HI All, I am starting to consider a job offer in Switzerland but have no idea if this is a decent compensation. The details I know so far are as follows:

- Annual salary is around CH 180Kish...
- Package includes car & all associated costs (insurance, petrol, mtce, etc..)
- Location is in Zug
- No tax support provided
- I might be able to negotiate comprehensive insurance to be covered by my company.

We are a family of 4, my children aged 14 and 7 are fluent in German therefore would be able to attend local German speaking schools. I guess that we can get around with 1 car + public transportation.

So is this something worth considering?, how expensive is housing and other basic living requirements here?, any help is greatly appreciated.

Rgds,

That is a very good salary.

I urge you to search the forum to answer your other questions. All these questions regarding housing costs, insurances, cars, schools etc have already been answered.

It's a very good salary for a tram driver and a shit salary for a hedge fund CEO. What a daft question.

dave

This is a very decent offer .

a little jealous are we, I think that groan is pretty unwarranted & verging on petty.

As the OP is originally from the US & currently living in Singapore, I can understand his concern regards having sufficent income to support his family.

I would groan you, but have a feeling that that would just revert into a spiral of spite.

To the OP, yes that is a very good salary, especially for Kanton Zug, as the tax rate is pretty low. Good luck.

And as the tax rate is low, housing costs are pretty high. Though at the salary the OP mentions, that won't be a problem.

You really need to mention your age and the industry. If the 180k is not inclusive of bonus then it is a good salary. If it is in mining or banking and you are over 40 then it is not.

An apartment with 3 bedrooms will cost at least 2,000 per month and more like 4,000 per month for a modern one. If you have your heart set on a house they are very hard to find and are normally 6,000 per month plus. Swiss normally spend 30% of their salary for housing.

If you live in Zug city your tax rate will be around 17%. Don't expect too many deductions as a salaried employee.

Local schools aren't free and you will still need to pay for excursions which I have heard can be a few thousand francs. You can get around most of the Zug area by triain/bus or by walking/cycling.

A few thousand francs for a local school excursion? You've got to be kidding me. Is that an excursion to the Seychelles?

The public school is of course free (and that's where I'd send the kids if they aready know German anyway). If excursions aren't free they'll cost tens and not thousands of Francs.

My german teacher's son went on a two week ski excursion that cost into the thousands of francs range. She was complaining because she didn't know if would be so much and hadn't aproved it, but she still had to pay.

Some kids I know went on:

a) a school trip to the US (including Vegas! )
b) a school trip to Moscow

Quite apart from the expense of such trips, things have come a long way since our outings to do brass rubbings at the local church...

dave

My husband teaches Geography at a Kantonsschule in Zurich. When they do mandatory excursions and stay in Switzerland, the costs will be relatively low for, say, 1 week in the Tessin (approx. CHF 300.00, all inclusive). When they went to Barcelona (which, by the way, the students chose themselves), the costs per person were around CHF 500.00 for 1 week. That was train Zurich-Basel, flight Basel-Barcelona return, hotel 6 days, 2 meals/day. They do have a limit and the schools know that not everybody can afford "thousands".

An 5 room apartment in Canton Zug will cost you about 3000 CHF or more
depending on your taste. We have a modern 4.5 room apartment( 3 bedrooms ) for 2600 permonth.

The good news is that you don't really need a car. Meals are expensive if you eat out, 25-30 CHF minimum. If you do drinks and etc., it is more like 45 CHF. Eat at home except on special occasions.

well glad I live in Kanton Bern, I pay 15% of my income per month on accomodation (4.5 room apartment, less than 10 years old with washing machine & dryer, all mod cons). This is about the same as I paid for a room in a shared house in London 4 years ago ...

I take it you are talking about a detached house with garden with 6 rooms or more, having just run a quick search on Comparis, semi-detached house with 6.5 rooms are going for 2,200 - 4,000 per month in K Zug.

as for schooling, sure if you go private, its going to cost, but public schools are free ...


Hearsay is disinformation.

__________________
the sun ain't shining no more ........

This is what it boils down to, what is the role?

Generally speaking it is enough for a family of 4 to live comfortably on but you're not going to be mega loaded if your partner doesn't work, so it depends what your lifestyle is like.

Comprehensive medical insurance for the family is worth at least 1k net a month so negotiate it in if you take the job.

Yeah, without the supporting information it is impossible to answer. If your life is not complete without Cristal & Cohiba, and you frequent the kind of nocturnal venues that Shorrick recommends, then you may consider a 180k offer derisory, and subsequently refuse to get out of bed for it.

dave

Hi sgrc, I'd say its probably better off to stay where u are. I seem to spend money much faster here, despite the fact housing and cars are cheaper here by 50%. I think one of the benefits to the younger gen is that an M3 for example is extremely affordable here, as the same price prob gets u just a 320i in sg, but after thinking, who really needs an M3?

I dont keep a close track of my spending, but I'd say its the little things that add up, despite the big ticket items like cars and housing being cheaper. Eating out on a whim, is definitely not as cheap, walking the supermarkets and picking whatever fancies u is also not exactly reasonable, buying shoes on a whim, having a spa weekend at a hotel etc etc.

I think you should think of switzlernad as an adventure, or in my case an extended holiday, then yeah 180k with car is comfortable enough, and ignore the cynics in the forum.
Good luck in your decision.

Sauce, what are you rattling on about there? I can't quite make out....something about your Beemer and your shoes?

180k with expat package is excellent. You will not suffer too much opportunity cost. Tax is a little higher than Singapore but if you've finished your stint there, you will enjoy Switzerland.

Indeed the little things like a spa weekend in a 5 star hotel tend to be expensive. Are you Canadian Dude's brother?

No I take the train and I dont buy shoes in Switzerland. But its not important. and shorrick, whatever, really.