Pensions
Foundation asks pensioners to donate their extra payment to charity
A new foundation is asking better-off pensioners to donate their first 13th monthly state pension payment, due in December, to support people in need. It says the money will help tackle poverty among older people and support younger generations.
Switzerland’s first 13th AHV pension payment is due in December 2026, and a new foundation is asking pensioners who can comfortably manage without it to donate the money. Fondation Chance 13 says the contributions will help older people facing poverty and fund projects for children and young people.
The appeal comes after voters approved the additional payment under the old-age and survivors’ insurance scheme, known as AHV, in March 2024. The first payment is expected to cost CHF 4.2 billion, with the annual bill rising to about CHF 5 billion in subsequent years.
The foundation is directing its request at better-off recipients, not pensioners who rely on the extra income. Its proposal turns a new nationwide benefit into a voluntary source of support for people under financial pressure. Donations will be channelled through established charities, beginning with Pro Senectute and Pro Juventute.
Track the Bill Across Generations
The payment will add billions of francs to AHV spending each year. Fondation Chance 13 argues that the people who benefit from the extra pension can help share its effects by giving it to charities, provided they can afford to do so.
Swiss voters approved the 13th payment in March 2024, but the foundation says the financing decision remains unresolved. It warns that younger workers will carry much of the cost over the coming decades while facing uncertainty about their own state pensions.
That argument shapes the foundation’s appeal to pensioners with room in their budgets. The donation drive links immediate help for people in need with concern about the financial pressures facing younger generations. The foundation also wants to encourage young people to save for retirement, placing that aim alongside its support for charitable programmes. Its proposal does not ask pensioners who depend on the additional payment to give it up.
Turn Voluntary Gifts Into Support
A quarter of AHV recipients could donate the extra payment without lowering their standard of living, according to Fondation Chance 13. If that many people gave, the foundation estimates that donations could exceed CHF 1 billion a year.
Its near-term goal is more limited: it expects to raise CHF 1 million to CHF 2 million annually in its first few years. That early target is a small fraction of the larger potential the foundation identifies, and the amounts depend on voluntary contributions from pensioners who can afford to donate.
The figures describe two different scales of ambition: an initial fundraising expectation and a broader estimate based on participation by a quarter of recipients. The foundation will distribute whatever it raises through charity partners. Its appeal therefore depends on pensioners choosing to contribute and on those donations reaching programmes that assist people facing hardship.
Back Older People and Young People
Pro Senectute and Pro Juventute are Fondation Chance 13’s first charity partners. Some donations will go to Pro Senectute’s individual assistance fund, which helps older people in financial distress with minimal bureaucracy.
Other contributions will support Pro Juventute education and life-skills projects for children and young people. The foundation’s remit also includes encouraging young people to save for retirement, connecting its charitable work with the longer-term issue of pension provision.
Entrepreneur and pension expert Jörg Odermatt, based in Lucerne, established the foundation with banker Karl Reichmuth. Each founder put in CHF 150,000 of personal money. The first AHV payment is scheduled for December 2026, giving the foundation a clear moment around which to make its appeal. Its immediate task is to persuade pensioners who do not need the additional payment to pass it on to charities working across generations.