Rising prices and your Swiss pension: one part moves with them, one does not

Some time before you retire, two letters arrive. One is from the state. The other is from the fund your employer paid into. Each names a monthly amount, and side by side they look equally solid.

They are not built the same way. One of them grows when prices grow. The other will very likely pay you the same number of francs at 85 as in your first month of retirement.

The two letters

The first letter is about your state pension, AHV, the national scheme that everyone living or working here pays into.

The second is about your pension from work, the pension fund (BVG or PK on your payslip). It is what you and your employers paid in over the years, turned into a monthly amount when you retire.

Both are paid for as long as you live.

The state pension moves with prices

The law tells the Federal Council to adjust AHV pensions. As a rule every two years, at the start of the year, they follow an index that takes the average of how much prices have risen and how much wages have risen, the mixed index. If prices jump by more than 4% within a year, the adjustment comes sooner.

So when the same basket at the till costs more, your state pension follows. It follows in steps rather than month by month, so between two steps it can fall behind.

The next step is decided. From January 2027 the highest state pension for a single person goes from CHF 2'520 to CHF 2'560 a month, and the lowest full pension from CHF 1'260 to CHF 1'280. Both rise by about 1.6%.

The pension fund pension stays where it starts

Your pension fund pension works differently. Once it starts, it is a fixed number of francs. No law ties it to prices.

The law does tie some pension fund payments to prices. The legal minimum part of a widow's, widower's, orphan's or disability pension has to be adjusted once it has run for three years. For 2027, those running since 2023 rise for the first time, by 2.1%. An old-age pension is not on that list.

An old-age pension goes up only if your fund can afford it. Its board decides once a year. If the board finds no room, there is no increase, and the same answer can come back the next year, and the year after.

Your fund has to explain each year's decision in its annual accounts or annual report. If you want to know how your own fund has handled it before, that is where to look.

Follow one retirement from 65 to 85

Take a pension fund pension of CHF 3'000 a month. At 85 it still pays CHF 3'000. What those francs buy has changed:

• if prices rise 1% a year, CHF 3'000 at 85 buys roughly what CHF 2'460 buys today;
• if prices rise 2% a year, it buys roughly what CHF 2'020 buys today.

At 2%, that is close to a thousand francs a month of rent, food and bills that the same letter no longer covers.

The longer you live, the more of your everyday spending rests on the part that moves with prices, and the less on the part that stays put.

What it adds to the capital or pension choice

It does not settle whether to take your fund money as a lump sum or as a pension, which we covered in capital or pension. It adds one fact. A pension is paid for as long as you live, in francs that buy less each year. Capital you manage yourself loses buying power too, unless what it earns keeps up with prices. Either way, the useful number is how much the fixed part has to carry when you are 80.

Your 3a and your savings are fixed in francs too

Nothing adjusts your private pension account, pillar 3a, or a savings account to prices. A balance of CHF 100'000 is CHF 100'000 next year.

It keeps its buying power only if it earns at least as much as prices rise. In a year when it earns 0.5% and prices rise 1%, the balance grows on your statement and shrinks at the till.

What SORVA does

Up to 2027 your plan uses the published state-pension amounts. After that it raises your state pension every two years in line with the price rises you assume, and keeps a pension fund pension at its fixed franc amount. Your plan shows its figures in today's francs.

See how much of your spending at 85 rests on each pension: create your plan at sorva.ch, free during the public beta.

Common questions

Does my AHV pension go up with inflation?

It is adjusted by law, as a rule every two years, to an index that averages price and wage growth, the mixed index. From January 2027 the highest pension for a single person is CHF 2'560 a month.

Will my pension fund raise my pension when prices rise?

Only if it can afford to. Its board decides every year. The law requires a price adjustment only for the legal minimum part of survivors' and disability pensions, not for old-age pensions.

How much does inflation take off a fixed pension?

After 20 years of 1% price rises, a fixed CHF 3'000 a month buys roughly what CHF 2'460 buys today. At 2% a year, roughly what CHF 2'020 buys.

Is my 3a account protected against inflation?

No. A pillar 3a balance is an amount in francs. It keeps its buying power only if what it earns at least matches the rise in prices.

Where can I see whether my fund has raised pensions?

In its annual accounts or annual report, where it has to explain each year's decision. You can also ask the fund directly.

Sources & review: AHVG (SR 831.10) Art. 33ter Abs. 1, 2 and 4; BVG (SR 831.40) Art. 36 Abs. 1 to 3; Federal Council decision of 2 October 2026 on the 2027 AHV pension adjustment (BSV release); BSV release of 22 October 2026 on the 2027 adjustment of survivors' and disability pensions. The 1% and 2% results are plain compounding over 20 years, shown for illustration.

Articles read against the Fedlex consolidated texts in force. Last updated: 2 November 2026.

Educational information, not financial advice. Projections are estimates based on your inputs and current Swiss regulatory parameters, and actual outcomes may differ. Ask your fund for your own numbers.