who also gave me tips did that. And if you hadn’t given me tips, I might have gone to a branch. I’ve had advice before a few years ago, but had a bad experience with it. I find it difficult to decide independently during a consultation because then there is the added social pressure. During the consultation I mentioned, I decided against the consultant’s offer, and he became very aggressive, which I found very unpleasant. I feel like you have to know what you want before you go into counseling. You would need an independent consultant, but I don’t have the money for that.
Does it matter to you if there is a big or well-known bank in the background, or would you also go to an unknown start-up?
Yes, that definitely plays a role. I find it important that there is a reputable financial institution behind it and that I can assume that it will last and that my money is safe. I checked your tips to that effect as well.
That’s my fear in general with small providers, that I don’t know: what is this? Is this serious? Where does that come from? Not that someone will run off with the money, because I’ve seen that happen too.
What happened there?
That was a while ago. One advisor recommended different investment models to a relative, saying that he himself invested his money there, it gave the greatest returns, and it was a safe model, crisis-proof, and so on, and so forth. And in one fell swoop, everyone lost the money. It was kind of about the secondary market of life insurance or something, I didn’t understand that.
What other aspects are important to you when investing?
I have seen sustainable strategies offered as well. It is important to me that my money is invested in sustainable companies.
Why did you choose securities in pillar 3a and not an account model?
Mainly because interest rates are so low. The difference between leaving the money lying around or having it in a pillar 3a account is not that big.
To set the stock quota, did you answer the questions on the homepage and then follow the recommendations?
Exactly, these were very few questions, then something was suggested to me. I was looking more at the curves, that is, what the appreciation might be, and then I deviated slightly from the suggested equity portion.
How understandable were the questions?
The questions were simple. However, I have noticed that there is a complex issue behind this, which is now very simplified. When it becomes very figurative, however, I feel like I’m being taken for a fool. As an example, one provider used a mountain hiker to explain the price fluctuations.
What was the deciding factor in which provider you go to?
Your recommendation, the fact that a well-known bank is behind it and a comparison portal on which the providers also came off well. And for me also the info from the guidebook that you can change your mind, change the provider mostly free of charge and that you are not forced to pay in, so that you can choose the amount and the timing yourself.
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