Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

A recent OECD study, which looks at retirement, shows the relatively large amount spent on pensioners in Switzerland. © Marian Vejcik | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Switzerland consumes 11% of its GDP on retirees, compared to 9% across OECD nations. Despite this high spending, the risk of poverty is higher in Switzerland than across the OECD. According to the organisation, 19% of those over 64 in Switzerland are at...

A recent OECD study, which looks at retirement, shows the relatively large amount spent on pensioners in Switzerland. © Marian Vejcik | Dreamstime Switzerland consumes 11% of its GDP on retirees, compared to 9% across OECD nations. Despite this high spending, the risk of poverty is higher in Switzerland than across the OECD. According to the organisation, 19% of those over 64 in Switzerland are at risk of poverty, compared to an OECD average of 13%. On average, basic Swiss retirement incomes...

© Igor Stevanovic | Dreamstime It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession of a database with 21,000 combinations of...

This week EU Finance ministers came out with a list of countries it thinks don’t measure up to its definition of good tax behaviour. © Kevkhiev Yury | Dreamstime There are two categories: blacklist and so-called “grey list”. Black is bad and grey is heading toward good, but not yet there. Switzerland is on the “grey list”. To stay off the list, countries must have fair tax rules, which are defined as not offering preferential measures or arrangements that enable companies to move profits to...

© Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland...

It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? © Igor Stevanovic | Dreamstime MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession of a database with 21,000 combinations of compromised email usernames and passwords. Intriguingly, the list was supplied...

Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. © Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland – “I’m sorry sir but you live in Switzerland, you must pay in Swiss francs at our inflated...

Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. © Mohamed Ahmed Soliman | Dreamstime If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t pay in euros because they live in Switzerland – “I’m sorry sir but you live in Switzerland, you must pay in Swiss francs at our inflated...

After the Swiss mountain village of Albinen hatched a plan to pay parents (CHF 25,000 each) and children (CHF 10,000 each) to move there, it has been inundated with applicants. Articles about the offer have been published by Time, The Sunday Times, The Sun, El Pais, and many other publications. Rather than celebrating, the picturesque town’s administration is unhappy. It published a statement on its website accusing...

© Calvin Leake | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge According to the newspaper Bilanz, Amazon has signed an agreement with Swiss post to provide rapid customs clearance. The head of postal customs, Felix Stierli, confirmed discussions with the company.A maximum customs clearance time of 3 hours will allow 24-hour delivery, one element of Amazon’s Prime offer. Once Prime is available, Swiss customers will be able to access...