# Swiss pension system <> Moving from Switzerland to US



## CokeLine93 (10 mo ago)

Hi all,

I have moved from Switzerland to the US in December 2021 and I am trying to figure out the best way regarding the 3 Swiss pension pillars.

Would appreciate any advice - most likely from people who have been in the same/similar situation!

Context:

I am a German citizen
Lived in Switzerland for 5 years, studying there for the first 2 years (no/relatively insignificant income (<10k annual) from working as research assistant) and working there for another 3 years
Moved to the US in December 2021 on an L1 visum

This is my current understanding and associated questions:
Pillar 1: In my understanding, I have no chance to get back my OASIS/AHV contributions because I have German = EU citizenship (?)

Pillar 2: I should have cashed this one out before I put foot on US soil. Now if I cash it out, IRS will treat it as US income, so will pay quite a lot of taxes on this. Is there any way/situations (e.g. purchasing a home) to get around this IRS treatment? Any other advice on how I can work around/defer to pay full income taxes on this? What would be (a/the best) way to keep this money in Switzerland?

Pillar 3: Same as pillar 2 - if I cash this out I'll pay US income taxes to IRS. Is anybody aware of good pillar 3 institutions with little cost for me whilst I am living in the US? I might move back to Germany at some point and could then pay this out.

I appreciate any advice!
Thanks a lot!


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