Going self-employed is a real freedom, but it also ends an invisible safety net: the employer's. An employee is automatically covered against accidents, keeps their salary when ill, pays into unemployment insurance and builds a 2nd pillar without thinking about it. The self-employed person loses all of this at once. The good news: you can rebuild that protection, as long as you know where to start.
1. What the law requires
AVS / AI / APG (1st pillar). From the start of your activity you must join a compensation fund. Unlike an employee, you pay the whole contribution yourself: up to 10.0% of your net income, on a sliding scale for modest incomes (down to about 5.4%), with a minimum contribution of CHF 530 per year. The fund also collects your family-allowance contributions.
Health insurance (LAMal). Mandatory for every resident. Note, however, that accident cover is not automatic (see below).
2. First trap: accidents
An employee is insured against accidents by their employer. You are not. A skiing accident on a Sunday can leave you without proper cover. Two options: add accident cover to your LAMal health insurance (the simplest), or take out optional accident insurance under the LAA, often more complete (daily allowances, pensions, disability or death capital). This is the first reflex to have, before any optimisation.
3. Second trap: loss of income
If an employee is ill, their salary continues for a while. If you are ill, your turnover stops but your costs do not, and no unemployment insurance cushions the blow. It is the most underestimated risk at the start. The answer: loss-of-earnings insurance (daily allowances) for illness, and for accident if not already covered under point 2. You choose the daily amount and the waiting period (30, 60 or 90 days): the longer it is, the lower the premium. This is the insurance that protects your ability to earn.
4. Rebuilding your retirement savings (and paying less tax)
Leaving employment, you also leave the mandatory 2nd pillar. Two levers to rebuild retirement savings, both deductible from taxable income:
- The voluntary 2nd pillar. A self-employed person can join voluntarily (often through their professional association or the substitute institution). Useful mainly if your income is high and you want death/disability cover on top of the savings.
- Pillar 3a (the larger self-employed limit). The key tool for a self-employed person without a 2nd pillar: up to 20% of net income, capped at CHF 36,288 in 2026 (versus CHF 7,258 for someone who already has a 2nd pillar). Every franc paid in is deductible: at a typical marginal rate, the tax saving is immediate and substantial, while building your retirement.
5. Professional liability insurance
It covers damage you might cause to a third party in your work (advice error, damage, financial loss). It is mandatory for certain regulated professions (doctors, lawyers, health professions) and strongly recommended for all others as soon as your activity can engage your liability. The premium is modest relative to the risk: often the best peace-of-mind insurance for a self-employed person.
6. Depending on your activity: business insurances
- Business/operating liability: damage caused to third parties on your premises or with your equipment.
- Property insurance (inventory, equipment, goods): fire, water damage, theft.
- Legal protection: disputes with clients, suppliers or the authorities.
- Cyber insurance: if you handle client data or depend heavily on IT.
In short: in what order
1. Mandatory — AVS/AI/APG and family allowances, LAMal. 2. Essential — accident cover, illness/accident loss-of-earnings, professional liability. 3. Strongly recommended — pillar 3a (and/or voluntary 2nd pillar). 4. Activity-dependent — operating liability, property, legal protection, cyber.
The golden rule: do not aim to optimise first, aim first not to be exposed on accidents, illness and liability. Tax optimisation (3a in the lead) comes next, and it is all the more effective when set up early in the year.
At NeoFidu, we review everything when you start out: registration with the compensation fund, choice of accident and loss-of-earnings cover, setting up pillar 3a and computing the tax saving. The goal: start out covered, without paying for insurance you do not need.
General information, not personalised insurance advice. Rates, ceilings and obligations depend on your profession, canton and situation.