Der Übergang in den Ruhestand - Wege, Einflussfaktoren und

Summary Der Übergang in den Ruhestand
Financing early retirement
The average gross household income (median of equivalent income) of persons on early retirement
amounts to CHF 3,870 per month. For persons having worked until legal retirement
age this sum amounts to only CHF 2,770 per month. Occupational pension plans are the major
source of income for over 60% of those surveyed. Private means - personal savings, or
other sources of income - are a further important source, quoted by over one-fourth of those
surveyed.
How do the self-employed differ from other employees?
Our knowledge of retirement-relevant factors for the self-employed is very small, nor was
this study designed to analyses this issue.
We nonetheless found that the self-employed are much less likely to retire early than employed
persons, and that in general they work longer. Around 70% of self-employed persons
work at least until legal retirement age. Moreover, the proportion of the self-employed who
continue working after they reach legal retirement age is almost twice as high as among
those who have not reached it yet.
Although the self-employed invoke professional satisfaction, fear of idleness, and unresolved
questions concerning their succession as the reasons for their continued professional
activity, financial considerations also seem to play a significant role. It is interesting to note
that for self-employed persons of retirement age, the 1 st pillar is very important, covering on
average 79% of income. The comparable figure for employees is 63%. This can be explained
by the fact that as a rule self-employed persons have very little revenue from occupational
pension plans (2 nd pillar), since only around one-fourth of them hold this type of insurance,
as comapred to three-fourths of employees. A small part of this difference is compensated
by private means.
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