Retire in Switzerland: residence, health cover, AHV and tax

Switzerland is not the first name that comes to mind when people dream of retirement, and yet every year some Europeans choose it, for the quiet, the health system and the trains. Whether it is a good choice depends on a few rules that are specific here: a means test for residence, a compulsory health insurance with a notable exception, and a tax system that varies from one canton to another. Here is what to check if you want to retire in Switzerland as a citizen of the EU or EFTA.

Can you retire in Switzerland as an EU citizen?

Yes. The free movement agreement gives non-working EU and EFTA citizens, such as retirees, a right of residence. According to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), you must have, for yourself and your family:

• enough financial means not to become a burden on the host state;
• health and accident insurance covering all risks.

For pensioners, the means are in principle regarded as sufficient if they exceed the amount that would entitle a person to supplementary benefits in Switzerland. Pensions and other social insurance benefits count in the calculation.

You declare your arrival to the authority designated by your canton within 14 days, and you receive a B permit valid for five years, renewed automatically as long as the conditions are met. The authority can ask you to prove again, after two years, that you still have the means. If the means are missing, the permit can be withdrawn or its extension refused. See also Swiss residence permit for EU citizens.

What if you are British?

British retirees who were covered by the 2019 agreement on citizens' rights keep their rights. For everyone else the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act applies: a retiree permit requires being at least 55, having particular personal ties with Switzerland (long past stays or close relatives living there), carrying out no gainful activity in Switzerland or abroad (managing your own assets is allowed), and having financial means above the level that would give entitlement to supplementary benefits. The application goes to the migration office of the canton. Read moving to Switzerland from the UK for the whole picture.

Do retirees need Swiss health insurance?

Anyone domiciled in Switzerland must take out basic insurance (LAMal) within three months. For a retiree there is a significant exception: if you receive a pension from an EU state (or from Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom) and no pension from Switzerland, you are not subject to the Swiss obligation (article 2 of the health insurance ordinance, OAMal). You stay insured through the country that pays your pension, using form S1, which certifies your right to care in your country of residence.

The canton checks that everyone who must be insured is insured, and it can affiliate a person with an insurer if nothing has been done in time (article 6 LAMal). Keep your S1 to show that you are exempt; the exact document the canton expects can vary, so ask the cantonal authority listed by the Common Institution LAMal.

The practical steps:

1. Ask the body that pays your pension for the S1 before you leave.
2. Register your arrival and obtain your permit.
3. Settle your insurance within three months: either affiliate with a Swiss insurer, or ask the competent cantonal authority for an exemption on the basis of the S1.

See health insurance in Switzerland.

Retirement mixes pensions from several countries, a tax treaty and an insurance choice, and a wrong order can cost money. Moovy, our AI assistant, can help you draw up the list of documents to request, such as the S1 and your pension statement, and the questions for the cantonal office. It explains the rules with their sources; it is not a tax adviser and does not file anything for you.

What does a retirement move to Switzerland look like, step by step?

1. Check the means test against the supplementary-benefits threshold, and gather proof of your pension and savings.
2. Request the S1 from your pension body if you receive an EU pension and have no Swiss pension.
3. Choose your canton and commune. Compare rent, tax and premiums, and make sure the language works for you. Read best places to live in Switzerland.
4. Arrange housing. Renting is the simplest first step; see renting in Switzerland. If you plan to buy, the Lex Koller does not apply to you as a domiciled EU or EFTA citizen, but check the current text before signing (see buying property in Switzerland).
5. Register within 14 days of arrival, obtain your five-year B permit and settle health insurance within three months.
6. Declare your pensions in the first return and keep the annual statements from the paying bodies.

A retirement permit is not a visa you pick up before leaving. For EU and EFTA citizens it is a residence permit granted on arrival, on the conditions above, so the file you prepare at home is what makes the first weeks smooth.

What do you get from the Swiss pension system?

If you have worked and paid contributions in Switzerland, the AHV (old-age and survivors' insurance) pays you a pension from the reference age. The reference age is 65 for men. For women it rises by three months for each birth year: 64 for women born in 1960 or earlier, 64 years and 6 months for women born in 1962, and 65 for women born in 1964 or later (AHV memo 2.02). The pension starts on the first day of the month after you reach it. You can draw it earlier, from age 63, with an actuarial reduction (women born between 1961 and 1969 can start from 62 under a transitional scheme), or defer it by one to five years to receive more.

A 13th pension, equal to one twelfth of the year's old-age pension, is paid automatically each December, for the first time in December 2026. You do not have to apply for it.

Years spent in other EU and EFTA countries count together under European coordination: each country pays its share in proportion. Claim your pension from the compensation fund three to four months before the reference age. For years in the EU, the claim can go through the body of your last country of work or residence.

How is a foreign pension taxed when you retire in Switzerland?

A foreign pension is taxable in Switzerland according to the tax treaty between Switzerland and the paying country. In general, a public pension such as an ex-civil servant's remains taxable by the state that pays it, while a private pension is taxed in the country of residence; the treaty with France, for example, follows this split. Declare your pension and its foreign tax in your annual return, using the annual statement of the gross pension and tax withheld.

Switzerland also taxes wealth, at cantonal and communal level, on a progressive scale set by each canton plus the commune's multiplier. Compare communes with the federal tax administration's calculator before you choose where to live. And if your assets are large and you do not work in Switzerland, ask whether the canton you are considering offers lump-sum taxation: Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden abolished it, and Basel-Landschaft grants it only for the year of arrival. The general rules are in taxes in Switzerland for new residents.

What mistakes should retirees avoid?

• Forgetting the three-month deadline for health insurance or exemption. Without either, the canton can affiliate you.
• Underestimating the means test. It is based on the supplementary-benefits threshold, and the authority can ask again after two years.
• Mixing up public and private pensions for tax purposes.
• Ignoring wealth tax. It exists at cantonal level and varies a lot.
• Choosing a canton on climate alone. Tax, premiums and aids differ between Geneva, Vaud, Zurich and others.

Before you decide, have your situation confirmed by your pension fund, the AHV compensation fund and a tax adviser in the canton you are considering: they can check the treaty, your pension dates and the insurance rule that applies to you.