11.08.2025
If you organize your finances effectively in the long term, you will get more out of your money. A carefully thought-out account model can help make strategic rather than spontaneous decisions: what amount is available to me for my everyday life and leisure time? How much money do I set aside each month as an emergency nest egg? And what can I save and potentially invest?
Whether you simply want more control over your finances, have ambitious savings goals or are considering making initial or additional investments on the financial markets, a suitable account model not only shows you where you stand financially, but also takes you where you want to go.
But what exactly is an account model? An account model is a method that allows you to organize your personal finances by distributing them across several bank accounts in order to clearly separate specific purposes, budgets or goals. Instead of processing all income and expenditure via a single account, an account model involves using several accounts, each with a specific purpose. This helps create transparency when you manage your money. Check which account model suits you and your circumstances best. We show you various options:
As part of the three-account model, disposable income is distributed across three different accounts – for example, a private account for your living costs, a savings account for leisure activities and a savings account for long-term savings goals. Here’s how it works:
From your private account, you pay for everything you need to live, such as rent, electricity, food, health insurance, insurance, mobility, mobile phone subscription, clothing and everyday items.
Important: ideally, you should also have the amount you want to put into your retirement savings account 3a or to invest in retirement funds as part of pillar 3a debited from your private account at the beginning of the month.
The amount you set aside for everything you enjoy goes into your leisure account: holidays, restaurant visits, shopping, birthday parties, etc. This allows you to set your monthly leisure expenditure in advance.
At the beginning of each month, you transfer a fixed amount you want and are able to save from the private account to the savings account. Keep money in this account ready for taxes and major expenses such as a faulty washing machine, home repair or a new car, as well as an emergency nest egg as a reserve fund (at least three to six months’ expenditure). In addition, the savings account is used to build up assets long-term – e.g. to purchase a home – and to make investments in an individual portfolio.
Depending on your individual needs, the three-account model can easily be expanded into a multi-account model by creating additional savings accounts. For example: a tax savings account to settle tax bills, a student account if you want to set aside money on a regular basis for planned professional development training, or a home ownership account you can pay money into for your future house. The multi-account model offers almost endless possibilities. In principle, you can create as many accounts as you deem reasonable for your financial goals.
The Smart and SmartPlus banking packages from PostFinance come with a savings account as well as a private account. As part of the banking package, you can open additional savings accounts individually and free of charge at any time.
The three-account model for couples, families or share accommodation is a combination of individual and joint accounts: each person has their own account for individual expenses, supplemented by a joint account for joint payments. Decide as a couple or as flatmates which expenses will be paid from the joint account or private account, and who pays in how much. You should definitely also consider private retirement planning and major purchases you are planning, such as a new family car or a new sofa for the communal area in your shared accommodation.
You don’t just have an account with us, but with other banks, too? In future, we will offer you multibanking so that you can organize your private finances with complete clarity. With this free service, you can also view your third-party bank accounts centrally in e-finance and in the PostFinance App. All with just one login. PostFinance multibanking will be available to you in the second half of 2025.
How you divide costs between these accounts is always up to you. Consider a 50–30–20 split as a general rule of thumb. Based on this split, 50 percent of income goes towards living costs, 30 percent goes towards leisure activities, holidays and other leisure activities, and 20 percent goes towards saving and investing. The amounts are then allocated to the various accounts accordingly. You can of course define the units differently. Higher incomes may increase the savings rate.
Do you want to invest money on the capital markets to seize the opportunity to benefit from higher returns compared to private or savings accounts? Knowing full well that financial investments come with risks given that they are subject to market fluctuations? At PostFinance, you can invest small or large amounts on a recurring basis – for example, with a funds saving plan. Once you’ve set it up, it does the work for you: all you have to do is decide how much you want to invest, at what intervals, and whether you want to invest it from your salary or savings account. Both are possible. Under the three-account model, it may be a good idea to transfer the amounts you plan on investing to your savings account at the beginning of each month.
Before you get started with an account model, you should know how much you earn and what expenses are incurred. For example, you can use our budget calculator.
Find out more in the articles “Five apps for budget planning” and “Get to grips with your fixed and variable costs: tips from FinanzFabio”
Think about how much you want to transfer to the individual accounts each month and, if you don’t already have any, open your accounts. Consider a 50–30–20 split as a rule of thumb.
Automate the distribution of your income to your accounts by setting up standing orders. This will allow monthly transfers to your accounts to be made automatically, no need to worry about it. Handy, isn’t it?
Circumstances change. Perhaps you find yourself earning more or less all of a sudden, you’re about to make a big purchase like a new car, or your living situation changes. Adjust the breakdown if your financial options or needs change to make sure your model is always tailored to your circumstances as best as possible.
