A representative survey carried out by Raiffeisen among people aged 18 to 79 shows that the Swiss population is lagging behind when it comes to retirement planning.
- Raiffeisen survey shows that few people are actively preparing for retirement
- Many of them want to retire before the reference age, but they do not do so
- The older they are, the more the respondents have a good knowledge of the Swiss pension system
- Today, most people who buy their own home use their retirement capital to finance it
A representative survey carried out by Raiffeisen among people aged 18 to 79 shows that the Swiss population is lagging behind when it comes to retirement planning. Many people approach the issue too late or not concretely enough. Even as retirement approaches, few people are truly well prepared for this new stage in their lives. This has consequences: without sufficient planning and appropriate measures, the goal of early retirement is very unlikely to succeed.
A gap to catch up on when it comes to retirement planning
The majority of those under 40 think that the reference age will be above 65 when they retire. 25% of 20 to 29 year olds even expect a reference age of over 70 years. Many people want to retire early. Thus, 57% of 18-59 year olds surveyed would like to retire from working life before the official reference age. But less than 20% of people who are not yet retired have already concretely planned their retirement – the proportion of men being double that of women. According to their own statements, barely half of non-retired people aged 50 to 59 have accurately predicted when they will retire. Only 22% of people in this age group have decided how they want to stop working: overnight or gradually, over several years. In addition, half of non-retirees over 60 are unable to estimate the income they will have after retirement. And more than 70% do not know the planned expenses, even though they are just as important for the budget. Many workers believe that their expenses will decrease once they retire. The survey shows, however, that this is an error, because the costs generally remain constant and average around 4,000 francs per month.
Greater gaps among young people
The survey highlights major gaps in specific aspects of the three-pillar system – more so among young people than among people about to retire. A large number of working people do not realize that retiring one or two years early is expensive and are unaware that, from experience, almost a third of pension fund assets are saved between the ages of 58 and 65. In general, early retirement is only feasible if there is sufficient assets to fill the related income gaps. However, according to the survey, only 25% of 50-59 year olds put money aside explicitly for their early retirement. Furthermore, the survey reveals that around a third of those under 30 do not know that people without gainful employment, such as students, must also contribute to the AVS no later than January 1 following their 20th birthday. Even less is known about the importance of the number of years of contributions for the subsequent calculation of pensions or the fact that missing contributions can only be made up within five years. In addition, many people questioned do not know that the AVS pension is automatically adjusted to inflation. Thus, only half of those under 60 are aware of it. Regarding the 2nd pillar, the majority of those under 40 are unaware of the exact calculation of the pension and do not know that this pillar, unlike the first pillar, is not automatically adapted to inflation. But it is an in-depth knowledge of the 3rd pillar that the respondents lack the most. Thus, 47% of those under 30 do not know that they cannot make up for a lack of payments into pillar 3a, which prevents them from building up assets early enough.
Half of property purchases are partly financed by retirement capital
Many people want to become owners. 42% of 30 to 39 year olds are saving explicitly to buy a home. Most people buy, build or inherit their house or apartment between the ages of 30 and 59. Housing prices have increased significantly in Switzerland in recent decades, which has consequences for the type of financing. Thus, the survey shows that almost half of the people who bought a house or apartment over the last four years used retirement capital from the 2nd and/or 3rd pillar to do so. And this value is even a little more than a third if we take into account all the owners surveyed – that is to say also those who bought their home before 2020.
About the survey
For the survey “Retirement: desire and reality diverge”, Raiffeisen Switzerland surveyed 1,535 people from the Swiss population aged 18 to 79 from February 23 to March 5, 2024 using stratified random sampling from the panel in Intervista line. The representativeness of the sample can be considered high due to the quality of the panel, although, as with all online surveys, there is a bias towards a higher level of education and a more great online activity. The higher level of education should in particular lead to higher values regarding questions relating to income and wealth. Objectivity can be considered high because the data were collected using a standardized questionnaire and analyzed statistically. Only significant differences (95% confidence level) are indicated in the survey. The cross-sectional survey methodology lends itself well to obtaining an image of the knowledge, attitudes and feelings of the Swiss population. On the other hand, it is not possible to make causal statements.
