Life insurance. Well provided for and fully protected.

Pillar 3a tied pension provision gives you the biggest tax benefit, as the federal government provides incentives to encourage this form of pension provision and annual contributions may be deducted from taxable income. Plus, when 3a assets are paid out, they are taxed once only, separately from other income and at a separate rate. The maximum contributions for Pillar 3a are set annually by the federal government.

In the case of Pillar 3b flexible pension provision, annual premiums are not usually tax-deductible. On the other hand, payouts are mostly tax-free. And during the contract term, only the current surrender value has to be declared as an asset. Subject to certain conditions, payouts under Pillar 3b pension solutions are also tax-free if a single premium is paid.

If you become disabled, you will presumably be unable or only partially able to work. This will also affect your income. You may then also be unable to finance the premiums for your pension solution. And that will have a direct impact on your savings goal.

A premium waiver allows you to safeguard the process of saving under your life insurance policy for precisely this event. Should you become disabled, Helvetia covers the premium payments for you to the extent that you have lost capacity to earn. Unlike with a conventional method of saving, such as a bank account, the premium waiver means that you will reach your savings goal safely with a life insurance policy.

Under a life insurance policy, there are generally three sources of surplus: investment or interest surpluses, risk surpluses and cost surpluses.

These surpluses arise when the income from investments is higher, the risk experience better or the costs lower than assumed in calculating the premiums. If the sum total of the various surpluses is positive, a surplus can be allocated. This is reviewed on an annual basis.

What is important is that surpluses are not contractually guaranteed and there is no entitlement to a surplus. The surpluses allocated in past insurance years have been earned, however, and are paid out together with the insurance benefit at maturity.
In the case of pure term life insurance, no benefit is paid out at maturity. Usually, therefore, the surpluses are offset directly against the premiums. This makes the premiums cheaper.

In the case of endowment insurance, the agreed sum is paid out at the end of the contract term. If the insured person dies before the contract expires, the agreed lump-sum death benefit is paid out.
In the case of pure savings insurance, the capital is paid out at the end of the contract term. If the insured person dies before then, the capital accumulated up to that point is paid out.

With some products, it is also possible to make an early partial withdrawal. The benefit at maturity reduces accordingly.
In the case of pure term life insurance, a benefit is only paid out if the insured person becomes disabled (disability pension) or dies (whole life insurance) during the contract term.

Payouts from Pillar 3a are taxed once only, separately from other income and at a separate rate. By contrast, annual contributions can be deducted from taxable income during the contract term. Current 3a savings do not have to be declared as assets during the contract term.

Payouts from Pillar 3b are usually tax-free. In the case of single-premium insurance policies, however, exemption from tax is subject to certain conditions. During the contract term, only the current surrender value has to be declared as an asset.

Certain pension solutions offer an early withdrawal as part of the product itself (e.g. a capital withdrawal option). This is the easiest way to initiate a payout prior to maturity.

As most insurance policies are calculated for a particular term, it is not usually possible to make an early withdrawal. One alternative is an interest-bearing loan against the life insurance policy taken out. When the life insurance policy matures, the loan that has been extended is offset against the benefit at maturity.

The least attractive option from a financial perspective is to surrender a policy, in which case the life insurance is terminated early. Because the premiums are calculated for the whole of the contract term, however, this leads to a loss on surrender when the policy pays out early.

When a life insurance policy is taken out, costs are incurred to enter into and manage the contract and to provide the insurance benefit, the risk costs. In the case of unit-linked insurance, hedging and investment costs are also incurred. All costs are apportioned evenly among all premiums. So, each premium payment pays some of those costs.

The surrender value is the sum total paid out when an endowment policy is cancelled early. It is lower than the contractually agreed sum insured at maturity. Any costs not yet paid by the time the policy is cancelled are offset.

In principle yes, if the life insurance policy provides for a contractually guaranteed minimum benefit. The mortgage lender (insurance company, bank, etc.) will then consider to what extent it will accept that benefit as collateral.

You are on the safe side if you have a life insurance policy with a fixed, contractually guaranteed benefit at maturity. If this life insurance is taken out in Pillar 3a, the mortgage principal secured by the policy is repaid indirectly. This means that the principal amount is first accrued through the life insurance policy and not paid out to the mortgage lender until the agreed date. You thus take advantage of Pillar 3a tax benefits throughout the contract term.

Helvetia offers various savings insurance products for children. These enable parents, grandparents or godparents to accumulate some seed capital until the child comes of age or starts their studies, for example.