Tips for financially protecting your family
When starting a family, think about the future – and provide for your children in good time. With these tips, you won’t forget anything important.
14.06.2024
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1. Health insurance for your child
Health insurance is also mandatory for babies. You must register your child for basic insurance within three months of their birth.
However, you can also do this before the child is born. After birth, all you need to do is inform the insurer of your child’s name and date of birth. The advantage of this is you can take out supplemental insurance before the birth without a health questionnaire.
The following is also true in the case of children: the insurer can be freely chosen. In most cases, you can change health insurance annually. Comparing health insurance options is also worthwhile for children. After all: despite the same basic insurance benefits, the premiums sometimes vary considerably.
2. Child disability insurance: prepared for emergencies
If your child has a disability, medical costs can soon mount up. The benefits of invalidity insurance for children and adolescents (link not available in English) include:
Medical measures
Vocational integration measures
Helplessness allowances
Medical aids
However, these benefits may not cover the actual costs incurred. It might therefore make sense to take out disability insurance for your child. Start looking into the topic before your child is born. Make sure that the insurance also covers the consequences of disability due to illness and not just the consequences of an accident.
Get help in the confusing jungle of insurance options
Different providers insure different benefits. Comparing them all can quickly become confusing. Stay on top of things with Optimatis, the brokerage partner of Comparis.
3. Minimize your pension shortfall
Switching to part-time employment has a direct impact on your occupational pension. Part-time employment reduces your retirement savings and thus your pension.
However, you can reduce the loss. This can be done, for example, by buying into a pension fund or using pillar 3a. Pillar 3 also allows you to protect yourself in the event of incapacity to earn and death. Both a pension fund buy-in and a payment into pillar 3a can be deducted from your taxable income.
If you have already paid contributions into the pension fund, you must invest the money in a vested benefits account during a full break from work. When you reach retirement age, you can access the money again.
It is definitely worth returning to work if possible for the sake of your old-age pension. In this case, your existing vested benefits capital is transferred to the pension fund of the new employer.
4. Old-age pensions with maternity compensation
Will you be employed at the time of your child's birth? If so, your maternity leave will not affect your occupational pension. You will receive an income replacement in the form of maternity compensation under the loss of earnings compensation scheme.
During maternity leave, you will still be insured by the second pillar and continue to make contributions to the pension fund.
Good to know: Fathers are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave within six months of birth. They, too, receive money through the loss of earnings compensation scheme.
What to keep in mind when extending your maternity leave
Are you taking a prolonged unpaid leave of absence or even terminating employment? If so, register with your cantonal social insurance institution as “not gainfully employed”. The social insurance institution will then determine the amount of your contributions (link not available in English) depending on your financial situation. In this way, you can continue to pay into OASI (old-age and survivors’ insurance) and avoid a contribution gap.
Check whether you can stay with your employer’s pension fund during your unpaid leave. If you can, you will continue to be financially protected against the risks covered.
Important: Remember that if you do not receive income from employment, you cannot make any contributions to pillar 3a.
5. Protect your family from unforeseen events
Once you become a family, the division of work changes. Often a parent reduces their workload or stops working altogether. So make sure you have financial protection if the working parent’s income stops due to incapacity for work or death.
In the case of married and registered couples, the surviving partners are automatically insured. Surviving spouses may receive a survivor’s pension through OASI.
Children receive an orphan’s pension. They also receive benefits from the deceased’s pension fund. The benefits are paid as a pension or lump sum.
Good to know: The eligibility criteria (link not available in English) for the survivor’s pension are stricter for men than for women.
There is no survivor’s pension from OASI for unmarried couples. Extra-marital children, on the other hand, are treated in the same way as marital children. This means that they receive an orphan’s pension.
Pension funds decide for themselves whether they pay out benefits in the case of cohabiting couples. In this case, your cohabiting partner may be considered under certain circumstances. Find out from your pension fund what the options are.
Clarify your family’s financial requirements at an early stage. Check how you can cover these requirements if the worst should happen. However, bear in mind: changing circumstances often have financial consequences. For example: you will have to pay childcare after the death of a parent.
Single parents should develop a detailed pension savings plan. After all: as a single parent, you should prepare for any emergencies.
A pension savings plan defines the type and amount of investment you need to make. It also includes risks such as disability or death.
Pension advice for families
No matter what life situation you are in: the subject of pensions is complex. Not everyone has time to read up on everything in detail. Professionals can help you develop the right pension plan for you.
This article was first published on 24.09.2020
