Staggering capital withdrawals to reduce the tax
Why spreading Pillar 2 and 3a withdrawals across calendar years lowers the one-off tax, how the 60–70 window and multiple 3a accounts create room, and the rules that constrain it.
In one line: The withdrawal tax is progressive, and withdrawals in the same year are added together — those two facts are the entire reason staggering works.
The mechanism
Capital taken from Pillar 2 or a 3a is taxed once, separately from income, at a reduced rate. But that rate rises with the amount, and everything paid out in the same calendar year is combined to determine it — across accounts, and under current law across spouses too.
So the same total capital produces a different tax bill depending purely on how many calendar years it is spread over. Nothing about the money changes; only the timing does.
Note the unit: calendar years, not months. A withdrawal in December and another in January are two years apart for this purpose. Two withdrawals in January and December of the same year are not.
Where the room comes from
Several 3a accounts. A 3a account must be closed in full — you cannot take part of one. The only way to split 3a capital across years is to have opened more than one account, years earlier. This is why the advice to open several 3a accounts is about tax at the exit, not returns during the saving phase.
The 60–70 window. Pillar 3a can normally be drawn between 60 and 70. That is a span of eleven calendar years in which withdrawals can be placed.
Partial retirement. Some pension funds allow retirement in steps, which can let the Pillar 2 capital be drawn across more than one year. Whether this is possible, and in how many steps, is set by the fund's regulations rather than by law — check before assuming it.
Coordinating between spouses, while same-year aggregation applies to couples.
What constrains it
- The three-year lock after a buy-in. Capital matching a voluntary buy-in cannot be taken as a lump sum for three years without the deduction being reclaimed. This is the constraint most likely to collide with a staggering plan.
- Your fund's notice periods and rules, which decide whether a capital withdrawal is available at all and in how many tranches.
- Where you live on each payout date, since the canton and commune of residence at that moment set the cantonal scale.
Why it has to be planned early
Every lever above is created years before it is used. Accounts have to be opened, buy-ins have to be finished three years before a withdrawal, and a fund's notice period may run in years. By the time you are choosing a retirement date, most of the room to stagger has already been fixed by decisions taken a decade earlier.
Common questions
Why does staggering reduce the tax?
Because the rate is progressive and same-year withdrawals are combined. Spreading the same total across more calendar years keeps each withdrawal in a lower band.
Do withdrawals in the same year really get added together?
Yes — across your accounts, and under current law also with your spouse's withdrawals in that year.
Can I split a single 3a account?
No. An account is closed in full. Splitting requires having opened several accounts in advance.
When should I start planning?
Years ahead. The account structure, the buy-in schedule and the fund's notice period all have to be in place long before the withdrawal itself.
Sources: DBG (SR 642.11) Art. 38 (separate taxation of capital benefits); StHG (SR 642.14) Art. 11 para. 3 (cantonal separate taxation at a reduced rate); BVV 3 (SR 831.461.3) on Pillar 3a withdrawal; BVG (SR 831.40) Art. 79b para. 3 (three-year lock after a buy-in) and your pension fund's regulations; cantonal tax legislation.
Educational information, not financial advice. Figures and rules are for 2026 and may change.