Tag Archives: Personal finance

The parliamentary environmental commission has endorsed a plan to increase the taxes on fuel in Switzerland. © Tuayai | Dreamstime.comFollowing support for a fuel tax increase by the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, the commission said it supports a rise of 10 cents a litre until 2024 and 12 cents a litre from 2025. These increases are lower than those included in some other proposals. However, the commission decided these increases were appropriate in the context of all...

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently announced it had reduced the price Swiss healthcare providers and patients will pay for 257 drugs by 16.3%. © Tero Vesalainen Dreamstime.comThese lower prices, which take affect on 1 December 2019, are expected to save CHF 100 million annually. The FOPH looked at the prices of 478 drugs and achieved price reductions on 257 (54%) of them. The government has promised to cut healthcare costs via a range of measures...

© Marekusz | Dreamstime.com According to a recent report by the bank Credit Suisse, the Swiss are worth more on average than the residents of any other nation. The bank’s annual Global Wealth Report calculates average net worth per Swiss adult to be US$ 564,653 (CHF 560,643) at mid-2019. The median figure was US$ 227,891 (CHF 226,273). Switzerland’s combined personal wealth of US$ 3.9 trillion represents 1.1% of the global total, while the nation’s population...

According to a recent report by the bank Credit Suisse, the Swiss are worth more on average than the residents of any other nation. The bank’s annual Global Wealth Report calculates average net worth per Swiss adult to be US$ 564,653 (CHF 560,643) at mid-2019. The median figure was US$ 227,891 (CHF 226,273). © Marekusz | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s combined personal wealth of US$ 3.9 trillion represents 1.1% of the global total, while the nation’s population represents 0.1% of the...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), Switzerland’s central bank, has earned CHF 388 million from negative interest rates since introducing them in 2014 to tame the rising strength of the Swiss Franc, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick. Swiss National Bank – © J0hnb0y | Dreamstime.com On 15 January 2015, the SNB announced that it was abandoning its policy of maintaining an exchange rate cap of 1.20 francs to 1.00 euro. At the same time it increased negative interest on sight deposits...

© Vadimgozhda | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s government has long discussed the importance of raising the retirement age to ensure the financial viability of the pension system. However, it is not clear whether voters would support such a plan. According to a survey by Deloitte, an accounting and consulting company, raising the official retirement age might not find majority support among Swiss voters. Some groups are firmly against the idea. Only 47% of the 1,000...

An initiative demanding a ban on tobacco advertising has collected 109,969 valid signatures, more than the 100,000 minimum required to launch a popular vote, according to RTS. The planned vote entitled: “Yes to the protection of children and young people against tobacco advertising” demands the federal government ban all forms of tobacco advertising towards children and young people. In practice such a ban would include banning all tobacco advertising in public...

Switzerland’s government has long discussed the importance of raising the retirement age to ensure the financial viability of the pension system. However, it is not clear whether voters would support such a plan. © Vadimgozhda | Dreamstime.comAccording to a survey by Deloitte, an accounting and consulting company, raising the official retirement age might not find majority support among Swiss voters. Some groups are firmly against the idea. Only 47% of the 1,000 voters between 50 and...

An initiative demanding a ban on tobacco advertising has collected 109,969 valid signatures, more than the 100,000 minimum required to launch a popular vote, according to RTS. The planned vote entitled: “Yes to the protection of children and young people against tobacco advertising” demands the federal government ban all forms of tobacco advertising towards children and young people. In practice such a ban would include banning all tobacco advertising in public places, in cinemas, at...

© Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland, some married couples pay more tax than unmarried ones, something referred to as the marriage tax penalty. The issue has been doing the rounds of the halls of Switzerland’s government for around 30 years. On 28 February 2016, a vote to change the current system was narrowly rejected by 50.8% of voters. Then in April 2019, the result of this referendum was reversed by the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest...