Tag Archives: Switzerland

Interview with Chris Powell  Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen many crucial and historic developments in the precious metals market. For long-term physical gold investors, who recognized the importance of the precious metal as a safe haven and as a hedge against systemic and monetary risks, the rally has been especially rewarding, while it has also served as an undeniable vindication of their position.  Today, with gold having reached historic highs, there are...

Beyond economics  While the economic forces that drive this rush to precious metals are clearly understandable, there are other, deeper and less obvious factors that must also be taken into account. This “fear of uncertainty”, which pushes demand for gold higher as it has done so many times in the past, is different this time. It goes well beyond mere economic uncertainty and it involves concerns much more serious than just inflation expectations, productivity metrics and...

(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...

(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...

(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...

Finanz und Wirtschaft, July 25, 2020. PDF. The Swiss National Bank—yes, the Swiss one—feels it must remind politicians of its independence. Parliamentarians from left to right (!) voice demands. To shrink the SNB’s balance sheet? No, for more central bank profits to be distributed sooner rather than later. I discuss misconceptions, possible motivations, and a constructive response. «The best way to defend the independence of a central bank is never to exercise it.»

(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...

(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...

(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...

[embedded content] The short-term pull-back in stock prices last week on the back of persistent virus concerns in the US and elsewhere shows the market remains jittery despite the massive run-up in prices since late March. May data from China showed a relatively fast rebound on the supply side of the economy, but a much slower take-off in consumption, suggesting a ‘reverse square root’ kind of recovery for economies rather than the ‘v’-shaped one markets have been...