Tag Archives: Personal finance

On 12 January 2017, the Economist came out with its latest Big Mac index. Also known as the burger benchmark, the index compares the price of a Big Mac around the world. This catchy, if highly incomplete means of comparing the relative purchasing power of different currencies, uses the United States and the US$ as its base. Countries where Big Macs cost less than in the United States (in US$ terms) have weak currencies, and those where they are more expensive have overvalued currencies. ©...

In Switzerland, how much you pay for compulsory health insurance depends on where you live. Premiums vary hugely by canton. For 2016, average monthly adult premiums in Basel City are CHF 545.60, Switzerland’s most expensive, compared to CHF 326.70, in lowest-cost Appenzell-Innerhoden. The difference between the two cantons is 40%. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.com In addition to big differences between cantons, prices vary within some cantons, which are sliced up into zones. For example, Zurich...

20 Minutes. After reaching a historical low in the third quarter of 2016, rates started rising in the fourth quarter. Rate increases hit mortgage tenors of five and ten years. © Ashumskiy | Dreamstime.com Compared to Q3, fixed mortgage rates on loans of ten years went up an average 0.2% to 1.62% according to price comparison website Comparis.ch. Five year fixed rate loans went up from 1.08% to 1.14%. While loans with a term of one year remained stable at around 1%. Mortgage rates remain low,...

20 Minutes. Hundreds of tax declarations containing private information were found discarded in a skip in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. The tax returns, with clearly visible data, were thrown out by the city according to 20 Minutes. Schaffhausen – © Aprescindere | Dreamstime.com The tax returns date from 2006.  The person in charge of data protection for the canton, spoke out against city executives and filed criminal proceedings against those responsible. The most sensitive data was not...

24 Heures. Last week someone passing through Basel train station found an envelope when entering the station. To her surprise it contained 50,000 francs. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com The woman who found the cash was a 22 year old from France. She went to the police station last Wednesday after finding the envelope on Tuesday. According to Blick, The 22-year-old Frenchwoman found the envelope on Centralbahnplatz in front of the station before handing it in to the police. The envelope...

This week the bank Credit Suisse published its cantonal cost of living report. Its ranking considers a typical household’s biggest expenses: tax, housing, commuting, basic health insurance and childcare. It takes income and deducts all of these costs to arrive at a measure of disposable income. Life is cheper in Uri © Stefano Ember | Dreamstime.com In a simplified world it might be expected that low tax rates would push up the cost of most other things as the wealthy arrived and bid up...

20 Minutes. Because of negative interest, even a savings account earning 0% interest is earning too much reckons the bank’s boss. Source: Facebook Migros Bank Soon many banks will be passing on some of the cost of negative interest to their clients, reports 20 Minutes. Migros Bank will need to seriously consider doing the same in 2017. The bank’s boss Harald Nedwed told the NZZ am Sonntag that the situation is difficult for all Swiss banks reliant on interest margins. Savings accounts earning...

20 Minutes. Because of negative interest, even a savings account earning 0% interest is earning too much reckons the bank’s boss. Source: Facebook Migros Bank Soon many banks will be passing on some of the cost of negative interest to their clients, reports 20 Minutes. Migros Bank will need to seriously consider doing the same in 2017. The bank’s boss Harald Nedwed told the NZZ am Sonntag that the situation is difficult for all Swiss banks reliant on interest margins. Savings accounts earning...

20 Minutes. Some Swiss politicians would like to focus minds on the costs of going to the doctor to reduce the number going for the most minor of reasons. © Tyler Olson | Dreamstime.com Their plan would require deductibles to rise annually in line with increases in the cost of basic health insurance. Higher deductibles, they think, would put people off going to the doctor unecessarily, reducing pressure on the health system. On Thursday, parliament voted in favour of such an idea by 129 votes...

Switzerland’s Federal Council is looking at a proposal to make pension payments compulsory for self-employed workers in the same way that they are for salaried workers. © Katatonia82 | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland there are three elements to pensions. A universal state pension, funded from social security payments, a second element, known as a second pillar, which is a pot built up from sums deducted from salary, and a third pillar, which is an optional tax deductible amount...