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Vested benefits accounts: All you need to know!

Vested benefits accounts play an essential role in the retirement system of Switzerland. You can transfer your pension fund money to a vested benefits account when you are not employed.

You then keep your vested benefits until your retirement or until you work again.

These accounts are not well known, and there are many interesting things to learn about them. So, this article will go in-depth into everything you should know about vested benefits.

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2023 Goals and 2022 Goals Review

At the end of each year, I review my goals and plan for the following year. And to keep myself accountable, I publish them on this blog and follow them month after month.

So, in this article, I will review my 2022 goals and their progress, what went well, and what did not go well. And then, I will show and explain my 2023 goals.

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Pando 3a by Swiss Life Review – Pros & Cons

Pando 3a is a new sustainable third pillar by Swiss Life. Since not many of these are available, I thought I would review this service.

Sustainable investing means investing for a better future. For this, some companies are removed from investing, like oil companies. And some companies are added, like solar power companies.

So, let’s look in detail at this new third pillar option: Pando 3a, by Swiss Life.

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December 2022 – Glad it is over

December 2022 was a bad month for many different reasons into which I do not want to go. So, I am happy the month is over, and it seems to have ended relatively better than I expected.

Financially, it was the usual end-of-year month, slightly lower than average but not terrible. There are always many more bills in December than in most months. We still managed to save a significant portion of our income this month.

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What is the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution?

Have you ever heard of the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution? Likely not. Most people have never heard of it. And yet, over half a million people have an account with this institution without even knowing it!

This institution plays an important role in the retirement system in Switzerland. And it can help many people in different situations. So, let’s see what the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution is in detail!

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Is indirect amortization really better for you?

When you take a mortgage in Switzerland, you must amortize some of the debt in the following years. For amortization, you have the choice between direct and indirect amortization.

Financial institutions will generally heavily recommend indirect amortization. But do they have your interest at heart?

How can you choose between these two? Both amortization methods have pros and cons, as we will see in this article. By the end of the article, you should know whether you should use direct or indirect amortization for your situation.

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November 2022 – A normal month?

November 2022 was a relatively normal month but an expensive one. Not much happened, but several of our budget categories went crazy. Some small events can explain some of that, but we were not very careful overall.

Nevertheless, we still managed to save some money.

So, let’s find out what happened to us during this month!

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What is a failsafe withdrawal rate?

We have already talked a lot about withdrawal rates and safe withdrawal rates in the context of retirement. However, we have not yet talked about failsafe withdrawal rates.

Simply put, a failsafe withdrawal rate is a withdrawal rate that historically did not fail. In this article, we see what withdrawal rates are failsafe and if there is more to it than this simple definition.

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Should you use IB Fixed or Tiered pricing in 2023?

Until recently, I thought Interactive Brokers Tiered pricing was always better for most investors. But after doing some more simulations, this may not be the case!

So, I made more tests to see exactly when we should use Fixed or Tiered pricing. This article shows the differences between these two pricing structures and whether you should use Fixed or Tiered pricing.

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True Wealth 3a Review 2023: Pros & Cons

True Wealth is a Swiss Robo-advisor that allows high customization, aggressive investing, and low fees. In November 2022, True Wealth introduced support for third pillars.

Since they are an excellent Robo-advisor, I also want to check out their third pillar offer.

In this review, I will analyze the True Wealth 3a offer in detail. We will examine its fees, investment strategies, and pros and cons.

By the end of this review, you will know whether you should use True Wealth 3a.

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October 2022 – A weird month

October 2022 was a weird month with many different things. The three of us were sick for almost two weeks at the beginning of the month. We also had some family and friends events.

On top of that, we also went on a short trip which was the first for our son. And finally, we started the first significant renovation work on our house. Given that investment, we did not save any money this month.

So, let’s delve into the detail of this month.

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What should you do with a life insurance 3a?

Recently, I have talked about life insurance 3a policies and how bad they were. We have established that they have almost only disadvantages compared to an invested 3a.

So, people should not take new life insurance 3a. But what should you do if you already have one?

There are a few options about what to do with life insurance 3a. We will explore them all in this article and compare them. By the end of this article, you should know what to do about your life insurance 3a.

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