So 2012 arrived and I am wonderng if anyone here has been looking for saving account with high interest rate in CH for the coming year like me? I have been with Postfinance E-Deposito account for years but their interest rate is now merely 1%... . Was asking around today...found Coop Bank (1.325%) and Raiffeissen (1.25%), but both with conditions like maximum withdrawable amount within a year and things like that. Do you know anything better? Thanks for the sharing....

Dont get fooled by the basic things such as "interest rate"...
Actually because of the inflation you dont "earn" 1% but you actually lose money, or more accurately, buying power (or your money get you less for the same amount).

So eventhough you think you earn 1%, its not even true you actually lose money every year, until the interest rate is higher than inflation

Also, you risk losing money if bank collapse (less probable)...

Finally, you will be taxed 35% on the interest you will make (search for my thread about "anticipated tax")... Unless you make a declaration, but you are probably paid " a la source"....

Summary: you wont make money by having some savings in the bank right now....

...unless inflation is only 0.2%.

...except for the portion covered by the Bank Guarantee scheme.

You'll still be better off than if you stuck your money under a mattress....

Actually, one of the things you are better off is paying your taxes in advance. They give you a better rate of interest than banks and you don't have a nasty lump sum to pay later on. Just an idea...

Yeah...Village Idiot completely brought out what I thought. I know the 1% or so interest rate is peanut, but still it is the only risk-free money you can get at this moment with your extra money in CH unless one goes for other investments like bonds etc. But I am a bit reluctant seeing the whole uncertain economic climate.

I wish I could pay taxes in advance but alas I am still taxed at source...

Maybe I should take the money out of my savings account and pay off a portion of my mortgage.

Current thinking is that at these low interest rates it is cheaper to borrow and invest to get better returns. Now when have I heard that before

Thanks for those precisions!
I did not know about the "bank garantee scheme",although I would have to explore if post finance is actually a "bank"... (no time now).
For the inflation I'm also surprise, especially that mosts things I know have been increased a lot, including the LAMAL thing- (health insurance). But I guess it's nothing to do with inflation then...


For the "money under the mattress" it's actually one possible comment based on what I wrote. I had actually in mind to tell the OP to look for a more rewarding solution- (which of course I don't know... Some says gold, I say it's way to high, some say silver I say possibly , some say gambling on low actions, etc, etc....)...


Well then let say to the OP, that because inflation is lower than interest rate, you do actually make savings... but very very limited.


Option 2: You get an account in Euros, you withdraw the cash in euros to remove fees, you cross the border and put it on a french account type Livret A.... In theory it's also protected up to 15000 euros (what if the state bankrupt) and the interest rate is higher... 2 something or more....

But you risk losing in change, unless the BNS raise the "peg euro-chf"...


So in my opinion unless you're loaded the "profit" you would make by those traditional way are going to be peanuts....

So basically you're in the position where 35% of your interest will be gone-

Ie if you have 10 000chf in the saving account with 1% interest.
You' suppose to get 100CHF "interest" at the end of the year... Not much already.

But on those, you 're going to receive only 75Chf (100CHF minus 35%)...


How to get them back? make a declaration... but you don't do one because you're a la source....

We need to verify if it's true that everyone can declare even though being "a la source"(and go through the hassle) because I was told it's only for people earning above 120K...

As part of my relocation package, work had KPMG prepare a tax return even though my salary is below the EF poverty line of 120k CHF. When KPMG sent the completed tax form to me to send / drop off the return at the Gemeinde (I'm just outside the city of Zurich), they did warn me that the Gemeinde was not obliged to process it (and so give me some cash back) as I was below the 120k threshold.

Hth.

I believe that was always the thinking regardless of interest rates.

Im not sure if this is the only way. On http://www.estv.admin.ch/verrechnung...x.html?lang=de there is a form (no.25) with which you can claim the 'verrechnungssteuer' back. Has anyone on quellensteuer used this?

I think I did, but somehow I did not get the whole 35% returned. I filled in the "light" version of the tax return form.

So as said the interest left is really very little... Wondering if anyone deposites money in neighbour country like Germany? I saw one advertisement seeing Deutsche Bank offering 2% interest for a year. Wondering the tax implication for interest generated out of CH....anyone with experience here?

I'd like to come back to the "Inflation" 0.2%...
Just found out that the Vaud Canton have raised "tax rate" for a la source by 1%...
That combined with LAMAL, (much more than 1% being at the highest possible franchise, used comparys), etc...
Also there's an additional 0.6% increase on the year salary for some "pension thing" or whatever, mandatory in Vaud.

Looks like the "cost of life" have increased by much more than 0.2%.

Maybe it's localized to VAUD, or maybe those figures at not taken into account in Inflation rate calculation... but I end up with significant less buying power....Like other's "Vaudois"...

Are there any online only banks in Switzerland? In Ireland there is Rabowhich is online only and for a no notice savings account offer 3.1%. I guess there is nothing like that in Switzerland?

My Bank of New Zealand account earns 3.55% pa.
Term deposits earn 4.5% pa for 1 year, 5.1% for 5 years
http://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-bankin...#td-rates-fees

No issues with tax, you declare everything on the CH tax return, just like interest earnt from local banks.

Of course, currency risk may or may not be an issue...

In this low interest environment, I seriously don't care about a few basis points difference. You need a couple of millions to really feel this imoact, with my saving account, I couldn't be bothered to bring the effort to change the bank for a hand fullmof franks annually.....

Look at the entire package, not only interest. Cost of credit cards, services and so on.

Investec Bank in ireland is online and is a safe Bank and 3.75% is available on euro:

Don't forget DIRT in Ireland is 30% now comparable to the standard 35% tax here.

Don't forget DIRT in Ireland is 30% now comparable to the standard 35% tax here.