How much is my AHV pension?

If you have set yourself the goal of understanding the calculation of your AHV pension and calculating your future pension yourself, our advice in advance: go for a walk. Due to the large number of assumptions and required data, it is practically impossible to calculate it precisely.

This flash therefore offers information both for practitioners and for those interested in the underlying logic.

For practitioners who want information about their AHV:

• Under 60 years old: You can request your personal account statement online or from your cantonal compensation office. Based on the information contained in this statement, an online calculator can provide a reasonable estimate of your future AHV pension.
• Over 60 years old: You can request a preliminary calculation of your AHV pension from your responsible compensation office using the relevant form.

For the curious: the basic calculation logic

The AHV distinguishes between individual pensions and pensions for married couples.

An individual AHV pension depends on the average income earned over the entire working career. If the average annual income is below CHF 15,120, the minimum pension of CHF 15,120 applies. For average incomes above CHF 89,208, the maximum pension of CHF 30,240 is granted. For income levels in between, the so-called pension scale 44 applies.

However, calculating this average income is complex. Inflation adjustments, various credits, splitting rules in the event of divorce and other factors make the calculation difficult. In addition, the pension is reduced proportionally if contribution years are missing from age 21 onward.

For married couples or registered partnerships, the so-called capping rule applies: the joint AHV pension is limited to a maximum of 150% of the maximum individual pension. This rule is also part of the politically debated issue often referred to as the “marriage penalty”.