FOAK: Living in Switzerland

I have quite fancied living in Switzerland for a while since
I like a bit of skiing (BASI III) and general mountain living.
There seems to be a decent chance of an English
speaking IT job. I have a bit of French but not nearly
enough for work. The present workplace is not
meeting my needs and it seems decent time to have
a look at making the move. There are a few jobs in
my field that will allow working in English.

I don't own any property anywhere and would need to rent
something.

I want to be able to eat out plenty, ski plenty, have a
car, this and that. In short being poor in Switzerland is
not an option.

How many Swiss Francs does this take?
If I can live in London can I live in Switzerland
on something similar at the tourist rate? (I will not be
gong unless it is ~30% more since I am not being paid
reasonably at present. IMO )

I am a sort of Cisco/Checkpoint general fixem-up-em guy
with extensive Financial industry experience.
OK. Network Consultant if you like - at a pinchette.

The particuar ad that I am looking at does not mention a
location although this will presumably become apparent
quite soon. Some sort of multi-national telco.

Comments? Ace?

No parlo eetaliano. -- Bit of a guess but I think he is OK,
Nein spraken die Deutsche. -- Total guess.
Je ne parle pas Francais sauf un peu. J' achette les
pain, le fromage bien et, de temps en temps, aussi du vin
et des bierres.

Merci bien mes amis.
Ciao ciao.

 

With a bit of care, Switzerland is possibly slightly cheaper than
London. I was saving CHF40K per year from a CHF120K salary. You'll lose
~1/3rd your salary in deductions, depending on where you live (local tax,
cantonal tax, federal tax, church tax, pension, superannuation, health
insurance, etc.). Housing is probably around CHF1500/mo for a two-br
apartment now. You learn to shop at Denner and Pick-n-Pay rather than
Migros. Note that your monthly pay is 1/13th of your salary, not 1/12th.
The "extra" 13th gets paid out as a Nov/Dec bonus (20% in Nov, 80% in Dec,
IIRC) although this may vary in different industries/regions. If you're
not a church-goer, claim back the church tax every 4 years -- you lose it
if you let it go past 5 years.

Not a problem unless you are actually in Tessino.

The Swiss don't either...

Ca marche.

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Really? How... primitive. Does it apply to non-Christians as well?

 

Just make sure you declare yourself as atheist and you can avoid it.
If (as many UK folks still do) you answer C of E you'll be liable for
it.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

Gotta be the best place for it, bien sûr.

Loads of, but even in a large english-speaking company it really helps
if you can learn some of the local language. Shops will often not have
anyone able to speak English, and you shouldn't rely on your basic
French if you're based anywhere other than Geneva or Lausanne.
Officialdom is where you'll struggle most, although generally your
company or agency should help with this in the first instance.

Apartment rental is the norm, and prices probably on a par with outer
London - it's possible to get something in the city for less than 500
a month, e.g.
http://www.immoscout24.ch/IS24Web/Search/Detail.aspx?objectid=816673&index=14&page=2&lng=en&wl=1
but for a half-decent 2-bed you're looking closer to a thousand.

Evening eating out isn't cheap, as the minimum wage is relatively high
and therefore even kitchen workers and waiting staff are paid a
reasonable wage. On the plus side, tipping is therefore not assumed,
although it's normal to leave some loose change if you've been well
looked after.

I can choose from about a dozen resorts within an hour and a half of
Basel, including many of the charming smaller ones that you don't
normally get to see if you're on a holiday from the UK. It's usually
really easy to get hotel bookings for the weekend, even if you leave
it quite late, and they're not generally expensive, even in the large
resorts. I'd generally expect to pay around 80 francs a night for a
clean, comfy but basic hotel room. You can always find much cheaper if
you're prepared to do hostel-type accomodation.

Cheaper to buy than the UK (lower VAT rate), anuual tax about the same
( I pay around 500 francs a year for a big Volvo) and based on CO2
emmissions, so possible to reduce if you go for a toddler. Fuel is
among the cheapest anywhere in Western Europe, which is nice.

Being poor anywhere should be avoided.

"Some"

It's all relative, isn't it? But the commonly-held view that it's an
expensive place to live is largely a fallacy.

Yes.

Other things to be aware of:

Beer is more expensive, as it's priced on a par with other drinks, but
by a .3 litre measure, so if you like to drink pints it'll cost you 7
or 8 francs.

Meat, eggs and dairy products are price-protected, so much more
expensive than in the surrounding countries.

Almost everything else is cheaper, by virtue of a much lower rate of
VAT.

Feel free to drop me an email if you want any more detailed info.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`