Hi there, we are family of 4 (hubby, myself, 4y.o. and a newborn). Husband has been offered perm job in Zurich.

Offer is CHF 130,000 plus lump sum for relocation. I wonder if someone can tell me if this is descent money for the 1st year while I am not working? we will need to pay rent accomodation, prob car, food etc, kindergarten..

also how much money we would expect to get for relocation from the UK?

thank you very much.

there have been many many many threads of the same nature on here - maybe have a little look around these other threads to get a comparison of wages versus cost of living, it's a hard one to answer really as it's a kind of how long is a piece of string kind of question

It depends on how much you survive on now and what type of life you lead

Many people would love to have a salary of 130k a year and many families of 4 survive on a LOT less

Regards relocation we had ours paid for and i think we were given a budget of up to 10kCHF and it cost us around 8kCHF and that was for a family of 2 with not much stuff

This is about double the average Swiss salary (for one person)

hi Nicky and thanks! I will search forum it is just time an isssue for me ;-( with kids etc

I'd say our main expenses would be flat in nice area so i can walk everywhere with kids (parks, playgrounds, tots groups), med insurance, foodclothes, and bills. not much of dinning out because of little ones.

Loads of people survive on less, with bigger families.

https://calculators.credit-suisse.co...tax.do?lang=en

My finger in the air calculation says,

On a 130000, you pay 21,241 tax

130000 - 21,241 = 108759
108759 / 12 = 9063 a month

Rent = 3000
Bills = 500
Food = 800
Insurance = 800
Travel = 400 (kids under 6 travel free and 400 a months gets a you a GA - free travel anywhere in Switzerland)

Anyway you look at it there is a lot of money left over...even if my calculations are really low.
Also 130000.-chf is about 60,000 quid if that makes it any easier.

don't forget to check out childcare options right away. it's very expensive and a lot of places also have long waiting lists

thank you so much to everyone who replied. Planthead your calculation is very very helpful.

I looking up childcare options now.
thanks again.

Erm, hardly. Have you seen the Sterling-CHF exchange rate recently? Sfr.130k is closer to £80k.
It doesn't change your calculation, which is very helpful, but it is misleading if you're trying to compare UK and CH salaries.

CHF800 on food for a family is kinda conservative. CHF3000 on rent is also upper-level.

I recently kept all my food and restaurant receipts for a month and had to lie down once I worked out how much was spent. Out went nice wine in restaurants every time, in came left overs at home

thanks again for all your replies. I am getting mixed responce here, obviously because it is money question.

we are not extravagant in our spending and i just need to figure out if we are going to be ok.
For example, it seems that we might end up renting in Seefeld area for the first few months; just normal day to day life, nursery runs, tot etc. no restaurants, maybe ocassional coffee and cake. Some of you who emailed me privately saying that we will need to plan our budget carefully.
Is that so?

Uncle Max - CHF 800 is too much for food or not enough?

Obviously money is important - you want to be reassured that CHF130,000 will cover all your expenses. However, quality of life is equally important. Last evening, there was an interesting report on Hedge Fund Managers relocating from London to Geneva and Zug. The person interviewed said "Zug 9 out of 10, London 3 out of 10". Only you are able to determine whether London has a better quality of life than Glasgow but hopefully this might just persuade you to relocate. Zuerich is a vibrant city, the children will grow up bi-lingual and there are loads of English-speaking clubs etc. Go for it. You'll probably [hopefully] never look back.

That is correct. I wanted to say that Kindergarten( Kinderkrippe )
can cost up to 100-120 Swiss Francs per day.

800 is low for a family of four.

Food is seriously expensive in Switzerland, particularly when compared to the price of food in the UK. The most dramatic differences are for fresh meat, vegetables and prepared foods.

In the UK, my rule of thumb was that I could normally stick to a budget of around GBP 10 for dinner for two. Here in Switzerland, I can never seem to get out of the supermarket for less than CHF 25 for two. I'm not saying it can't be done -- just that it costs a lot more to eat the same things we enjoyed eating in the UK. We also eat far less meat than we used to.

Still, I'm delighted at having made the decision to come here and wouldn't change it for the world. Zurich is a wonderful city...

Zuri, or Basel, VI? Your profile says Basel ...

PS That was a trick question. They're both wonderful cities.

Renting a family sized place in Seefeld might be a challenge for CHF 3k a month. Grocery shopping for a family of 3 will be more than CHF 800 a month, more like CHF 1000 plus. Private nursery costs are around CHF 110 a day. For 2 kids just 3 days a week that's 3k a month Add to that car expenses, days out and work meals for your husband you can easily spend the entire salary if you are not careful.

We manage to live here rather cheaply. I've never made a budget but had a few shocks at the end of the month when I see what i've managed to spend.

Well, one consolation is you won't need a car

CHF800 is kinda low for a family, unless you exclude wine and meat. As mentioned, the nursery alone will eat your disposable income.

However, loads and loads of people live happy lives with their families here on far lower salaries, so don't be put off. Come over and live the dream.

Should have qualified my comment...130000 would be equivalent in my world to a salary of 60,000 pounds with Swiss tax. I was ignoring the exchange rate on purpose, it changes a lot, 2 years ago it would have been about 52000 quid, a figure which I feel is closer to the real value.

Stick more on the food bill if you like, perhaps 200 a week (excluding restaurants and booze) was low, whichever way, there is still a lot of leeway in that budget.

Also 3k on rent would get you a 4 room apartment but not in a tip top postal address, think more 3500 to 4000 for something around Seefeld, Enge etc.

My family profile is similar to yours (2 kids and a wife who wants to work but will probably have to do voluntary work for a while) and I get around the same pay. I lost the car and don't plan to get a new one in the foreseeable future. I also ruled out International School because I felt the kids would get a "richer" experience by learning the local languages for free and quite frankly I would rather have 30K a year more in my pocket if I can help it

I think it's manageable as long as you invest time in discovering the right options to save (like bulk shopping in France or Germany). Relocation, let your company cover all the removal costs and arrangements as it's much easier and will help you settle in much quicker. German lessons as part of the relocation can also be very useful. A nice lump sum to cover subtle moving costs such as selling (or renting) your house, car and spending more than you should in the first few months as well as paying up to 3 times the rental as a deposit would also be helpful but I guess it also depends on your company policy. Good luck!!

I really admire your honesty.

These are really useful points, often overlooked.