Hi,
I have on the table two offers, one in Dublin for 95k the one in Zurich for 165k, the benefits are quite similar.
Looking at numbeo.com it sounds that if I earn 4600 in Dublin I need to earn 6700 CHF to maintain same standard of living in Zurich. Those numbers are not right for me.
Although I made a lot of research I am not 100% sure which one will allow me a better quality of life taking in consideration that my wife does not work.
Anyone recently moved from Dublin to Zurich and can gently provide me some insight?
Hi, it is always difficult to give a definite answer to this (also because there are many other considerations beyond money) but I would recommend you to check 3 important elements:
1. Healthcare (expect ~900-1100 CHF/month for 2 adults)
2. Housing (depends a lot on your preferences but I would say at least 2500-3000 CHF/month for a 2 bedroom apartment)
3. Schooling: not sure if you have children but this may be significantly expensive, i.e. Daycare could cost around 2500 CHF/month and private or international schools are tremendously expensive...
But again there is more than money in life, look also at the opportunities each offer may bring to you in future and the quality of life you and your family would have
Hope that helps
Have a look here:
https://www.englishforum.ch/daily-li...st-living.html
As to 1: I pay less
As to 2: all depends on where you want to live. I pay a lot less for a 2 bedroom apartment with underground parking
I think better off with the Zurich option (just looking financially), in the short to medium term.
Dublin's cost of living makes it much more unattractive now. A basic 2-bedroom apartment (3.5 equivalent) will easily run to €2-2.5k/month, so around 45% of your net income. AFter that, your daily costs of living are definitely better than Zurich (e.g,. restaurants, drinks/events/concerts). It used to be that a 3.5 room in Dublin would be around 800-1000 euros but those days are gone sadly!
Even with Zurich being expensive, your net is approx. CHF9500/month. Even paying for a nice 3.5 room in \ good area like 8008 (say €3.5k/month) you end up with around CHF6k, compared to Dublin's €2.5k.
EVen with groceries, casual socialising in restaurants, all being expensive etc., you will definitely be way ahead in Zurich compared to Dublin.
The short-medium term means you will easily save a lot of money in CHF - that is worth a lot more in EUR if you return to euroland. The long-term problem with CH is that you have to decide about buying property, etc., which is simply v v expensive in CH.
You can start by living a bit outside and commuting in.
It's much cheaper and you'll save lot's of money.
Unless you must live in the city center. Then the sky is the limit.
Health-insurance: I pay about 250/month for myself. This is just basic insurance and a world-wide accident insurance.
The Swiss accident insurance is paid by your employer anyway, but it does not cover expenses incurred outside of Switzerland (emergency visit to a hospital in Germany or elsewhere, for example).
You can pay more, of course (better rooms in hospitals etc.pp.). But it's rarely worth it IMO.
If you stay in Dublin you will be paying of half of that 95k to the tax man
In Zurich its going to be more like 20% Or commute from Zug and its going to be more like 10%
You can go on www.comparis.ch and check what the tax rates are for each individual village.
In Ireland it makes more sense to buy a house but here in Switzerland it make more sense to rent.
I came from Ireland ten years ago and you defiantly get a better standard of living over here.
With such huge difference in nett income I would not hesitate a second and go to Switzerland
I tried to create an estimation of my monthly family budget, would you mind to check it?
2400 Rent an House 80sqm house/apartment 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms (35m commute max to 8047) 1200 Grocery / Food whole/organic/filet and in general mid-high end food 200 House Cleaning one lady cleaning the house every week 50 Electricity 35 Billag Television / Radio 1200 Health Insurance 2 people, mid coverage 30 Social Liability Insurance 40 Legal Protection 50 Internet + Tv mid/low speed 120 Mobile occasional calls 300 Public Transport 2 people to go around the city and to the office 120 Occasional eating out at lunch sandwich/asian/similar 300 Leasure Male budget 1000 Leasure Female budget to eating/drinking out, buying clothes, shoes or haircut and so on 500 4x time to physiotherapist/massage for back pain
At the end of the day, considering that Zurich is very expensive, I might have fewer possibilities of doing things in Zurich with 165k than in Dublin with 95k. This is what I am trying to understand!
Better adapt that 200 for the cleaning lady. 50 CHF a week is not going anywhere here
And physiotherapy you can get prescribed by your doctor so your health insurance would take that on (depending on your deductable)
Zurich is in the middle of europe, so the possibilities are endless of doing something.
I do realise this, but the difference in nett salary is so high that it should be a no brainer.
Ireland: 95.000 Euro. At least 40% income tax giving nett 57K meaning 4750 Euro/Month
Switzerland 165.000 CHF Tax differs strongly on where you live, but for my sake a high estimate of 20% leaving 132K = 114.410 Euro meaning 9534 Euro a month.
That is a difference of 4.784 Euro a month. Yes life is more expensive here, but nowhere near 4.784 Euro a month more expensive.
Do you have direct experience with Dublin? Do you find those numbers reported here reasonable?
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...ayCurrency=EUR
I do not have direct experience with Dublin, but their prices for Zurich seem o.k. (tho you always can score most things cheaper or more expensive depending on what you want and where you buy.) So the same goes for Dublin I'd say.
Thing is, your nett income here is double of that in Ireland and Zürich is not twice as expensive as Dublin, So I do not need lists with such huge difference to know that Zürich is better when it comes to savings/buying power. And personally I find the quality of life in Switzerland higher than in Ireland.
And if your wife likes to spend a 1.000,- a month on clothing, haircuts, meals and such, she could buy a few train tickets and within a few hours spend this money in Paris, Milan, Munchen, Zurich is about as central as can be in Europe.
In Dublin you will send to the taxman 31%. In Zurig you will send to the taxman 21% (including medium scale compulsory health insurance). And then there is rent, medical expenses (franchise), food, eating out etc...It's not all that rosy in Switzerland.
The tax per village thing is of not relevant if doesn't have a C permit or is not Swiss. The Quellensteuer calculator for each Kanton can be found here
https://www.accurity.ch/qst/ and the one for Bundesteuer is here https://www.steueramt.zh.ch/internet...dessteuer.html .
Also at 165k a tax return has to be filled out so in all probability there will be some refund of tax paid.
Rent, medical expenses, eating out - that's all fixed amounts.
Nobody says you need to spend 1/3 of income on rent. It's not a law.
And nobody forces you to eat in a restaurant twice a day, seven days a week.
That's a life-choice and I would be surprised if it was that much cheaper in Dublin than in Zurich.
31% taxes OTOH is almost a third. And I expect that to go upward as income increases. Switzerland also has higher taxes for high incomes. But their definition of a "high" income is a bit different:
https://www.steueramt.zh.ch/internet...ndessteuer.pdf
That said, it is silently assumed that you put a rather large chunk of that money in some sort of savings-account because the pension you'll receive after working here your whole life is pretty much worthless compared to that salary.
But I assume this is going to be a problem pretty much everywhere in Europe, regardless.
It's just that in Switzerland, you can actually put away more money than elsewhere to budget for that point when you stop receiving the 5-figure paycheck every month.
Numbeo.com considers net earnings.
600 per person? Are you considering the worst case scenario or are you paying for the lowest excess? At 2500 franchise the premium should be around 300/month and not 600...
That's outright sexist!
What?! Dublin is in an rainy and isolated island. Zürich not only is a wonderful city but also is in the center of Europe. You can buy a nice car and drive to a lot of beautiful places.