National Council wants to enable partial withdrawal of private pension assets
Published: Wednesday, Sep 11th 2024, 18:40
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Anyone who has private pension assets in the third pillar or vested benefits should be able to withdraw these in installments in future. This is what the National Council is calling for. It adopted a motion to this effect on Wednesday.
The upper chamber voted 130 to 59 with one abstention in favor of a proposal by National Councillor Andri Silberschmidt (FDP/ZH). The matter will now go to the Council of States.
At present, privately saved pension assets can only be withdrawn once. Although it is possible to open several pillar 3a accounts, the vested benefits can only be divided up by the pension fund to a limited extent.
According to the text of the motion, the Federal Council should take measures to enable partial withdrawals in the future, as is the case with occupational pensions. A maximum number of withdrawals and a minimum amount per withdrawal should be provided for.
This would make it possible to save for retirement in a single account and withdraw the assets in stages. "This would reduce the fees, complexity and bureaucracy involved in managing multiple accounts," says Silberschmidt, explaining his proposal. Partial withdrawal should also be made possible when becoming self-employed.
The Federal Council agrees with the proposal, as Social Affairs Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said. However, in order to limit negative tax effects, the framework and conditions under which such partial withdrawals can be made by insured persons must be clearly defined.
The motion was opposed by the left wing of the Council. Barbara Gysi (SP/SG) pointed out that the third pillar should not be expanded any further. Many people could not afford a private pension at all. In addition, the proposal would be at the expense of the federal budget. "The state coffers will lose out."
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