Hi
I'm considering leaving my London job and doing a very similar one in Switzerland. Although the cost of living (housing etc) seems roughly comparable I'm having a bit of trouble working out what sort of salary I should be aiming for. I would be swapping one Fortune Global 100 tech company for another and would have EMEA marketing responsibility in both roles.
If I earn approx GBP40k +15% commission +pension and car in London can anyone translate that roughly into a CHF salary in Geneva/Vaud?
Also what sort of tax am I looking at?

Thanks!

Hi..
Obviously tax is lower in Switzerland but cost of living is much higher(Public transport is practically free compared to London though). I moved here from London a few months ago for some contract work. I am earning a lot more but find the money seems to have disapeared on food and drink. With a company car, 15% + pension would be looking at at least 130000CHF a year and that will be tight (in my opinion) If you are planning to stay (more than a year) I would look into what you will spend on and draw up a budget for food, transport, insurance ect and see how much you have spare....

CHF 130K + is roughly double average Swiss family income.
It is a lot of money in absolute and relative terms.

Housing is cheaper than London (or more for same money) and no council tax.

However, tax in Swiss Romandie is higher than in Germans speaking parts.
Considerably so - something to bear in mind.

I'd suggest here for more info on the west end

Don't know what you're eating & drinking, as supermarket booze is cheaper than the UK and food can be just a little more if you cut down on meat. Of course if you're eating out every night and ordering a bottle of the best with it....

lol thanx for that

Using the PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) index - GBP 50K in UK = GBP60K in Switzerland, or 144,000 CHF

http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/PPP.html

for more details

Of course, its only rating the UK and that isn't London

And of course its difficult to put a price on trains running on time, low crime and all the other stuff.

Personally, (and I do) I kick off with the PPP figure and then factor in the 'where would I prefer to be' as the negotiation.

So if I want 144K but they offer 130K is all the swiss benefits worth 14K to me...

I find that all too often you can cost stuff in that is just a needless waste of time, cost of flying home once a month is negated by cheaper package holidays etc, don't get too caught up in it. PPP sorts it all out.

Rgds

Mr H

I think the London rents have to be taken into account and just the UK PPP.

City PPP would be a good way to go, but I do not have a Non US/international web site for city PPP.

I didn't think there was one, if anyone finds it can they PM it to me please.

thanks

Mr H

Hi every one, great forum.
I am might get an offer to work in Geneva, don't know what they will offer, but I do make around 700,000nok here in Norway.
How do you calculate what I should have in Geneva to maintain my PPP?

I think this is right:

NOK is about 5% higher than CHF on the PPP

so 100 NOK in NO = 95 NOK in CH

so 700,000 NOK in NO = 665,000 NOK in CH

The NO - CH FX rate is 1:0.2

so

665,000 NOK = 135,000 CHF

135,000 CHF is roughly the salary of a Bank's associate director / assistant vice president.

This information brought to you at no charge from your friendly intl expat.

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Wow, thanks for the great feedback and

This is great help for me, I do believe they are aiming around 110 -120 k a year, and then there are some bonus on top, and the health insurance will be covered by the company. I don't what to say to much here, never know who is reading...

Yeah, the Swiss are tight b*stards.

Don't forget though you'll get like 10 trillion hours more sunshine here than in Oslo.

On the downside, the birds don't put out so better to bring several of your own.

Mr H

hehehe, I understand, there is no complaint over the way the birds look here...

is 112 -120, and maybe 140k a year an decent salary down there? Can I live nice and drive an decent car? have looked around the forum, and some says yes, others says no....

The only thing more expensive will be renting a flat, all the rest is cheaper than in Norway, even going out in Geneva will seem cheap compared to Norway (and I did my best not to spend too much when I was in Bergen...).

With that salary, you'll live a very confortable life, don't worry about it.

Oh...birds are pretty decent too, much more variety but I have to say that I was in awe during my visit in Norway

If I were on 130,000 CHF then I would be netting about 9K pcm

My 3 bed apt is 3K pcm
My leased car would be 350 pcm
My mortgage on my ski chalet would be 750 pcm
My travel in the city would be about 70 chf pcm
Other bills, mobile and houses would be about 500 pcm
Insurance is a scam though, another 500+ pcm

Leaving almost 5K to spend on things like food, drink and women - the rest I would just fritter away.

I think you can have a decent life on that money in CH. But you aren't going to be driving around in a M5 cabrio or flying business class at your own expense.

Swiss birds are fit, but its the putting out that I hear complaints about. Apparently a kiss on the 5th date is deemed acceptable.... Speaking personally I would be expecting back-door action by a 5th date..

Maybe in your neck of the woods chap

hehehehe, a kiss on the 5th date.... wow

Might be the German influence... Might be the fact that there are so many auslanders up here..

If only I could get this damn ring off to do my own research...

I have a similar problem in England, not easy being a good looking French/Italian type AND married