One of the things we have had to do a lot of leg work for in the last few weeks is getting our retirement money back. Now, I am not really hip on all the terminology when it comes to the Swiss retirement scheme, so bear with me, but what I do know is that if you work in Switzerland, you contribute to a retirement plan and (I believe) a pension scheme automatically. When you leave the country permanently, this money is yours to take with you. If you leave to go to another European company, you can easily transfer the money to your next retirement scheme - very much like American 401k programs or Australian Super programs. If, however, you leave Switzerland to go far, far away, outside of Europe, you can get the money paid out to you to go on a shopping spree!!!!!!! Err, I mean, to put into your international retirement program of choice. Er hum.. That's right.
Just so you know what we went through to enable this retirement plan payout and in order to help others, here is my retirement payout checklist:
- Deregister at the Gemeinde and get the 'Abmeldungsbestätigung' This is important, because in our case SwissLife, the retirement program, neededw confirmation that we were in fact leaving the country. Information about how we deregistered...
- Fill out necessary paperwork that says you are leaving and where you want the money sent - in our case we are having it deposited into our Swiss bank accounts and we will transfer it to Australia before we leave. We got this paperwork from our employers - so enquire within if they do not come to you with it first.
- If you are married, and this is important, you need your spouse to sign off that it is OK that you are getting this retirement money paid out - so that at least the government knows you knew where the big spending spree money came from in the event your significant other decides not to support your future... so not only do you, as a spouse, need to sign the form, but in our case you also have to...
- Get the form witnessed - not only does the spouse need to ok the pay out, the signatures must be witnesses... All in all, we needed 4 signatures witnessed at CHF 20 a pop or CHF 80... just another example of how Switzerland likes to rip off the foreigners as they leave... did I mention the Abmeldungsbestätigung in step 1 cost CHF 30 each!??!
- Make a copy of said form and witnessed forms for your own safe-keeping. You will thank me later. It is always a good idea to keep a copy or scan yourself a copy if you are going GREEN.
- Send the form, copy of the deregistration confirmation and witnessed signatures to your HR department or directly to your retirement agency...
More on our last days and tips for leaving Switzerland coming soon.... 10 days to go. Good God.
---
Tweet-tweet. I am now on Twitter. Follow me!
5 comments:
Thanks for this post. I have a feeling it will be useful to most of us in the future. And I see that we will be getting ripped off again just to have access to our rightful money. Oh, Switzerland.
Haha, good luck getting your money before you leave. In my case they noted that it'll take about 6 weeks and sure thing it lasted 6 weeks until the money finally showed up in my account. Good luck then transferring your money and canceling your bank account; unless you want to brag about having a Swiss Bank Account.
That witnessing thing must be new. I didn't have to do that.
Anyways, I hope all goes well.
Wait, I can transfer my 401k from the US to Switzerland? I didn't know this -- if you can fine some time to point me to a place I can read about it, I would be much obliged. Merci!
One thing I love about your blog is you are so thoughtful. You seriously think everything out! Good luck with all the last minute things that always come up with a move (I can only imagine what comes up in an international move though!).
wow - Jess, you're going back to down under and take kind of a jackpot with you?!? very cool deal! they saved the money for you and you can bring it to the shops in perth now. haha. :)
Post a Comment