Bridging pension: closing the AVS gap when you retire early

What is a bridging pension?

The bridging pension (sometimes called an AVS bridging pension or AVS substitute pension) is a benefit paid by your pension fund, not by the AVS. It is paid from early retirement until the AVS reference age, usually 65, and then stops. From that point, the regular AVS pension takes over.

The LPP does not require funds to offer a bridging pension. Whether your pension fund offers one, how high it can be and how it is financed is set solely in its regulations. Many larger funds have one, especially public-sector funds and those of large employers; smaller collective foundations often do not, or only in a limited form.

Typically you can choose the amount within a range, usually up to the maximum single AVS old-age pension. In 2026 that is CHF 2,520 a month or CHF 30,240 a year. Some regulations cap the amount at your expected personal AVS pension, others only allow full monthly amounts or fixed steps.

Who pays for the bridging pension?

In most cases, you do. The pension fund pre-finances the bridging pension out of your retirement savings: the total of the bridging payments, actuarially adjusted depending on the regulations, is deducted from your savings. What remains is converted into your lifelong retirement pension, which is lower as a result.

Other regulations handle it through a lifelong reduction of your retirement pension once you reach the reference age. The principle is the same: you receive more now and less later.

There are exceptions. Some employers contribute to the cost, for example under a social plan during a restructuring, through a collective labour agreement, or as part of early retirement schemes in physically demanding sectors (such as main construction, through a dedicated foundation). In those cases the bridging pension is fully or partly a gift and much more attractive.

Worked example: retiring at 62 with three years of bridging

Mr Meier retires at 62. His pension fund allows a bridging pension up to the maximum AVS pension, financed by a deduction from his retirement savings. He chooses CHF 2,520 a month for three years: 3 × 12 × CHF 2,520 = CHF 90,720.

His retirement savings at 62 are CHF 600,000. After the deduction, CHF 509,280 remains for the lifelong pension. With an assumed conversion rate of 5.5% at 62, the deduction means an annual pension about CHF 4,990 lower, or about CHF 416 a month, for life.

Whether it pays off depends on your life expectancy, your budget and the alternatives. Compared with drawing the AVS pension early, the bridging pension has the advantage that the AVS pension itself is not reduced. After about 18 years on the lower pension, around age 80, Mr Meier has 'paid back' the CHF 90,720; if he lives longer, the bridging pension costs him money overall.

What else to watch out for

Tax: like any pension from your pension fund, the bridging pension is 100% taxable as income. If you also withdraw a large lump sum, keep an eye on progression.

AVS contributions: if you stop working before 65, you remain liable to contribute as a non-employed person. Contributions are based on your wealth and pension income; pensions are added to your wealth multiplied by 20. A high bridging pension can therefore increase your AVS contributions.

Death and choice: what happens to a bridging pension in payment if you die is set by the regulations, as is whether you can only choose bridging at retirement and whether you can change it later. You usually have to apply in writing a few months before your retirement date.

Alternatives to the bridging pension

Drawing the AVS pension early: since AVS 21, you can draw all or part (20% to 80%) of your AVS pension from 63. The reduction is 6.8% per year drawn early and applies for life; women of the 1961-1969 transition generation get lower rates and can draw from 62. If you retire at 58 or 60, early withdrawal only solves part of the problem.

Your own savings: pillar 3a, vested benefits or other assets can also fund the years until the AVS starts. Withdrawing lump sums in instalments can save tax. The advantage: your lifelong pension fund pension stays untouched.

Partial retirement: if you first reduce your working hours, you need less bridging and keep contributing for longer.

Not to be confused: bridging benefits for older unemployed people (ÜL)

Since 1 July 2021, there has been a completely different benefit with a similar name: bridging benefits for older unemployed people (Überbrückungsleistungen, ÜL, in German; prestations transitoires, PT, in French). They are not paid by the pension fund but are a means-tested social benefit under the Federal Act on Bridging Benefits for Older Unemployed Persons (ÜLG), similar to supplementary benefits.

They are for people whose unemployment insurance benefits run out after their 60th birthday, typically after losing a job from about 58. Conditions include a long AVS insurance period with a minimum income and wealth below a threshold (CHF 50,000 for single people, CHF 100,000 for married couples, excluding an owner-occupied home). The exact conditions, maximum amounts and end of entitlement are set by the ÜLG; the information sheet on bridging benefits at ahv-iv.ch and your cantonal supplementary benefits office can tell you more.

If you lose your job at 58 or later, Art. 47a LPP also lets you stay insured in your previous pension fund instead of transferring your savings to a vested benefits account.

Running the numbers on bridging in your plan

Bridging pension, early AVS pension or capital from 3a and vested benefits: which combination works best for you depends on the age you leave, your budget, your canton and your life expectancy. In RetirePlan, you model your early retirement year by year and compare unlimited scenarios, free.

If you would like to discuss the decision with an expert, a personal analysis is available as an option; the planning tool itself remains entirely free.

Frequently asked questions about the bridging pension

What is the maximum bridging pension?

Your pension fund's regulations decide. A common cap is the maximum single AVS old-age pension, which is CHF 2,520 a month in 2026. Some funds limit it to your expected personal AVS pension.

Do I have to pay the bridging pension back?

Not directly. Under most regulations you finance it through a deduction from your retirement savings or a lifelong reduction of your retirement pension. Only if your employer or a social plan co-finances it is it fully or partly free.

Is the bridging pension an AVS benefit?

No. It is a voluntary pension fund benefit under the fund's regulations. The AVS only lets you draw your own pension early from 63 (62 for women of the transition generation), with a lifelong reduction.

How is the bridging pension taxed?

Like a pension fund pension: 100% as income. It can also increase your AVS contributions as a non-employed person, because pensions are counted towards your wealth multiplied by 20.

How does it differ from bridging benefits (ÜL/PT)?

Bridging benefits are a means-tested social benefit, in place since July 2021, for people whose unemployment benefits run out after 60 and who have little wealth. They have nothing to do with the pension fund's bridging pension and are claimed from the cantonal supplementary benefits office.

Is a bridging pension worth it?

Mainly if your employer co-finances it, or if you do not want to draw your AVS pension early and want to preserve your other assets. Self-financed, it is an advance on your own savings: compare it with an early AVS pension and a lump-sum withdrawal from 3a or vested benefits.