Estate Planning: Several Rules Are Changing Simultaneously

August 19, 2026

AVS 21, the 13th pension payment, Pillar 3a buybacks, elimination of the rental value deduction, and individual taxation: several changes will influence clients’ wealth management decisions in the coming years. Albert Gallegos, Program Director of the ISFB Certificate in Wealth Planning, provides an overview of how these changes will affect financial advisors and the skills now expected of them. The next session of the ISFB Certificate program begins on September 18, 2026: ten days to develop a comprehensive understanding of taxation, retirement planning, real estate, estate planning, investments, and business succession. Interview.

Albert Gallegos, since our last interview in 2024, what has changed the most in the field of estate planning in Switzerland?

I would say that what has changed the most is not any one specific area, but rather the pace of change and how these changes are interconnected.

Wealth planning has always required a cross-disciplinary approach, encompassing taxation, retirement planning, real estate, investments, and matrimonial and estate law. But recent developments have further underscored this need.

Let’s look at a few examples. The AVS 21 reform is now fully in effect, notably featuring a gradual increase in the reference age for women and greater flexibility in the transition to retirement. The 13th AVS pension payment will be made for the first time in December 2026. Starting this year, the first contributions to Pillar 3a can be made to fill contribution gaps dating back to 2025.

In the area of taxation, two major changes are now a done deal: individual taxation was approved in a referendum on March 8, 2026, and is set to take effect no later than 2032; at the same time, the elimination of the rental value deduction will take effect on January 1, 2029, with significant implications, particularly for the deductibility of interest expenses and maintenance costs.

The profession, therefore, is less and less about knowing each subject in isolation and more and more about understanding how decisions interact with one another. A real estate decision can have implications for taxes, estate planning, and retirement planning. It is precisely this ability to see the bigger picture that, in my view, is what makes wealth planning so valuable.

Have customer expectations really changed? What do customers ask of their advisors today that they asked of them less frequently a few years ago?

Yes. Customers now have access to much more information than they did in the past. In just a few seconds, they can find the maximum contribution amount for Pillar 3a, the general rules for the AVS, or tax information.

But having access to information doesn't mean you know how to make the right decision.

The questions are becoming more wide-ranging: Should I take my pension fund as a pension or a lump sum? Should I pay off my mortgage before the rental value is eliminated? Can I retire early? How can I protect my spouse? How should I plan the transfer of my business? What will be the tax and estate planning consequences of my decisions?

Therefore, rather than a series of technical answers, the client expects a big-picture perspective and the ability to prioritize decisions.

In fact, this was already highlighted in the testimony of a participant in the ISFB Certificate program: the training had enabled her to develop a more comprehensive and structured perspective and to better identify her clients’ latent needs.

I would summarize this trend as follows: the advisor of the future will not be the one who knows everything, but the one who knows how to ask the right questions, connect the relevant information, and bring in the right specialists at the right time.

Taxation, retirement planning, estate planning, real estate: What legal or regulatory developments should professionals pay particular attention to today?

There are many, but I’ll highlight five that are particularly significant.

First, AVS 21 and the increased flexibility of retirement. The transition to a standard retirement age of 65 for women is continuing, and the options for early, delayed, or partial retirement now require more scenarios to be considered when planning for retirement.

Second, the 13th AVS pension payment, which will be paid for the first time in December 2026, will change certain calculations of retirement income.

Third, Pillar 3a contributions. Starting in 2026, it will be possible, under certain conditions, to make up for a shortfall that arose on or after 2025. This creates a new tool for retirement planning and tax planning that should be used wisely.

Fourth, real estate taxation. The elimination of the rental value as of January 1, 2029, will profoundly alter decisions regarding mortgage debt, amortization, maintenance work, and certain energy-related investments.

Finally, individual taxation—which was approved in March 2026—will eventually change the tax treatment of married couples and require a reevaluation of certain estate planning strategies that are currently based on joint taxation. It will be implemented no later than 2032 and will also require adjustments at the cantonal level.

We must also keep an eye on developments that are still in the works. The AVS 2030 reform is currently under public consultation and includes, among other things, new measures designed to encourage people to continue working. At this stage, it is still a proposal and not yet law.

All of this illustrates a key principle: in estate planning, knowledge that isn't regularly updated can quickly lead to poor advice.

So how have you updated the content of the ISFB Wealth Planning Certificate to reflect these changes?

We have retained what was already the program’s philosophy at the time of our 2024 interview: a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and highly practical approach.

But this approach makes even more sense today. The program covers personal taxation, social insurance, optimizing the second pillar, matrimonial and estate planning, real estate, investments, as well as business creation and succession. Most importantly, it concludes with a practical case study that requires participants to gather information, analyze a situation, and develop coherent solutions.

This is essential because, in real life, a client never comes to us with a problem labeled “tax module” or “retirement planning module.” They come with a situation: “I’m 58 years old, I own a business, a piece of real estate, a pension fund, and two children, and I’d like to scale back in a few years. What should I do?”

The professional's role, then, is to put the puzzle together.

Our goal, therefore, is not simply to convey more information. It is to develop a method for thinking about wealth management: understanding a situation, identifying the key issues, setting priorities, assessing the consequences, and proposing a coherent strategy.

To which professionals would you recommend this training today, and why?

This program is primarily intended for banking and finance professionals who work with Swiss resident clients: client advisors, relationship managers, private bankers, SME advisors, pension specialists, or professionals seeking to expand their areas of expertise. This is, in fact, the target audience currently defined by the ISFB.

I especially recommend it to those who realize that they encounter issues on a daily basis that go beyond their original area of expertise.

The goal is not to turn every participant into a tax specialist, lawyer, LPP expert, real estate expert, and investment advisor all at once. That would be unrealistic.

The goal is much more relevant: knowing how to identify issues, ask the right questions, understand the key interactions, and know when to bring in a specialist.

This is what makes it possible to move from a primarily transactional relationship to a long-term advisory relationship.

As you look ahead to the coming years, what developments do you think will have the greatest impact on the field of wealth planning?

I see four main ones. The first is demographic. A significant portion of the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, which will lead to a surge in decisions regarding retirement planning, real estate assets, estates, and business succession. The Federal Council itself identifies this demographic shift as one of the major challenges of the 2030 AVS reform.

The second area is regulatory and tax-related. Reforms will continue, and professionals will need to keep their knowledge up to date.

The third is technological. Artificial intelligence will make access to information and certain calculations much faster. I don’t think this will diminish the importance of the wealth advisor; rather, it will change the nature of the value they add. Tasks involving research and information processing can be further automated, while judgment, understanding family circumstances, making trade-offs, and guiding decision-making will become even more important.

Finally, the fourth trend will likely be a human one. Behind every estate lie plans, a family, values, and sometimes concerns and life choices. Technical expertise is essential, but it remains a means to an end. The ultimate goal of estate planning is to help a person make better decisions to achieve their life goals.

With artificial intelligence and immediate access to information, why is it still necessary to invest in training advisors?

Precisely because information is becoming abundant. When information was scarce, a professional’s value lay in part in their ability to possess it. When information becomes accessible to everyone, value shifts to the ability to select it, understand it, put it into perspective, and turn it into a decision.

Artificial intelligence can explain a tax rule or run a simulation. But estate planning also involves understanding a person’s priorities, assessing the multifaceted consequences of a decision, and sometimes weighing various options that are legally feasible but very different from a human perspective.

Paradoxically, training therefore becomes even more important: it provides the intellectual framework needed to use the new tools correctly.

What skill, above all, do you want participants to have acquired by the time they complete the certificate program?

I wish they had developed a very simple habit: before proposing a solution, to understand the whole situation.

By the end of the program, participants should be able to examine a client’s financial situation and ask themselves: What are the client’s goals? What are the risks? What information am I missing? What are the tax, financial, estate planning, and retirement planning implications? And which specialists should I possibly involve in the discussion?

It is this ability to make a diagnosis that then makes it possible to provide truly relevant advice.

Why take this course now?

Because we are currently in a period where several important rules are changing at the same time.

But beyond the latest regulatory developments, there is a more fundamental reason: major financial decisions are rarely made at the last minute.

Retirement, business succession, estate planning, or the organization of real estate assets often require planning several years in advance.

The same applies to professional expertise. The best time to develop a comprehensive wealth management strategy isn’t when a client asks a complex question that we don’t know how to answer. It’s before that.

© Institut Supérieur de Formation Bancaire (ISFB). All rights reserved.
The analyses and content published by the ISFB may be quoted or reproduced in part, provided that the source is clearly mentioned. Any full or substantial reproduction of this article in another medium or format is subject to the prior written authorization of the ISFB. In order to facilitate reading and without any intention of discrimination, the masculine gender is generally used, in accordance with the grammatical rule that allows it to be used as a neutral value to refer to a group of people comprising both men and women. This publication is intended for ISFB members and their employees in Switzerland, as well as anyone interested in finance in Switzerland. It is not intended to be read or distributed in any jurisdiction where its distribution would be prohibited.

Albert Gallegos

ISFB Program Director

Wealth planning is not about predicting the future, but about preparing for it. The more complex our environment becomes, the more clients need a professional who can provide them with a clear, structured, and comprehensive overview of their options. This is precisely the goal of the ISFB Certificate in Wealth Planning.

Albert Gallegos