It sits somewhere with the fund, is managed and invested, and one only sees it again at retirement. This raises a fundamental question: who actually owns these accumulated savings?
The answer is clear and reassuring for every insured person: economically, the accumulated pension savings belong to the employees themselves. It is their capital, built up over the years from their own contributions and those of the employer. The pension fund manages this money in a fiduciary capacity and invests it, but it is not the economic owner. The employer has no claim to it either, and the state certainly does not. That is why the savings also move along when one changes jobs, as a vested benefits payment from the old to the new pension fund.
This understanding is more important than it first appears. Anyone who knows that it is their own capital deals with their provision more consciously, checks pension fund statements, considers voluntary buy-ins and makes withdrawal decisions with more care. It is one's own money, and it is worth treating it that way.