What is occupational pension (LPP)?
The LPP is the second pillar of the Swiss pension system. Together with AHV, it should make it possible to maintain the previous standard of living appropriately at retirement.
Its principle is savings: each month, employer and employee pay contributions that accumulate on an individual account, the retirement assets. These assets earn interest, then are converted into a pension or paid as capital at retirement.
The LPP does not cover retirement only. It also pays benefits in case of disability and death, often little known even though they are major protection for families.
Is this insurance mandatory?
Yes for the large majority of employees, no for the self-employed.
Affiliation is mandatory for any employee whose annual salary exceeds the entry threshold, set at CHF 22,680 in 2026, and who is over 17. Cover is built in two stages.
Disability and death
Insurance against disability and death risks only.
Retirement savings
Retirement savings are added, which constitute the retirement assets.
Employees above the threshold
Mandatory affiliation from CHF 22,680 of annual salary in 2026, for anyone over 17.
Below the threshold, short fixed-term contracts, self-employed
People whose salary remains below the entry threshold, those hired for a fixed term of three months at most, and the self-employed. The latter can however join voluntarily, with their staff’s fund or the substitute institution.
At least 50% employer
The employer must fund at least half of total contributions. Many companies cover a higher share, which is a significant recruitment argument.
What exactly does it cover?
Insured salary
Contributions are not charged on the full salary, but on the coordinated salary. A coordination deduction of CHF 26,460 is subtracted from annual salary, corresponding to the part already covered by AHV.
CHF 26,460
The part already covered by AHV, subtracted from annual salary.
CHF 3,780
Minimum coordinated salary, even if the calculation gives less.
CHF 64,260
Maximum coordinated salary for the mandatory LPP part.
Example: a salary of CHF 75,000
An annual salary of CHF 75,000 gives a coordinated salary of CHF 48,540. Mandatory contributions are calculated on this amount, not on the CHF 75,000.
Retirement credits
The savings contribution rate increases with age, which explains why an older employee costs the company more.
7 %
of coordinated salary
10 %
of coordinated salary
15 %
of coordinated salary
18 %
until reference age
The retirement benefit
At retirement, accumulated assets are converted into an annual pension using the conversion rate, set at 6.8% for the mandatory part.
Assets of CHF 400,000 generate this pension. The statutory minimum interest rate is 1.25% in 2026. Funds may do better, never less on the mandatory part.
According to the regulations, it is possible to take all or part of the assets as capital rather than as a pension. The choice is final and deserves to be analysed well before retirement. See also preparing for retirement.
Disability, death and extra-mandatory cover
The disability benefit
In the event of recognised disability, the fund pays a disability pension, topped up by a child’s pension. The right generally opens with that of disability insurance, but the regulations frequently provide a waiting period.
Death benefits
If the insured person dies, the fund may pay a pension to the surviving spouse and an orphan’s pension. Some regulations also provide a death capital. Conditions and the circle of beneficiaries vary significantly from one fund to another.
The extra-mandatory part
A fund can go beyond the legal minimum: insure salary above the cap, reduce or remove the coordination deduction, raise credit rates, improve risk benefits.
Neither 1.25% nor 6.8%
This extra-mandatory part is subject neither to the minimum interest rate nor to the 6.8% conversion rate. That is where the essential differences between two pension funds play out.
Common pitfalls
Believing that LPP covers the full salary
The CHF 64,260 coordinated salary cap leaves high incomes largely underinsured, both for retirement and for disability. An executive who counts on the second pillar to maintain their living standard often discovers the size of the gap too late.
Ignoring the coordination deduction on part-time work
Applied in full to a reduced salary, it cuts the coordinated salary considerably. An employee at 40% can end up with almost no pension cover. Many funds offer to adapt the deduction to the occupancy rate, but you still have to ask.
Forgetting vested benefits
Each change of employer transfers the assets to a new fund. When a period without activity occurs, the assets are deposited on a vested benefits account and easily forgotten. Hundreds of millions of francs thus lie with the 2nd-pillar Central Office.
Neglecting buy-ins
Missing years can be bought in, with a double effect: an increase in retirement assets and a tax deduction of the amount paid. Watch however the three-year lock-up before any capital withdrawal, or tax clawback applies.
Underestimating risk benefits when choosing a fund
Comparisons often focus on contribution rates and return. Yet for a company employing young staff with family responsibilities, the quality of disability and survivors’ pensions weighs more.
I already have this contract: how can I cancel or switch insurer?
This question does not concern the employee: they do not choose their pension fund. It is the employer who decides affiliation, with the agreement of staff or their representation.
For the company
The affiliation contract provides a term and a cancellation notice, often six months for the end of the calendar year. A change requires the agreement of staff or the pension committee. Three points must be examined before any change:
The fate of pensioners
Pension beneficiaries are not necessarily taken over by the new fund. This question must be settled explicitly.
The funding ratio
An underfunded fund may deduct a withholding from transferred assets.
Risk benefits
An employee unable to work at the time of the change can create takeover difficulties.
For the employee who leaves their job
Retirement assets are transferred to the new employer’s fund. If there is no new job, they are placed on a vested benefits account or policy, at the insured person’s choice.
We turn LPP into a readable HR tool
We compare pension institutions according to your structure, payroll, average age, HR needs, executives and risk tolerance. We help you read the regulations, understand the costs and choose a solution your employees can actually understand.
Coordinate your people insurance
LPP must work with accident cover, illness cover and retirement preparation.