The aim of this article is to investigate the factors underlying old-age poverty, with particular emphasis on its construction along the life course. We focus on the question whether the inclusion of life course information could explain social and gender differences in old-age poverty in Switzerland. Our results suggest that poverty in old-age primarily depends on a person's initial human capital, corresponding to a traditional social stratification framework. We were not able to detect significant influence of work or relationship trajectories. Gender differences seem partly explained through the long-term impact of educational differences.