Swiss annuities can also be set with or without refund. Although it seems to be a rather small detail, deciding whether you want a policy with or without refund is crucial to its estate planning characteristics, and has a large impact on the earnings.

In a Swiss annuity with refund, the annuity payments are paid for the rest of your life (life annuity), until the cancellation of the contract or until the end of the contract (fixed-term annuity).

In the event of premature death, the initial deposit minus the guaranteed annuities already paid to you will be refunded to the beneficiaries. Because of these additional benefits, the annuities are somewhat lower than those of the option without refund.

In a Swiss annuity without refund the annuity is paid for as long as you live and offers the highest possible retirement income. However, upon death of the insured, the insurance company will make no refund - the money is locked with the insurance company.

Because the money can only be paid out in annuity payments, a partial surrender is not possible, and of course, only life annuities can be set up without refund.