Generous pension: This is the amount that Alain Berset will receive after his retirement

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The outgoing Federal Councilor Alain Berset (51) can look forward to an annual income of around CHF 229,000 from 2024. The pension of a former federal councilor is half of the income in office. This is currently a good CHF 468,000 gross.

Members of the state government, federal judges and federal chancellors receive a so-called retirement pension instead of a pension. After all, elected officials cannot accrue enough pension during their tenure and often have little chance of earning an income after being voted out or resigning.

Retirement after four years in office

However, former Federal Councilors only receive the pension of almost CHF 230,000 if they do not carry out any other lucrative activity after their dismissal. This regulation applies if a member of the Bundesrat has been in office for at least four years.

Berset is unlikely to retire. At 51, he may be the longest-serving member of the current Federal Council, but he is still the youngest member of the seven-member body.

If a federal councilor has to retire for health reasons before the end of a four-year term of office, the financial delegation of the federal councilors can still grant him or her a full pension after considering the situation.

Blocher’s retirement caused a sensation

Christoph Blocher (82) caused a stir about the pension. After he was not re-elected in 2007, he initially refrained from doing so. However, in July 2020, he filed an additional claim of 2.7 million francs. Blocher said he was entitled to the money. He now wants to donate this and not leave it to the state.

Finally, the Bundesrat decided to retroactively grant Blocher a five-year pension, ie approximately CHF 1.1 million. The state government wants to completely exclude back payments in the future.

searched for an alternative

This affair prompted the Zug Central Council of States Peter Hegglin (62) to continue. He demands that alternatives to the current system be shown. The Federal Council is skeptical after the corresponding report is available in December 2021.

According to the report, those affected would not be adequately protected if members of the state government and other elected magistrates were required to pay into the federal pension fund. The term of office is too short to save the necessary capital.

Retirement protects the independence of federal councilors

In the event of a system change, the National Council and the Council of States would therefore have to take a number of fundamental decisions. For example, parliament would have to decide on the amount of federal “employer contributions”, the earliest possible retirement age, and whether there should be different pension levels.

In contrast, the current system is kept “lean and understandable,” the report concludes: “For the magistrates, this system allows for proper financial planning for the time after they have left office. A secure income after the term of office also supports the independence of the civil servants. » (SDA/shq)

Source:Blick