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Find out when you can make an early withdrawal from your pillar 3a account, what documents you’ll need to do so and how it affects your taxes and retirement savings.
Pillar 3a is designed to help you build up pension assets over many years. The accumulated balance can be withdrawn no earlier than five years before you reach the reference age. Until then, it remains locked in.
Perhaps you’d like to buy a home, start your own business or move abroad? Then note that in certain situations, you may actually be able to access your retirement savings earlier. An early withdrawal from pillar 3a is possible in five cases defined by law.
For owner-occupied real estate, you may make an early withdrawal from your pillar 3a account for the following purposes:
However, the property must be your primary residence and you must live in it yourself. Early withdrawals are not permitted for vacation homes, second homes or investment properties.
You can withdraw some or all of your pillar 3a balance to purchase a home. Unlike for other purposes, a partial withdrawal from a single pillar 3a account or investment account is permitted.
Would you like to make multiple withdrawals of pension capital to buy a home? That’s also possible. However, there must be a minimum of five years between two early withdrawals under the Swiss government initiative to promote home ownership (WEF).
Those who take the plunge into self-employment can also withdraw their pillar 3a assets early under certain conditions. This is possible if you
The responsible OASI compensation office must recognize your self-employment as your primary source of income. With this confirmation, you can apply to withdraw your pension capital. The application for an early withdrawal from the 3a account must be submitted within one year of starting self-employment. Once this deadline has passed, it is no longer possible.
Good to know: If you start an AG or GmbH, you are not eligible to make an early withdrawal for this reason. In this case, you are considered an employee of your own company and not self-employed.
Are you planning to permanently relocate abroad? If so, you can withdraw your pillar 3a savings early.
If the payout is made only after you’ve moved abroad, withholding tax is generally deducted in Switzerland. Whether and to what extent you can reclaim this tax depends on the double taxation treaty with your new country of residence as well as your personal situation.
For more information, see our article on OASI, pension funds and pillar 3a when emigrating.
You can also use your pillar 3a assets to make a purchase into your pension fund, thereby closing an existing pension gap. Such gaps can arise, for example, after breaks in employment, due to working part-time or if you join the pension fund later in life.
With a buy-in, you transfer a portion of your retirement assets from pillar 3a to the pension fund. The balance is not paid out to you but is transferred directly to the pillar 2 pension provider. Unlike with a regular buy-in to the pension fund, you cannot deduct the amount transferred from pillar 3a from your taxable income.
Early withdrawal is also possible if you receive a full disability insurance (IV) pension, which is generally the case for a disability rating of 70% or higher. The prerequisite is that your pillar 3a plan does not already cover disability risk. Depending on the provider and product, such benefits may already be included, particularly in pillar 3a insurance policies.
You can find out whether this applies to you by reviewing your contractual documents or contacting your pension provider directly.
Save for your old age and benefit from tax breaks. Open your pillar 3a account easily in the UBS Mobile Banking App.
If any of the legally defined reasons for early withdrawal apply to your situation, you can apply for a payout. To do so, submit an application to your pension fund.
For the Fisca Pension Fund Foundation of UBS AG , use either the “Payout” or “Withdrawal for home ownership” form, depending on the reason for withdrawal.
Please note: An early withdrawal from pillar 3a will affect your tax situation. This is because as soon as you withdraw your balance, the amount is taxed as a lump-sum payment. This applies to both regular and early withdrawals. The tax is calculated separately from your other income at a reduced rate. The amount of tax you owe depends primarily on the amount withdrawn, your canton of residence and your municipality.
If you withdraw additional retirement savings in the same year, for example from a pension fund, a vested benefits account or other pillar 3a accounts, these amounts are generally combined for tax calculation purposes. In most cantons, withdrawals made by spouses or registered partners in the same year are also added together. The higher the total withdrawal amount, the greater the impact of progressive taxation may be.
Good to know: Spreading your withdrawals over multiple tax years can reduce your tax burden. To that end, it may be a good idea to split your pillar 3a assets between multiple accounts or custody accounts while you are saving.
Calculate how your 3a savings will be taxed at payout. This helps you estimate your tax liability early on.
In addition to the tax implications, an early withdrawal also affects your retirement savings. As a result of the withdrawal, the savings available to you in retirement will be lower. You will also forgo potential future returns and compound interest on the withdrawn balance.
Unlike an early withdrawal from a pension fund under the initiative to promote home ownership, you cannot repay an early withdrawal from the pillar 3a. However, you can still contribute the applicable maximum amount and deduct it from your taxable income.
Starting in 2026, you can retroactively fill contribution gaps from previous years under certain conditions. Retroactive payments are possible for gaps beginning with the 2025 contribution year and may go back up to ten years.
However, this does not constitute a repayment of the amount that was withdrawn early.
Furthermore, upon withdrawal, the capital loses the tax advantages provided by pillar 3a. Within the pension plan, income and assets are generally not subject to current income or wealth taxes. After withdrawal, the taxation depends on how you use or invest the money.
Early withdrawal is not necessarily the only solution. Depending on your situation, it may make sense to use other savings first and leave your pension assets untouched. When buying a home, you can also consider pledging your pillar 3a account or using indirect amortization.
Since the bank considers the pledged balance as additional collateral, it can generally grant a higher mortgage when you pledge your pillar 3a account. However, this also increases your debt and you may end up paying higher total mortgage interest over the term of the loan.
Additionally, in the event of payment difficulties, the bank may access the pledged funds.
The following table illustrates the differences between an early withdrawal and pledging a pillar 3a account when financing a home.
Criterion | Early withdrawal | Pledging |
Retirement | Is reduced by the amount withdrawn | Remains in pillar 3a |
Equity | Increases available equity | Serves as additional collateral for the bank |
Mortgage | Tends to result in a lower mortgage | Tends to result in a higher mortgage |
Mortgage interest | Tends to result in lower interest charges | Tends to result in higher interest charges |
Potential returns | Does not apply to the amount withdrawn | Retirement savings can remain invested |
Taxes upon withdrawal | Capital withdrawal tax is due immediately | No capital withdrawal tax at the time of pledging |
Ongoing taxes | There are no longer any tax advantages on the withdrawn capital | Higher mortgage interest rates may lead to higher tax deductions (until the planned abolition of imputed rental value) |
Affordability | Improved by the generally lower mortgage | Higher requirements due to the generally larger mortgage |
Risk | Retirement savings gap | In the event of missed payments, the bank can access the pledged assets, with the same impact on retirement savings as an early withdrawal |
Instead of reducing the mortgage on an ongoing basis, you pay the amortization amounts into a pledged pillar 3a account. The mortgage amount remains the same initially and is later repaid using the accumulated retirement savings. You can deduct these contributions from your taxable income up to the applicable statutory maximum amount. In return, you’ll pay mortgage interest for a longer period.
An early withdrawal can give you more financial flexibility in the short term, but it will affect your retirement savings in the long term. You should therefore consider the costs, consequences and alternatives carefully.
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