I am new to forum but was kind of surprised to find out complains how expensive CH is..
My motto has been I earn Swiss salaries so I can afford Swiss prices... Beside prices when I look at the 'total package' switzerland is a better to be compared to may places in Europe... One simple example for me would be the pension (even though not sure how can it can last..)
When I visit friends in Paris or London... I always feel money wise I am much better off than them...
BTW: what is so cheerful about that link? Confirming that meat is 2x as expensive as elsewhere in the EU? Maybe if you are a smoker that sheet is good news
Yes not everyone earns extreme salaries, not everyone here has both spouses working, some have kids to finance, or have debts from their old countries that they may have to pay......
Also its not always the high salaries that are driving the high prices. In my company we have items that cost about 5 francs to produce and we sell them for 48 CHF.
then I agree it is going to be a bit difficult... e.g. with minimum Swiss salary for many families it is though to get through without the state assistance...
What absolutely pissed me off is not necessarily the prices you pay, but rather the minimal quality/quantity of a product or service that one receives.
We need facts before discussing this. The new BAK Basel Economics study was released recently. it compares retail prices in Switzerland with european countries (over the last 5years) The difference is still there but the gap is reducing. In consumer electronics, computer the prices are cheaper in Switzerland.
Tru dat. I work part time to pay for my degree. I have ONE job, not three like a US student does. Sure I bitch about not being able to eat out all the time, but it doesn't "hurt", if you know what I mean. I can afford my health care and basic expenses and sometimes I even go on holiday. To me it's all about adjusting your expectations or changing your situation so that your expectations can be met. Plus, you simply cannot have everything in life, even the people that I know who have more money than they can ever spend seem to have things that bother them, like the lack of time to just be.
Honestly, I miss the times when I was a student and couldn't afford everything immediately. I had to wait, to work, to save money to be able to enjoy the object I wanted. I have the impression that the pleasure of having the object finally was higher, better than now.
It remembered me when my father told me that as a child during war time, even though they were poor and lived miserably, the small amount of food they had to share in the family tasted better than the food today. Sometimes I think we are too spoiled and need to relearn to be deprived of certain things to really enjoy them.
All of this is very true. My spending power in Switzerland is utterly rubbish compared to what it was in England, but when I consider the fact that most families in Switzerland have to get by on less than I do and still manage to live their whole lives in this country without filing for bankruptcy, it helps give me a bit of perspective.
Quite frankly, I think a lot of expats are like spoilt kids and have no idea how well off they are compared to your average office clerk in Wetzikon or Brugg.
And not to mention because of the expats the locals and those with local contracts can't really expect to get the properties to rent / buy at reasonable price!!
Tell me about it, we are surround here by those expats on expats contracts that complain how expensive life here is when they can send their kids into private school, buy a house, have 2 cars and travel many times per year...
Easy when you don't have to pay for school and rent. But to complain?
And after that they ask you why don't you send your kid here and there.... Because we can't afford it!!!?
This might be the case in St. Moirtz and Gstaad, but I can assure you that in the nicer parts of Zurich the percentage of foreigners is significantly lower and far over average in the cheaper parts of town. Are there rich expats? Yes. Do immigrants drive the prices up? No, Swiss salaries do - and the differences between rich and poor grow regardless of the color of your passport.
On your point on the high prices: I am not a person who complains about the prices of a sandwich. BUT: I do not know how long you have been here, but there are many cases where the prices are completely out of touch with reality.
- I have no problem whatsoever that a haircut costs more than in Germany - I am actually happy to see that people in "lower" service jobs can have a decent live here.
- I have no problem that my Swiss made fruits or vegeatables are expensive, the local farmers have to survive as well..
But: A lot of IMPORTED goods are so significantly higher priced here that I cannot explain them with the salaries or rents of the shops. This is especially true for the cases with international chains: They have marketing departments that determine the price people are willing to pay. And they simply put the price for Switzerland up, end of story.
The continuously repeated argument that prices are connected to the high costs is for many products completely wrong. Many products are priced completely on market research to find out what a consumer is willing to pay - with often incredible margins in Switzerland compared to the neighbouring countries. I know, because I used to do this for a living before...
Oh I do so agree with you, asking if CHF 10'000 is enough to live on makes my blood boil!
There is no national minimum wage here. The unions have negotiated minimum salaries for certain sectors.
The minimum payment for a single person on Social Security is about CHF 1'750 tax free (including: Rent, food, health insurance, transport, entertainment). In Bern a family of 3 (Single parent plus 2 older school children) is calculated to need a minimum of CHF 5'600 to live on (including: Rent, food, health insurance, clothing, transport, entertainment). Many jobs in Switzerland pay less than this, e.g. supermarket worker, elevator mechanic, so now you might begin to understand how well off you are.
To read that the ex- boss of UBS, Marcel Ospel, moved from Basel to Wollerau to save 3.5 million on the tax bill of his CHF 26 million salary http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Ospel makes me want to bring out the guillotine again.