Tag Archives: Personal finance

In December 2022, parliament sent a recommendation to the Federal Council to increase state pensions by the rate of inflation. However, this week a parliamentary majority voted not to, reported RTS. © Mcxas | Dreamstime.comThe Federal Council had already boosted state pensions by 2.5% from 1 January 2023 before calls were made to bump them up by 2.8% in line with the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) in 2022. On 1 March 2023, 97 versus 92 (1 abstention) members of parliament...

Upward pressure on prices continues in Switzerland. Recently published data show annual inflation rising to 3.3% to the end of January 2023, up from 2.8% at the end of 2022. © Sam Lee | Dreamstime.comPublic sector workers in parts of Switzerland have been demanding salary increases. In Vaud they have been demanding indexation. Looking back across a longer period of time Swiss inflation doesn’t look so bad. Between the end of 2010 and the end of 2022, prices have risen by 2.5%. Focusing...

On 15 February 2023, Switzerland’s federal government published finalised figures showing it spent CHF 4.3 billion more than it received in 2022. Excluding extraordinary expenses related to the Covid pandemic left an underlying operating deficit of CHF 1.9 billion, the first shortfall of this kind since 2005. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s federal government is required to operate under a system known as a debt brake. This requires it to achieve a breakeven budget over a...

After a rising number of attacks on cash machines across Switzerland, Migros Bank has decided it will probably close all of its machines overnight, reported RTS. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.comLast year, at least 38 cash dispensing machines were blown up and robbed across Switzerland. The most recent attack at the end of January 2023 was on a machine in the town of Neuendorf in the canton of Solothurn. In 2021, the explosive charge used on one machine was so large that it destroyed...

Since 1 December 2022, contracts that online platforms often get hotels to sign to stop them offering prices lower than those offered via the platform are no longer legally enforceable in Switzerland due to a change in law. This week, broadcaster RTS published the results of a market test it performed to see if the legal change had had any effect. © Boumenjapet | Dreamstime.comRTS checked the prices of 287 rooms across Switzerland directly on hotels’ own websites and via the platform...

Accident insurer Suva recorded a record number of recreation-related accidents in 2022, reported RTS. Photo by Irene Lasus on Pexels.comSuva, a not-for-profit insurance company in Switzerland, insures around 2 million individuals in Switzerland every year. In 2022, it recorded around 290,000 non-work related accidents, a record figure, 14% higher than in 2021 and 4% higher than before the pandemic in 2019. A large number of accidents occurred outside, suggesting that the good weather...

When workers in Switzerland change employers they typically take their salary-based pensions with them. However, if they leave the country without making any pension transfer arrangements, after six months, their pension money ends up with the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution, a kind of backstop holding place for forgotten pensions. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.comAt the the end of 2022, the organisation held around CHF 5.6 billion of unclaimed money, reported RTS. The names,...

Swiss resident’s are regularly reminded of the large financial gap is Switzerland’s state pension system. Despite this, several attempts at reform have failed to gain sufficient support. Those that have still leave a large shortfall. On 24 January 2023, UBS published four additional reform scenarios. Only the fourth, with a life expectancy adjusted retirement age of 68.2 years eliminates the current projected shortfall. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.comMany nations have large...

Like many governments across the world, Switzerland’s federal government is spending more than it collects. Extraordinary spending on Covid and refugees has pushed Switzerland’s finances into the red, a situation Karin Keller-Sutter, the current finance minister, hopes to eliminate by 2024. Photo by Louis on Pexels.comDuring its meeting on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council made preliminary decisions to ensure a balanced budget in 2024 and beyond. It hatched a plan to boost revenue and...

At a meeting in Bern on 19 January 2023, Werner Luginbühl, the head of Elcom, Switzerland’s electricity regulator, called on the sector to be careful to manage consumer expectations, reported RTS. Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.comAccording to Luginbühl, many consumers are confused by Switzerland’s rising electricity prices. Some think the electricity consumed in Switzerland comes from hydro and nuclear production where production costs have been unaffected....