Retirement planning and life insurance – be ready for whatever life throws at you

There are many questions which need to be asked when it comes to your financial future: how will my occupational retirement provision develop? Will my retirement planning give me enough money to maintain the lifestyle I want to live? Will I be able to stay in my job until I retire? And what will happen to my partner and children if I’m no longer there? You never know what life will bring. But you can adopt a far-sighted approach – at least in terms of finance. An important part of this is organizing private retirement provision and insurance in case of incapacity for work or death in good time. 

Why opt for private retirement planning?

In most cases, pension contributions from the 1st pillar (old-age and surviving dependants insurance, AHV) and the 2nd pillar (Federal Law on the Occupational Old-age, Survivors’ and Disability Benefit Plan, OPA) are not sufficient for maintaining the living standards you are used to in old age. That means less money will be available that during working life. Private retirement planning with pillars 3a and 3b can close these gaps in provision. 

Why opt for private retirement planning?

Private 3rd pillar retirement planning gives you options which include putting money aside in a retirement savings account 3a (fixed pension plan) or investing the retirement assets in a retirement fund, giving you the opportunity to generate higher yield on the financial markets. And if you want to use pillar 3b (flexible retirement savings account), you can make yield-orientated investments and build up capital for your old age with regular inpayments. What’s important is that the investment always matches your investor profile. This means making investment decisions based on your individual risk capacity and risk appetite and on your investment horizon, i.e. the time period over which the money is to be invested.

Why take out insurance?

In addition to having a retirement savings plan, it may also be worth insuring yourself and your family against risks such as incapacity to work or death. Insurance against incapacity to work provides you with cover if the state of your health or an accident mean you can no longer work for an extended period of time. Life insurance protects your loved ones in case you are no longer there. 

What are the benefits of combining retirement savings and life insurance?

Life insurance savings, such as SmartFlex, combine saving for retirement and insurance against incapacity to work and/or death in one single package. Policy holders benefit as both requirements are met with one solution. As mentioned above, how the money you set aside is invested depends on your personal investor profile. And the risks you are insured against also always depend on your individual situation.

About the SmartFlex pension plan – flexible life insurance savings.

The SmartFlex pension plan is a life insurance savings product which PostFinance has developed in response to changing customer needs in collaboration with its long-term partner AXA. This solution is extremely flexible and offers the following advantages:

• Policy holders can both build up capital as suits their personal investor profile and insure themselves against additional financial risks.
• Policy holders can choose which risks they want to be insured against with additional insurance (incapacity to work and/or death).
• With a “premium waiver” as part of the package, policy holders are given dispensation from paying premiums in case of longer term incapacity of work and can still build up their capital for old age as they wish.
• Policy holders decide themselves which proportion of their premium is to be subject to a fixed interest rate (secure credit subject to regulated return) or invested a in yield-orientated equity fund (equity credit). This decision will be taken based on your personal investor profile. The allocation of your compensating balance and income-earning assets can be modified at any time.
• The policy holders can choose whether they would prefer to invest in funds with the focus Dividends, Global or Sustainability. Our broad diversification and long-term investment horizon minimize risks and balance out price fluctuations.
• Policy holders can choose whether they want to use this solution in a flexible retirement savings account (pillar 3b) or a fixed pension plan (pillar 3a with tax benefits).
• Policy holders who opt for yield-orientated investment of part of the premium will see their investment funds benefit from the attractive investment conditions major institutional customers receive.