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Zak and Neon are two good Swiss Digital bank accounts. They are both entirely digital and accessible through mobile applications.
The great thing about these bank accounts is that they are significantly cheaper than conventional bank accounts. Their low prices are what make their success. And they have some attractive features.
But which one should you choose? Which of Zak vs Neon is better for you? Let’s find out!

In this article, I am going to compare Zak vs Neon in detail. We are going to see the fees, the security, and the limits of both bank accounts. By the end of this post, you should know which of Zak vs Neon is best for you!

Zak
Zak vs Neon: Interface of ZakZak is a bank account managed by Bank Cler (previously Bank

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A lot of people are currently wondering why the stock market is going up so high. Indeed, at the same time, most world economies are in trouble. But the stock market keeps going up.
While they are sometimes correlated, the stock market is not the same as the economy. It is essential to realize that the stock market and the economy are different. So, we need to go over why the stock market is not the economy.

In this article, I am going to describe both concepts and then try to pin the main differences between the stock market and the economy.

The Stock Market
Let’s start by defining what the stock market is. The Stock market represents all the publicly-traded companies. A stock exchange is where we can trade shares of these

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Everybody needs a bank account. Your company (or clients) will transfer your income into a bank account. And you will need to pay your bills from your bank account. Unless you live entirely off the grid and get paid in cash, you will need a bank account. But which Swiss Bank should you choose?
There are tons of different banks. After all, Switzerland is the country of banks. However, contrary to popular belief, Swiss banks are not great!
Most Swiss banks are costly and offer poor service. You can find much cheaper and better banks in other countries. Fortunately, this is starting to improve with some new banks that try to make things move in a better direction.
Let’s see which is the Best Swiss Bank in 2020! But first, let’s

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Interactive Brokers (IB) is an excellent broker. I have been using their services for about two years now. It is time to give my honest review of Interactive Brokers.
In this review, you will find all you need to know about Interactive Brokers, what you can do with it, how much it will cost, and much more!

By the end of this review, you will know whether IB is a good broker for you or not!

What is Interactive Brokers?

Best Broker for Swiss Investors

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is an outstanding broker, with extremely affordable fees! Trade U.S. security for as little as 0.5 USD!

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Interactive Brokers (IB) is a well-established brokerage firm (a broker)

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Choosing a great third pillar is very important. You will invest in this account for many years in the future. Recently, there has been a trend for Robo-Advisors. So, now there are also Robo-Advisors third pillars.
I have already talked about Selma, the Robo-Advisor. But now, I want to talk about their third pillar offer. In late 2019, Selma introduced their third pillar offer.
If you already have an account with Selma or if you like Robo-Advisors, this could be interesting for you!
So, how does the  Selma 3a account compare with the other third pillars available in Switzerland’ Let’s find out!

Selma 3a

Selma

Selma is a great Swiss Robo-Advisor that will let you invest simply. It is a great way to invest in the

Depending on which index you are following, the bull market is back! It is now time to reflect on the bear market. If your portfolio is not yet out of the red, it does not hurt to be prepared.
We have already discussed the things you should do during a bear market. The most important of these things is not to panic. But when the stock market recovers, there are a few more things you can do.
It is now time to think about what happened and analyze how you have acted and reacted during these times.
The reason you should think about that is that if you are investing for the long-term, you will see other bear markets. The stock market is a long cycle of bull and bear markets. And you need to be prepared for both.
Living through a bear market is not a pleasant

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Depending on which index you are following, the bull market is back! It is now time to reflect on the recent bear market. If your portfolio is not yet out of the red, it does not hurt to be prepared for the next bull market.
We have already discussed the things you should do during a bear market. The most important of these things is not to panic. But when the stock market recovers, there are a few more things you can do.
It is now time to think about what happened and analyze how you have acted and reacted during these times.

The reason you should think about that is that if you are investing for the long-term, you will see other bear markets. The stock market is a long cycle of bull and bear markets, and you need to be

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Investing is very important if you want to fight inflation and get returns on your saved money. But there are many ways to invest. Some of these ways are very simple, while others are complex.But with simplicity comes higher fees. If you want the lowest price possible, you will need to get more control, and thus complexity. You will need to find the perfect balance for your needs. Not everybody will use the same investing level.In this article, we are going to see what I call the four levels of investing. It is essential to know what the other ways of investing are. Each of these investing levels has pros and cons.Level 0: Not investingLet’s start with the investing level 0. At this level, you are not investing at all.It is not

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) It is time for my monthly update for August 2020 already! Quite a few things happened in this month. We went for a short vacation in Davos. And we started buying some furniture for the house.On top of that, we had many smaller expenses that quickly piled up. So, this month ended up very expensive.While it was an expensive month, it was still a good month. We had several parties with friends, and the vacation was really good.So, let’s find everything that happened to us in August 2020.August 2020Overall, there were no significant events in August 2020. We went to Davos for four days for a little trip. It was excellent to get some vacations. I quite needed some days off.I am still working from home and will be at least until the

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Buying a house in Switzerland is not an easy matter. There will be many steps involved in the process. You will have to fill in many forms and learn about many things.This guide is here to help you through the process of buying a house in Switzerland. I am going to go over all the necessary steps in the process.Buying a house in SwitzerlandWe recently went through the process of buying a house in Switzerland. After many months of research, we finally found the house we wanted. And in the end, we got it!However, we made several mistakes along the way. And we learned a ton of things about buying a house in Switzerland. It is not a straightforward process.With this guide, hopefully, you will be able to enjoy a smoother process than

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Neon recently released a new and very exciting feature when they announced their partnership with TransferWise. With this partnership, international transfers with Neon will now be cheaper and faster!Now, when you do a transfer to another country, in another currency, Neon will route the transfer through TransferWise. So, we can profit from the very banking routing system that TransferWise uses.With this partnership, Neon is now the cheapest (and fastest!) Swiss bank for international transfers from Switzerland! It is awe-inspiring for a bank that is less thanSo, let’s see what this partnership means for Neon!Neon and TransferWise Great Swiss Digital Bank Neon FreeNeon is the best digital bank in Switzerland. And it is free!Use

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) I recently learned about Path To Independence, a book about FIRE, from Switzerland! There are very few interesting books from Switzerland, so when I saw a book about FIRE from Switzerland, I had to read it!This book is about saving more money, either by spending less or by earning more. And then, the book recommends you invest the money you can save for long-term returns.In this article, I am going to share my review of the book, Path to Independence, by Elias Noschis.Path to Independence Path to Independence A good short book about saving and investing money in Switzerland and reach Financial Independence. Buy Now Learn More Path to Independence is a book by Elias Noschis. This book is about saving and investing money in

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Update: Fully updated as of August 2020! Plans have become even cheaper than before!We can agree that everybody wants to pay as little as possible for their phone bills. Even though you may think your current phone plan is the cheapest available, there could be new deals since you started using your plan. It is always essential to keep up to date with the latest offers.The Swiss Phone plan market is quite diverse these days. Fifteen years ago, it was almost only Swisscom, and everybody was content with it. Now, many other providers are using one of the three major networks.In this post, I am going to compare the phone plans and prepaid cards for seven standard phone usages. For each of them, I will show the cheapest options

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Frankly is a third pillar account offered by Zurcher Kantonal Bank (ZKB). It is an interesting third pillar because it allows you to invest heavily in stocks. And on top of that, the fees are quite low.It is good to see that there are more and more alternatives for good third pillar accounts in Switzerland.So, let’s see what exactly is Frankly and how good it is!In this article, I am going to look at many things about Frankly: its investment strategies, its fees, and its security. And I am also going to compare it against other good third pillars.Frankly 3a from ZKBFrankly is a third pillar account offered by the Zurcher Kantonal Bank (ZKB).ZKB is a large bank that has been established a long time ago. They started Frankly as a

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) There are many ways to budget for personal households. And there is no such thing as the best way to budget that will work for everybody.Many people use many different ways to budget their life. As long as the way you choose works for you, it is enough. You just need to find the best way for yourself.I thought it would be interesting to go over the main ways to budget for your personal finances that exist. And I am also going to share my experience with budgeting.What is a budget?Let’s start with the definition of a budget. We are going to focus on personal budgets, not on corporate budgets that are much more complex.For me, a budget is a plan for your revenue and your expenses. A budget is made for a specific period. For

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) There are many advantages to start investing early. However, many people do not start investing until late in their careers. If you start investing early, you will see many more benefits to investing.Investing is a long-term game. The average returns are good. But you will not see instant results. You could see a few bad years as well. If you do not give it time, you will not be able to reap all the benefits of investing.In this article, we will see that there are many reasons why it is interesting to start investing early. And retiring early is not the only reason to invest!Compound InterestThe first reason to start investing early is about compound interest.The earlier you start investing, the more important will your returns

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) We have now crossed into the second part of 2020. July 2020 went fast very quickly on our side. Life in Switzerland is starting to get back to normal for most things.The most significant event that happened to us this month is that we signed the contract for buying a house! We finally found a house that we liked, and we were able to get it! We are delighted with that.On top of that, we managed to save a large portion of our expenses during the month. So, it was a great month overall!So, in this article, I am going to go over all that that happened during July 2020!July 2020Overall, July 2020 was not a very eventful month. We started again seeing friends and family now that most restrictions have been removed. Switzerland began to

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Since we have been looking at buying a house, I had to do a lot of research on mortgages. In Switzerland, mortgages are not as simple as they should be!So, in this post, I will share all there is to know about mortgages in Switzerland and how they work.Before you buy a real estate property, you must know this. You do not want to go to the bank without knowing first a few things. Otherwise, it could be easy for them to give you a bad deal.Mortgages in SwitzerlandMortgages in Switzerland are quite complicated. While the basic idea is straightforward, there are many refined principles about them.If you are planning to buy a house, it is essential to know as much as you can about mortgages. You do not want to get a bad deal from your

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Robo-Advisors are a good way to invest when you do not want to invest directly through a broker. They will manage your money for a fee. While more expensive than DIY investing, Robo-Advisors are significantly cheaper than an advisor from a bank.True Wealth is a leading Robo-Advisor in Switzerland. They are the first  Robo-Advisor, started already seven years. And they are also the cheapest available in Switzerland.I have reviewed other Robo-Advisors in the past. Now is the time to review True Wealth. I will take a look in detail at their investment models, their fees, and their security.True WealthTrue Wealth LogoTrue Wealth was founded in 2013 by David Herren and Felix Niederer. And the service became available to the public in

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) We are currently in the process of buying a house. Since I shared this fact on the blog, I have been asked several times whether people should buy or rent in Switzerland.So, I wanted to share my thoughts on the buy or rent subject. I am going to go over the different considerations about buying and renting houses in Switzerland.While I am going to speak specifically about houses, most of it also applies to apartments. But since we are looking for a house, I am more familiar with the market for houses.There are some differences between the markets for houses and apartments. But most of the same points will also apply to the question of buy or rent an apartment in Switzerland.Your primary house is not an investmentWhile real estate

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) It is time for another installment in our Frugal Living in Switzerland series of interviews!And today, I was able to interview a non-blogger family for this series. And compared to the other interviewees, we now have a couple of expats that answered together.Mr. and Mrs. DoubleDutch are able to save a large portion of their income in Switzerland and live with a very reasonable amount of money!Let’s see how they achieve this!1. Tell us about yourself?We are a thirty-something Dutch couple living somewhere east of Zurich in the sticks. We call ourselves Mr. and Mrs. DoubleDutch for the purpose of this interview, and we have a little Dutchie on the way. Mr. DD is working as an IT specialist, and Mrs. DD hasn’t been able to find a

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) I have now been working from home for more than three months. And overall, I like it a lot! For me, there are many advantages to working from home when compared to going to the office.But, it takes some time and organization to get used to working from home. So, I wanted to share my experience with you in the hope that it will help some people with working from home.This year was my first experience working from home. So, I am no expert! But I wanted to share my tips and experience!My Working From Home situationFirst of all, I realize that I am in a good situation for working from home. I do not have kids, and we have an apartment with an office room that only me and my wife share.So, of course, my experience cannot be compared

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) Zak is a free digital Swiss bank account from Bank Cler. It is the first fully digital bank account from Switzerland. It was launched in 2018.Since it is a digital bank account, you can use Zak from anywhere with your smartphone.The main feature of Zak is that it is free! For all your operations in Switzerland, you will not pay anything. Being free makes Zak very attractive.Some people dislike digital banks because they are afraid of not having a big bank behind them. But Zak is a bank account from Bank Cler. You have the advantages of a big bank with the free price of digital banks.In this article, I am going over the details of Zak: what is good with it and what is not great! I should have done this earlier. So now is the

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) If you want to reach Financial Independence and be able to retire, you need to know how much you are going to spend while retired. If you are retiring next year, it is straightforward to know how much you are going to spend. However, if you are going to retire in a long time, it is not trivial to estimate how much you will spend in retirement.I have already talked about the different ways tor each Financial Independence (FI). Regardless of which way you choose to reach FI, you will need an accurate estimation of your retirement expenses. Without this, you will not be able to know how much of the road remains.You could think that you are going to spend precisely the same as you spend now. But this is wrong. You need to take into

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) The third pillar of retirement of Switzerland is entirely optional. Your contributions will be locked until retirement. But you will get a significant tax cut from your contributions.So, should you contribute to your third pillar every year? Before, it was obvious to me. I have always contributed as much as I could into my third pillar. But recently, several people have asked me if they should invest the maximum every year.Even though there is a large tax-advantage to the third pillar, there are also some disadvantages with the third pillar. Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?I am going to answer this question in detail in this article.Third pillar AdvantagesIf you are not yet familiar with the third pillar, I have an

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) If you need a car where you live, you probably also want to save money on your car expenses. Cars can be expensive. But there are many ways to make having a car cheaper.Let’s take a look at ten tips that will help you save money on your car expenses.If you follow them all, you will be able to keep your transportation budget lower than most people!1. Buy a cheaper carWe have a small affordable car to save money (and it is enough!)The best thing you can do to save money on your car is to buy a cheaper car. You have to think of how much time you spend in your car and how much you are driving it around.Most people are not spending that much time in their car. Therefore, they can sacrifice a little comfort by not needing leather

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It is time for another monthly update! June 2020 flew by us! Like last month, we had to pay a ton of taxes. I did not pay enough taxes last year, so this year is very high.
Fortunately, we had less to pay this month than in May. So, we still managed to save a little amount of money. It is better than last month, where our savings rate was zero.
Except for the taxes, this month was relatively uneventful. Switzerland is mostly out of isolation. So we could once again have some parties and dinners with friends and families.
So, let’s find out what happened to use and our finances during June 2020.
June 2020
In June, most of the isolation measures in Switzerland were lifted. It means we could have parties

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) It is time for another monthly update! June 2020 flew by us! Like last month, we had to pay a ton of taxes. I did not pay enough taxes last year, so this year is very high.Fortunately, we had less to pay this month than in May. So, we still managed to save a little amount of money. It is better than last month, where our savings rate was zero.Except for the taxes, this month was relatively uneventful. Switzerland is mostly out of isolation. So we could once again have some parties and dinners with friends and families.So, let’s find out what happened to use and our finances during June 2020.June 2020In June, most of the isolation measures in Switzerland were lifted. It means we could have parties of more than five again.

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) We have not yet talked a lot about value investing on this blog. Since I have received many questions from you about this subject, I thought it would be a good time to cover value investing on this blog.Value investing is a form of investing where investors evaluate the value of a company to find undervalued stocks in the stock market.In principle, it makes a lot of sense to choose stocks based on their prices and their real values. But how does it work in practice? It is what we are going to see in this article.Value InvestingValue Investing is an investing philosophy where investors buy securities that are underpriced based on some analysis of the companies. The entire philosophy rests on a correct analysis of companies.In

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) People that are between jobs in Switzerland transfer their second pillar to a vested benefits account. It is essential to choose the best vested benefits account.There are many vested benefits account providers in Switzerland. Unfortunately, there are not many great options. So, it is crucial to choose the best account for your needs.VIAC and valuepension are the best options available for vested benefits accounts. So, let’s see which of VIAC vs valuepension you should choose!I am going to compare both options in great detail. We are going to look at their investment models, their fees, and the security of both accounts.VIAC Vested BenefitsI have talked many times about VIAC on this blog. They are providing the best third pillar