Hello,

My wife and I are based in London. We are renting a flat in St. Imier, Jura with an option to buy if Canton Bern will permit it.

We are spending some time each month there, while we try to decide whether to relocate to Switzerland. We need to find out about the implications for tax, pensions, UK National Insurance, rights to NHS treatment etc. I'm sure I'll have some specific questions over the next few months, which I hope others on the Forum may be able to answer.

I'm not sure yet what I will be able to "put into the pot" in return.

Best wishes,

John

You'll find a lot of info on these topics around and about.

Are you close to retirement - as you make no reference to working.

I work as a consultant and travel quite a lot, mainly to the USA, to Switzerland, and within the EU. I can also do some work remotely via email, on-line meetings and teleconferences.

I have an informal partnership with a Swiss consultancy and have done some work for Swiss companies. As far as organizing my business and doing my typical work is concerned, I could be based (I think) as conveniently in Switzerland as in the UK.

I have some years to go until retirement, but retiring in Switzerland is an option.

I understand that it is relatively easy for an EU citizen to set up as self-employed in Switzerland. I have to find out about all the implications of doing so. I'll look around the forum.

Regards,

John

I'm quite intrigued by your choice of St-Imier, any particular reason?

My wife and I both like the Jura region.

We had thought that if we ever lived in Switzerland, we would prefer a small town, but not one that is primarily a resort. St Imier is a nice size, about 5,000 people, and has everything we need (except an Internet cafe when I was waiting for Swisscom to install my ADSL connection).

I can get by in French but my German is very limited.

We got to know the people who own the flat, and they were willing to do a "rent now, buy later" deal with us. And the views from the living- and bedroom windows are beautiful.

I rented a flat in Zurich for a while, but I then got some interesting work in Bern. St Imier is quite convenient for Bern - about an hour by train - and it's not bad for Geneva, Basel and Zurich.

Regards,

John

I'm quite fond of Jura too, my father's family is from there (Ajoie, I have relatives in Buix and Porrentruy), it's a cute place, people like to eat and drink (write down in you calendar the dates for the St-Martin in October, it's quite spectacular when you do a proper 11 courses meal...) and it has an interesting history.

St-Ursanne is worth a visit, beautiful medieval village by the Doubs river.

Re history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchi..._International