Moving money between 3a retirement accounts

I only have one 3a retirement account right now. If I open a second 3a account, can I transfer part of the money from my first Swiss 3a retirement account to the new one?

Hi there,

Money held in a Swiss 3a retirement savings account can only be transferred to another account as a whole. While you can close a 3a account and move all its contents into 1 other 3a account, you cannot transfer just part of the assets to another 3a account.

Because of this rule, it is a good idea to open multiple 3a savings accounts and divide your money between them right from the start.

Example: You open a single 3a savings account for all your retirement savings. When you near retirement age you realise that the increase in your income and wealth when you withdraw your savings in one tax year will bump you up into a high tax bracket.

Unfortunately, you are not able to split up your savings and transfer each part to a different 3a account to space out withdrawals, so you have to withdraw the full amount and pay a lot of taxes.

If you had deposited savings in different 3a savings accounts from the start, you could have cashed out each account in a different tax year and avoided the high tax bracket.

Best regards from Moneyguru

P.s. You can use the moneyland.ch 3a retirement account comparison to find the accounts which offer the highest interest and get free quotes.