Can I use my 2nd category savings for housing ?
    
A new legislation valid since January 1^st, 1995 encourages policy-holders to buy or build their housing, or to pay-off their mortgage using their 2^nd category fund.

Using the 2^nd category is only possible if the policy-holder is already the owner of the housing he is living in. It is therefore not allowed to use it to buy a second housing (a vacation house for instance).

Cash funds

Cash funds are corresponding to the full “exit compensation” of the policy-holders younger than 50. For policy-holders older than 50, these funds correspond to the exit compensation acquired at their 50^th year or half of the exit compensation acquired at the time of the pawning or the anticipated payment.

There are two ways of using your 2^nd category savings:

• Pawning: the policy-holder uses the cash in his possession or his insurance services as a guarantee to his creditor, in order to get a mortgage at better conditions.
• Anticipated payment: the policy-holder uses the cash in his possession to pay for his housing.

Anticipated payment, pawning and their consequences

The anticipated payment is made straight to the creditor, salesman or contractor. Its minimal amount 20'000 CHF and it can only be asked every five years.

The anticipated payment or the use of the guarantee are subject to a single and distinct tax on the cash services related to the 2nd category insurance. This tax must be paid from the policy-holder’s own capital, since the services of the 2^nd category may not be used for this purpose.

The anticipated payment or the pawn imply a reduction of the insurance services. This reduction may be compensated by signing up for a complementary insurance contract.

Every policy-holder has the possibility to refund the anticipated payment till three years before reaching retirement age. However he must refund it if the housing is sold or if it is not used anymore by the policy-holder for his personal needs, for example if he lets the housing.

In order to guarantee the refunding in case of a sale, the contingency institution must ask for a restriction on any modification of the status of the housing at the Swiss national register for land and housing (Registre Foncier).

The anticipated payment or the pawn are only possible with the agreement of both spouses.