Save today and look forward to carefree retirement: build up your 3a retirement savings well in advance in order to maintain your standard of living once you retire.

The pillar 3a system is designed to supplement the 1st and 2nd pillars by enabling members to save on a voluntary basis for retirement. The major advantage of tied pillar 3a retirement savings plans over free pillar 3b plans is their tax savings potential. Depending on your tax bracket and the amount of your contribution, your tax savings may vary significantly.

Your annual contribution to a 3a retirement savings account is deductible from your taxable income up to a maximum ceiling: for gainfully employed persons who are members of a pension fund, the limit is CHF 6,739 for 2014; those who are not members of a pension fund may deduct 20% of their net earnings up to a maximum limit of CHF 33,696. Moreover, no property tax is payable for the entire investment period and a reduced tax rate is applied at disbursement. If you cash in your 3a retirement savings account with Liberty because you are leaving Switzerland permanently, tax will be assessed at the withholding tax rate of Canton Schwyz.

For 2015, the maximum tax-deductible allowances are CHF 6,768 and CHF 33,840 respectively.

To ensure that your contribution for the year 2014 is duly credited to your 3a retirement savings account so that you can take advantage of the full potential of the pillar 3a, we ask you to arrange the transfer so that it reaches Liberty Foundation for 3a Retirement Savings by Tuesday, 23 December 2014 at the latest.

To reduce the tax burden at disbursement and increase your flexibility, we advise you to open several 3a retirement savings accounts.

An even more attractive alternative to the fixed-rate account solution is the pillar 3a securities solution, as illustrated by the following example:

A 30 year-old man invests CHF 3,600 each year on a retirement savings account with Liberty Foundation for 3a Retirement Savings; assuming he pays in the same amount each year, he will have set aside additional retirement savings capital of about CHF 151,500** when he reaches 65.

However, had he opted for a securities solution instead of the fixed-rate account solution and invested, for example, in Pictet CH-LPP 25 I with 27% equities content and a balanced risk profile, he would have accumulated CHF 341,400** in additional retirement savings capital at age 65, i.e. more than twice the amount with the retirement savings account solution.