A panel discussion with four speakers led us throughout the world of personal finances.

Many women use to work part time, are off work for a few  years or decide to set up their own business and empty drastically their savings.

All these different situations in our careers have important consequences at the time of retirement. Better we manage our proper finances, starting on time, more secure we will be once stepped aside from of the labor market.

Virginie Guido, Associate Partner at Microgestion made a comparison between the financial situations at the time of retirement for two different ladies. The first one was “hoping” to retire early even though she had not contributed to AVS, had a reduced LPP and insignificant savings. The second lady was contributing regularly to the two social security pillars, plus was conscious about saving. Her retirement seemed to be much more pleasant and secure. She was “assuming” and managing her financial future.
We had also Patricia Infante from Microgestion who was so kind to reply all questions related to taxes.
 
Anne Hornung-Soukup, partner at Bruellan S.A. advised that the most important behavior related to finances is to be proactive. The pension plan will not come as a life jacket but the personal finances should be managed starting as early as at the age of 30, so that once retired or when not having regular or enough income, one is ready to face possible difficulties with enough savings.

Anne Hornung-Soukup associated to the three legs of a stool the composition of the base of our financial stability – (1) the two pillars of the Swiss social system, (2) the investment in real estate and (3) the individual savings. Even investments in appropriate funds and bonds can be welcomed if we know how to manage the risk.
As we have very different personal, social and professional situations, the best would be to, again - be proactive, including looking for professional advice and start building our future financial security in an optimal way.
 
Assimina Walther, Architecture Expertise Conseil & Immobilier  showed figures and statistics about the real estate market in Switzerland from the last few years. Price fluctuations and barrier levels for accessing to financing have been and are determining the demand of properties. Since this is a serious long-term investment, it should be well synchronized with the contributions to the Pension plan and the possible personal savings
 
After these briefs the participants to the event had the opportunity to sit two times for about 30 min at a roundtable to discuss directly with each speaker the specifics of these topics. The dynamic conversations and the interest in the discussions were obvious. Many questions, many doubts but also many good and professional answers.
 
Since these subjects require dealing with legal data, statistics and financial modeling, we were suggested individually to take a professional consultation with an expert. How to choose it? – counting on our perception for confidence and judging by competence and experience.
 
by Nasya Dimitrova