Modern life often takes a different course than it used to

The Swiss pension system is strongly geared towards a traditional career path: starting work early, remaining in employment as continuously as possible, and retiring at the age of 65. For many people, however, this model is now only of limited relevance. Career paths have become more diverse. Many people enter the workforce later in life. Others work part-time, take on care responsibilities, undertake further training or take a career break.

Such periods can be meaningful and enriching. However, when it comes to pension provision, they often mean lower income, lower contributions and less time to build up retirement capital. Intermittent employment histories can therefore indeed become a pension provision issue. This is particularly evident when periods of employment are interrupted or when income fluctuates significantly over the years.

Working part-time can significantly reduce your pension provision

Part-time work is widespread in Switzerland. In 2025, 38.7 per cent of the total workforce were in part-time employment. This corresponds to around 1.889 million people. This is particularly common amongst women, who account for 71.4 per cent of part-time employees.

(Federal Statistical Office (FSO), “SLFS 2025 in brief: Swiss Labour Force Survey”, Neuchâtel 2026, p. 5.)

Working part-time can open up many opportunities. For example, it can give you more time for your family, further education or a better work-life balance. At the same time, your income often decreases. However, this also means you pay lower contributions to OASI and your pension fund. You can find out more about this topic in the blog post “Planning for retirement properly – even when working part-time or taking a break”.

This is particularly difficult for people on low incomes. Anyone who does not meet the admission threshold for a pension fundis not covered by it at all. And even those who are members of a pension fund often only build up limited retirement savings if they do not work full-time.

Starting work later in life shortens the period over which you can make pension contributions

Longer periods of education and training also affect the starting point. Today, one in two people aged between 25 and 34 holds a university degree or a higher vocational qualification. Those who spend longer in education and training also enter full-time working life later, which leaves fewer years in which to build up capital for retirement.

This is important because time plays a key role in retirement provision. The earlier contributions are paid in, the longer the money can grow and the compound interest effect can take hold. This applies to both the pension fundand the third pillar.

Many people want to make provisions for the future, but not everyone is equally capable of doing so

There is often a wide gap between aspiration and reality when it comes to pension provision. Recent studies clearly demonstrate this. According to Helvetia’s Dream Home Study 2026, provision for retirement is the most important savings goal for 75 per cent of those between the ages of 25 and 65. Financial security in everyday life comes second. In fact, 63 per cent of the gainfully employed persons surveyed do save. At the same time, some of those surveyed say they would like to save more. Others want to save but are unable to do so financially in their day-to-day lives. And 24 per cent do not save at all.

The findings of a study on optimism (a Sotomo survey commissioned by Helvetia) are also particularly revealing: 80 per cent of those surveyed view the future with optimism. Many aspire to financial prosperity, yet only 19% are confident they will actually achieve this goal. And for 62 per cent of those surveyed, looking back, retirement was a financial challenge.

All this shows that, while people are aware of the need to secure their pension provision, not everyone has the same financial flexibility to put this into practice.

Why the third pillar is becoming increasingly important

OASI and pension fund continue to be key pillars of retirement provision. However, their operating framework is largely predetermined and heavily regulated by law. At the same time, they do not always fit well with career paths involving part-time work, career breaks or a late start to working life. This is precisely where private pension provision comes into its own. The third pillar, in particular, can help to specifically bridge gaps in pension contributions and actively shape one’s own pension provision. It is so relevant because it offers greater flexibility than the compulsory schemes.