AHV contributions when you are not working
Stopping work does not stop your AHV liability. Who owes contributions as a non-employed person, how the amount is assessed, the spouse exemption, and what a missed year costs.
In one line: The AHV is an obligation of residence, not of employment — stop working before 65 and the bill keeps arriving.
This is the most commonly overlooked item in an early-retirement plan, and it is also the one with permanent consequences if it is missed.
Who owes contributions
Everyone insured in the AHV is liable to contribute from 1 January after their 20th birthday until the reference age of 65. If you are gainfully employed, contributions are deducted from your salary and your employer pays a share.
If you are not gainfully employed — or your earnings from work are below the threshold for insured persons — you are liable as a person without gainful activity and must settle contributions directly with your compensation office.
That category is broader than people expect. It includes early retirees, but also people on a career break, those living off investments, and anyone who has stopped work before the reference age.
How the amount is worked out
The contribution for a non-employed person is not based on salary — there is none. It is assessed on wealth and pension income: your net wealth, plus any pension income capitalised by a factor set in the ordinance (twenty times the annual pension income), placed on a scale with a legal minimum and maximum.
The consequence is counter-intuitive: the contribution can be substantial precisely for people who are financially able to retire early, because it is assets, not earnings, that drive it. It is a real running cost of the bridge years, not a rounding error.
The spouse exemption
There is one significant relief. A non-employed person is treated as having paid their own contributions if their spouse is gainfully employed and pays at least twice the minimum contribution.
This applies within a marriage or registered partnership. So one partner retiring early while the other continues to work in a reasonably paid job frequently means no separate contribution is due for the retired partner — but the exemption stands or falls on the working spouse's contribution level, so it is worth confirming rather than assuming.
What a missed year costs
Contributions are what build your AHV pension. A year in which no contribution is paid is a contribution gap, and each gap year reduces the eventual pension by roughly 1/44.
That reduction is permanent and applies to every monthly payment for the rest of your life. Not paying does not save money; it moves a small present cost into a large lifetime one.
Gaps can sometimes be closed retroactively, but only within limited deadlines. Once those pass, the gap is fixed.
What to do
- Register with your compensation office when you stop working, rather than waiting to be found. Liability starts with the situation, not with the paperwork.
- Check whether the spouse exemption applies to your household.
- Request an extract of your individual account periodically to confirm nothing is missing while there is still time to correct it.
Common questions
Do I have to pay AHV if I stop working before 65?
Yes, as a person without gainful activity, until the reference age — unless the spouse exemption applies to you.
How much is it?
It is assessed on your wealth plus capitalised pension income, within a legal minimum and maximum. Because it is driven by assets rather than income, it can be significant for early retirees.
My spouse still works — do I still owe it?
Generally not, provided your spouse is gainfully employed and pays at least twice the minimum contribution. Confirm this with your compensation office rather than assuming it.
What happens if I simply do not pay?
You create a contribution gap. Each missing year cuts your future AHV pension by roughly one forty-fourth, permanently, and retroactive correction is only possible within limited deadlines.
Sources: AHVG (SR 831.10) Art. 3 (contribution liability and the spouse provision) and Art. 10 (contributions of persons without gainful activity); AHVV (SR 831.101) Art. 28–30 (assessment of non-employed contributions on wealth and capitalised pension income); Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV).
Educational information, not financial advice. Confirm your own liability with your compensation office.