Is CHF120K a good salary in Geneva?

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
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Gata: Thank you. That was all I was looking for. Appreciate it.

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It is a community of people who share their experiences, knowledge and opinions for no payment and little gratitude, who get a little tired of lazy people with bad attitudes who ask silly questions and are snarky in response to those who attempt to answer them.

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Well i searched for five minutes and i found loads of threads. Please understand that its getting tiring to see these questions so many times especially from people who dont bother even reading the forum rules

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shinigami: Excellent answer. Thank you very much.

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rrs: Thank you.

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I was being sarcastic one thing you'll find a lot of on this forum, but all in good fun, you will have a good lifestyle with this salary.

So when will you be coming if you come? If you want some help getting around when you come give us a shout, I've been here over 9 years and I can help you orientate yourself and show you the ropes of living in Geneva

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maybe she is just an unhappy or angry person

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Salsa_lover: Brilliant. Very informative and thorough answer. Thanks very much.

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I agree, if you don't want to answer the question then just ignore it.

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simon: thanks again.

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you know, there is a "thanks" button to thank people...

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Walter: I prefer the personal touch. Thanks for pointing that out.

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I think the point is this question has been asked sooooo many times, but in short 120k is a good salary dependant upon your lifestyle. Quiet often a higher salary does not equate to a higher disposable income, especially here.... but that little button at the top will take you to the threads which cover it in greater detail.

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120k per year = 10k per month.

If you budget 30% for all deductions (tax/unemployment insurance/pension contributions) that will be close enough, so you will have around 7k net in your pocket.

Of that, you will be able to get a reasonable apartment (1 bedroom but not bedsit) of around 60m2 in the centre of town for easily less than 3k per month (we moved out of our 70m2 apartment near the station in November, and were paying 1900...

So even if you get something at 3k per month, that still leaves 4k per month to cover food, socialising, health insurance (maybe 300 per month) and transport. Which unless you like going out to the best restaurants every night or have an unquenchable thirst for champagne should be plenty Might even have some left over for savings...

One other point re transport. Don't worry about getting a car as soon as you arrive. Parking in town is very difficult and driving around at rush hour is pointless. Use the buses/trams which as you would expect in Switzerland are excellent, and if you occasionally need a car sign up to Mobility, which is a very well run car sharing scheme run throughout Switzerland - there are lots of depots all over Geneva.

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I think it is rather about the way your phrased your question... live like a king.. single professional, eat out a lot... And as someone mentioned, there are a lot of answers to the same questions, though i also understand that you want a personalised, tailor-made answer.

Honestly, if you say, u have a above-avg living standard in UK... it also depends on where u are in UK.

and what do you expect as for the above avg living in GE? A very avg business lunch will cost you 25-30 CHF per day, which i assume you will eat outside for lunch right? ( only avg people will bring left-over to office to eat).

As for dinner, if you order starter, main course, ... plus two classes of wine .. you can easily count 50-60 CHF. which you may do it often as well

plus cine, pub, as you mentioned being socialising... Lets say you will spend 100 CHF per day just for a normal,avg single life in GE.

And i assume you wont accept to live in a studio in the city. so usually a well located two bed room flat will cost you 2500 CHF plus an indoor parking, 300 CHF...

...

I am sorry to tell you that with 120K, no u cant live like king, and far away from your definiton of living well Don't come to GE then Plus people are not very nice as you noticed

ps. forgot to mention, usually even grocery shopping can be more expensive than in UK

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personal touch like this one?

when you thank someone, your name appears as the thank-er (is that a word? ) so the thank-ee sees it anyway.

adding an extra post just to say "thanks again" is called "cluttering"...

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Simon. I haven't made my mind up yet. I have done a lot of research, (contrary to some views) and it seems CHF120K , ~GBP72K, is most certainly not GBP72K back in the UK.

I don't know what to do. I feel slightly deceived as the common consensus is I will not "live like a King" as I was told at the job offer. So I am thinking if they tell me that about the salary, what else are they not telling me about the actual job?

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I lived in Geneva for 10 years and would probably go back in a near future.

Geneva is a nice place with a quite large international community.

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I dont think they are lying about telling you that. For most people here, 120K can support a whole family, however may not for some high flyers form UK.

BTW, living like a King... if people are happy with the nice weather here, the view, lake... you can always living like a King, even with less than 120K. Alot of Kings come here during the summer

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GenevaSculler: If I take the offer I will probably bring my own car.