Neon 3a has established itself as one of the best 3a pension solutions in Switzerland thanks to its modern, transparent approach and excellent cost-effectiveness. This article, "Neon 3a: Simple and Modern Swiss Pension Planning," explores this topic., Here's a quick summary and my opinion on Neon 3a.
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| Punctuation out of 10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Commissions (management fees) | 0.39 – 0.45% | 8.5 / 10 (commissions slightly higher than Viac and Finpension) |
| Indirect costs | Very few indirect costs | 9.5 / 10 |
| Past yield | Very good for a 3a account | 8.5 / 10 (Neon needs to improve the transparency of its actual performance) |
| Choice of strategies | Very varied | 9 / 10 (The custom selection option is missing) |
| Opportunity to invest 99% in the stock market on global 100 | Yes | 10 / 10 |
| Percentage of investment in Switzerland & Percentage of investment abroad | 89% – foreign 10% – Switzerland | 8.5 / 10 (The percentage invested in Switzerland is too low) |
| Ease of use | Very simple | 10 / 10 |
| Maximum number of portfolios a client can hold | 5 | 9.5 / 10 |
| 3a security | Very good | 9.5 / 10 |
| Customer service | Very good | 9.5 / 10 |
| 9.25 / 10 |
Why hold a 3a account?
A 3a account is a retirement savings account that provides tax advantages.
Indeed, if a person resides in Switzerland and adds money to their 3a account, they will be able to reduce a percentage of their taxes.
Note that in some cases, tax reductions can be optimized to save several thousand CHF each year. However, it's important to remember that every tax situation is different and every tax optimization strategy is personal.
It should be noted that, although adding money to a 3a account can reduce taxes, the 3a account can only be withdrawn on four occasions:
- Buying your main residence
- Final departure abroad
- Starting your own business in Switzerland
- Retirement at an advanced age
However, the question is, which 3a account should you choose? Let's analyze the Neon 3a account together 😊
Neon 3a in brief
Neon was originally a Swiss bank account since 2019. However, since 2023, Neon has created Neon Invest which allows Neon customers to invest their money.
Since the end of 2025, Neon has created Neon 3a for Neon customers who wish to hold a 3a account.
In this blog, I've often written about Viac 3a and Finpension 3a. However, I consider Neon 3a a serious competitor!
Without further ado, let's analyze together the main features of Neon 3a1 😊
Neon 3a: Simple and modern Swiss retirement planning
Annual commissions (management fees)
Neon 3a has a commission that decreases depending on the amount the saver has added to their 3a account. That is to say:
| Money invested in account 3a | Commissions per year from Neon 3a |
|---|---|
| Between 0 and 4,999 CHF | 0.45% |
| from 5,000 to 9,999 CHF | 0.44% |
| from CHF 10,000 to CHF 24,999 | 0.43% |
| from CHF 25,000 to CHF 49,999 | 0.39% |
👉 In my opinion, these are very reasonable management fees. Indeed, very few 3a accounts in Switzerland offer such low commissions.
However, as I write this, as soon as a customer adds 1 CHF to their 3a account, Finpension charges 0.39% in management fees and Viac charges 0.40%. This gives Viac or Finpension an advantage compared to Neon 3a.
Indirect costs
It is rare for a bank account or pension account not to have indirect or hidden fees.
As a general rule, there are always fees payable by the customer for, for example, exchange rate fees, entry/exit fees, TER fees or administrative fees.
👉 On this point, according to my analysis, Neon 3a performs very well! Because there are very few indirect costs.
However, you should still expect an additional 0.07% in commissions for the aggressive 100 strategy.
The investment strategy
👉 Neon 3a offers 5 strategies for investing or keeping your money in the 3a account:
| Actions | Obligations | Real estate | Raw materials / cash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caution 25 | 25% | 63% | 9% | 3% |
| balanced 45 | 45% | 43% | 9% | 3% |
| Dynamic 65 | 65% | 23% | 9% | 3% |
| Ambitious 80 | 80% | 8% | 9% | 3% |
| Offensive 100 | 99% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
👉 The 5 strategies are varied and the client's choice is quite clear. That's a very good point.
However, some clients prefer to invest their own money. At the time of writing, Neon 3a does not offer this service.
Furthermore, it should be noted that some clients prefer to hold 100% of their money in cash or bonds. This option is not permitted by Neon 3a.
In my opinion (not investment advice), the offensive 100 strategy is the most interesting over the long term (more than 10 years)!
The percentage of investment abroad
Although Switzerland has historically been a stable country for stock market investments, Switzerland remains a small country with very little political weight on a global level.
For those who like to invest a large portion of their 3a account in the stock market, it's advantageous to be able to invest abroad, especially in the United States, as the US has historically been the country with the best stock market returns. Furthermore, it wields significant political influence globally.
Therefore, while I understand that a 3a account should have a good percentage invested in Switzerland, I think it's important to invest a significant portion of your 3a account globally for diversification purposes.
👉 Neon 3a allows you to invest abroad at 70%. That's a good and sufficient option in my opinion. !
Indeed, I think that 60% would be the minimum to invest abroad, in order to keep a maximum of 40% in Switzerland.
However, Neon Aggressive 100 allocates stock market investments as follows:
- 70% world
- 10% Switzerland
- 18% emerging countries
👉 In my opinion, 10% of stock market investment in Switzerland is too low. Generally speaking, savers in a 3a account want a larger percentage invested in Switzerland.
Furthermore, there is no information regarding the percentage of investments in the US stock market. It should be noted that the US stock market is one of the largest in the world.
The investment choice
Neon 3a gives 3 choices to invest according to your strategy.
- Focus Global = Investment worldwide, with a large percentage invested in developed countries
- Sustainable development = Choosing an investment that promotes sustainability (through sustainable actions, for example)
- Focus on Switzerland = Invest a significant portion of your investment in Switzerland (or through Swiss stocks)
👉 In my opinion, I am not a fan of investments that are predominantly Swiss or that favor sustainable stocks. Indeed, I prefer a globally focused strategy.
On the other hand, each reader has the right to have a different opinion and I think it's a good point for Neon to offer these investment opportunities.
It's also worth noting that Neon 3a allows you to invest primarily through Swisscanto index funds. In my opinion, this is an excellent option!
Investment return
👉 Neon 3a does not allow visualization of actual returns via PDF like Finpension or Viac. This is a point that needs improvement, as it is important for clients to be able to analyze the actual return of each 3a strategy in a simple and visual way.
However, according to a Neon article, Neon 3a's offensive strategy 100 achieved a similar return to Viac Global 100.
Therefore, it is still a little early to compare the past returns of Neon 3a, but it is positive if Neon forecasts returns comparable to those of Viac.
The security of 3a
Regarding the security of the 3a account, like the majority of pension accounts in Switzerland, the client's securities are separated from the bank.
That is to say, if Neon goes bankrupt, the client's 3a securities are transferred to another 3a account.
Regarding smartphone security, Neon 3a uses biometric account access. It is very difficult to crack a biometric code.
👉 In conclusion, the security of Neon 3a is very good!
The number of possible portfolios to hold?
I already wrote about it in this blog post, Should I stagger the third payment to save on taxes?, that it is important to hold several 3a accounts in order to optimize taxes when withdrawing from the 3a account.
Indeed, in most cantons in Switzerland, it is preferable to hold, for example, 3 3a accounts with 100,000 CHF in each 3a account, rather than holding 300,000 CHF in a single 3a account.
In reality, in most cases, dividing your 3a into several 3a accounts allows for tax optimization.
👉 Note that Neon 3a allows the client to hold up to 5 3a wallets. That's a sufficient number in my opinion.
Ease of use
Like the majority of 3a accounts in Switzerland, it is very simple to hold and invest via a 3a account.
👉 In reality, you just need to add money with a payment and Neon 3a takes care of everything.
To give an example, in my case, I simply add a monthly transfer from my current account to my 3a account. And voilà, the money in my 3a account is invested and safe.
Client service
👉 In my experience, customer service with Neon has always been very good.
Generally, the answers are clear and quick.
Conclusion Neon 3a
Let's analyze with a table, a summary of Neon 3a as well as my personal punctuation.
Neon 3a: Simple and modern Swiss retirement planning
| Punctuation out of 10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Commissions (management fees) | 0.39 – 0.45% | 8.5 / 10 (commissions slightly higher than Viac and Finpension) |
| Indirect costs | Very few indirect costs | 9.5 / 10 |
| Past yield | Very good for a 3a account | 8.5 / 10 (Neon needs to improve the transparency of its actual performance) |
| Choice of strategies | Very varied | 9 / 10 (The custom selection option is missing) |
| Opportunity to invest at 99% on global 100 | Yes | 10 / 10 |
| Percentage of investment in Switzerland & Percentage of investment abroad | 89% abroad 10% in Switzerland | 8.5 / 10 (% investment in Switzerland is too low) |
| Ease of use | Very simple | 10 / 10 |
| Maximum number of portfolios a client can hold | 5 | 9.5 / 10 |
| 3a security | Very good | 9.5 / 10 |
| Customer service | Very good | 9.5 / 10 |
| 9.25 / 10 |
Neon 3a receives a very good overall rating from 9.25 / 10. That's an excellent score!
👉 In my opinion, Neon 3a is a very good choice for opening a 3a account.
Neon 3a VS other 3a accounts
In my opinion, Neon 3a is one of the top 3a accounts in Switzerland. Neon 3a's only serious competitors are Finpension 3a and Viac 3a. .
On the other hand, I think that since Neon is a new 3a account and the fees are no better than Viac or Finpension, I think that Finpension or Viac customers should not change their 3a account.
Indeed, in my opinion, Viac and Finpension have remained the leaders in 3a accounts for 10 years.
However, it's worth noting that Neon 3a entered my top 3 3a accounts as soon as they were opened. Well done, Neon!
Neon 3a: Simple and modern Swiss retirement planning
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About me
I decided to create this blog to develop and help readers who are looking for a simpler and more economical life.
Compared to before, I was a person who consumed a lot until the day I realized that my consumption made me sadder and poorer 😑
Now I prefer the minimum of my needs to be happy and achieve my financial freedom.
Without realizingI started to focus on saving and investing to depend on a boss for as little time as possible and to speed up my personal projects.
As a result, I am getting richer in a way that I never imagined since I have an average salary in Switzerland.
It is for this purpose that I decided to create this blog. In order to share and learn with other people who seek freedom and simplicity 😉
Are you rather minimalist or frugal Jonny?
I am as minimalist as I am frugalist. However, there are situations where I lean more towards an art of life.
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