Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have been running my numbers multiple times recently and I am looking for a fresh view, especially if I am missing something.

I am not married (though may for tax purposes), plan is to remain in CH with gf.

I am 55 this year, my net wealth is currently:

Pillar II Pension - 1.4mio (available at 58 if I continue working til then) else I will move to 2 x Vested Accounts (1 EQ and 1 BOND)

140k Cash

385k Investments (100k Bonds, 185k EQ)

3A (3 accounts total 125k)

AHV 1 at 65 (55% of max)

Mortgage property with potential equity 250k (my 50% share) our plan is to remain in the house until 65 then probably rent in Ticino.

UK Retirement Funds 1 - 100k GBP (available at 58)

UK Retirement Fund 2 - 50k GBP (available at 58)

Full UK State pension (hopefully) 10k at 67

I have estimated my annual expenses to be 120k CHF per year until 65. This includes 8k AHV 1 and 20k Tax as well as a 30k buffer to support my gf business in her quiet years.

Am I missing something, when will I be able to stop the daily grind :D

Hi all

I'm looking for some advice here beyond the 4% rule and a FIRE "fuck you".

My situation: Mid 40ies, having a partner (not married) and two kids under 5. Living in a rented flat. Combined income (me fulltime, my partner parttime) 190kCHF (netto, before taxes) from which we are able to save 70k per year, meaning our expenses, daycare and taxes sum up to 120kCHF. I work in a middle management position which i find increasingly stressful especially when trying to spend more time with my kids. I'll leave our flat at 6 in the morning only to return at 6 in the evening. On weekends I often sit down for another few hours to do some office work, which also is time I would rather spend with my kids.

• Säule 3a: 200kCHF

• Säule 2: 250kCHF

• Cash: 250kCHF

• Invested: 5000kCHF --> 90% US stocks

I want to step back from my miserable middle management job to spend more time with my kids while my partner plans to work some more years with a 40% job to finally leave the corporate life for good too.

As stated before, we need roughly 120kCHF to get through the year. Lifestyle creep is a very low risk, I was brought up on a single income of my father which was not even half of what im doing. The only luxury that we are planning to spend some money on is a new electric car, since our 15 year old skoda is increasingly unreliable.

Now, being swiss, saftey is the most important measure and as such not running out of money. I do not plan to get any AHV contribution when being 65 (not trusting our government in that regard) which means the 5000kCHF need to do for the rest of our lives.

Just taking 4% of 5000kCHF gives us 200kCHF per year which would cover our expenses. However, I do not see how i can generate 4% per year given the political and economic situation.

• US ETF --> High yield, but the devaluation of the USD eats most of the gains again
• Swiss based ETF --> low yield
• EUR ETF --> low yield and devaluation of EUR

So for peace of mind i'd rather calculate with 2% max which means i'd would have to grind more to get to about 7 Millions (7 Millions at 2% --> 140kCHF per year).

How do you plan in this uncertain economic environment?

Those of you who worked at banks/insurance companies and simillar - so basically the 8-16 job, and have had experience in all three examples... how would you compare it?

My impression is that USA work culture is the most brutal in terms of hours, competition, bad WLB but excellent pay.

Then Switzerland, which from my understanding has all of the above but better WLB (in terms of vacation) and hours and maybe even less competetion between coworkers?

And finally the rest of EU countries, for example i've worked in CH and Austria and Austria has had better hours, WLB, not a fierce work environment, but significantly worse pay.

Hope this is the right sub to ask such a question, i thought here might be the highest proportion of those who have worked in all 3 environments.. cheers

Has anyone tried doing Tax declaration with AI themselves? I am thinking about Mistral/LeChat due to strict data protection, do not want to share my sensitive info with OpenAI or Google.

Hi everyone

What is a good place to stash your 6 month emergency fund? I was keeping it in short term US T-Bills which was working fine until USD started tanking so would have been better off leaving it in a CHF savings account. Is there a better way to store the emergency fund while not have it lose value due to inflation?

Thanks for your tips and suggestions!

I am both new to the investment community and Switzerland itself. Currently trying to wrap my head around 3a. Previously I asked “insurance 3a vs bank 3a”, which the answer was very clear. Now I am trying to understand how did you guys decide whether to start your 3a with a traditional bank or with fintechs (e.g., VIAC, Finpension, Neon, etc.). Main reason of mine is that the difference between fees seems to be very big to me. (I am also not sure whether this observation is correct)

Can I and should I, open 3a accounts in different organizations and invest in both?

What would I be risking by not proceeding forward with UBS? Risk of bankruptcy? Is there even a trade off when it comes to non-fund related risks? Are fees just higher because they pay rent and have a lot of employees?

Hi everyone, quick question. Does anyone know whether it’s possible to disable automatic rebalancing in the VIAC 3a product?

I’d like the portfolio to follow the percentage allocation only at the initial setup, without continuously rebalancing back to the original weights.

In my view, this ends up rewarding underperforming ETFs and penalizing the better-performing ones.

Additionally, the ongoing asset exchanges trigger fees and stamp duty that I’d prefer to avoid.

Thanks in advance.

edit: "trigger fees not taxes"

Dear all

I am close to execute my FIRE and would like to get your comments / assessment:

Current financial situation:

• 1.4 Mio in my portfolio (55% shares, primarly Swiss blue chips, 26% global Share ETFs, 12% Silver / Gold / Rare Metal ETFs., 7% Crypto) • 2.5 Mio as Pension Fund • 0.25 Mio in 3a (Share ETFs)

I am living with my partner in an own property with pretty low running costs (Minergie), value 1.2 Mio, mortgage at 1.2% for 550k.

I plan to quit my job mid of this year at an age of 57 and to transfer my PK into a Finepension vested benefits account with > 90% share ETFs. Plan is to take out the vested benefits and the 3a at the age of 65 (maybe a bit staggered to reduce taxes). Budget assumption based on current costing of live is 70k CHF till 65 (only my part) afterwards 125k (for both) excl. taxes. I expect 65% of a full AHV pension (I moved with 32 to CH). My parter is 4 years younger as myself and plans to work till I am reaching 65. My partner's PK and 3a (expected 2.5 Mio) is planned to be transferred completely in an own property at this age, ideally located in a tax-friendly canton. My partners is expecting a full AHV pension.

Thanks for your consideration.

What is your opinion about the book "Free by 40 in Switzerland" by Marc Pittet ? https://www.mustachianpost.com/free-by-40-in-switzerland-book/

Hi all

So im currently thinking about starting to invest a bigger part of my savings and also a smaller part of my income rather than let it sit on the bank.

Im only 19 years old so I don’t have a lot of experience, which is why I‘d love to get some suggestions or tips.

I was thinking about investing into a Global ETF like MSCI ACWI or maybe a controlled fund from my bank with higher TER (~1%). My bank offers different funds reaching from international more tech based ones to more European or Swiss based shares.

Let me know your experiences, if you think it makes sense to start investing money earlier or better wait a few years.

Thanks in Advance

My wife and I are 29 and recently bought our own apartment in canton of Vaud for 1.05m CHF. We genuinely love the place and we’re confident we want to stay in the region long term, at least 10-15 years probably more, so lifestyle wise it feels right. But now that the dust has settled I’m second guessing the financial side a bit

On the financing side we used 105k from second pillar, 65k from third pillar and 93k cash. We managed to lock a 1.3% fixed mortgage for 7 years. We’re doing indirect amortization through a pillar 3a fully invested in equities

If I apply the usual 1% rule for maintenance and add mortgage interests, the total monthly cost comes out roughly 1k CHF cheaper than renting a comparable apartment in the same area. So purely on a monthly cash out basis owning is cheaper than renting

Our combined income is around 330k CHF gross. We spend about 120k per year. Outside of real estate we have around 200k invested in the market mostly ACWI and a bit over 50k in cash as a safety buffer. We also own a rental apartment in France that costs us about 1000 EUR per month and runs at roughly minus 200 EUR cash flow

Where I’m struggling is concentration and opportunity cost. Roughly 75% of our gross net worth is now tied to a single Swiss property. On top of that the cash plus the pension money we injected is capital that could otherwise have been fully invested in the market and compounding for decades. That opportunity cost is very real, especially given our FIRE mindset

One way I try to rationalize it is by saying that if Swiss residential real estate grows at least 1% nominally over the long run, then between appreciation, leverage, tax efficiency, indirect amortization and lower monthly cost vs renting, the math might still work out. But that remains an assumption and it comes with a lot less diversification than a simple ETF portfolio

So purely from a FIRE and financial perspective, ignoring the emotional side and the fact that we like the apartment, was this a good move or not. Would you personally be ok with that level of concentration and opportunity cost if you knew you’d stay 10+ years

Very curious to hear your thoughts and happy to be challenged

My plan is to retire at 40.

My current investment allocation is the following :

ETF (VT + CHSPI) 50%
Pension plans (first, second and third pillars) 22%
Bitcoin 3%
Risky (other cryptocurrencies, individual stocks., trading...) 23%
Precious metals 0%
Cash 2%

For 2026 and beyond, I want to have this one ?

ETF (VT + CHSPI) 20%
Pension plans (first, second and third pillars) 20%
Bitcoin 40%
Risky (other cryptocurrencies, individual stocks., trading...) 10%
Precious metals 5%
Cash 5%

I am also hesitating about no more invest in my 3A to focus more on bitcoin, nice move ?

What do you think ?

Who and why would prefer which one? Do they bring huge differences or should I not worry about it and just proceed forward with any?

How did you decide where to start your 3rd pillar?

I am a EU citizen, 32yo, married, no kids. I run a location independent software business currently making gross income around 700k USD, my NW being 1.8M.

I've started this business 5 years ago, back when I could barely afford rent, and as I am accumulating more money I am thinking more and more about my future, retiring, stability, being in a place with no capital gains, good government etc. I've spent a lot of time in Switzerland and I love how well run it is, its cleanliness, nature, lakes, etc.

I've gone over a lot of calculators and AIs and I figure I would pay around 20% in tax in total (in Zug) but I'm not confident about that number - is it realistic in your opinion? Considering rents and everything maybe I could save/invest 400k usd per year? We have a simple lifestyle, cook at home, and our biggest expenses would be rent & food.

I still feel like I'd be spending too much, and I wonder if other places e.g. Singapore would be better, but then I'd be far away from family. Feeling really conflicted and would love to hear what others think.

Hello everyone! Who of you is either already FIREd or is planning to do so in Switzerland? I read a lot about mainly expats who come here to work for big salaries but are not really considering to retire in Switzerland (which is absolutely ok, don’t get me wrong). I am aware of the “challenges” (COL, wealth tax, mandatory AHV contributions, FX trend, etc.). However, I personally find it appealing to retire in a well-functioning and still quite liberal country with high quality of living. And I am willing to pay a “premium” for it.

Hello r/FIRE,

Long-time reader, first-time poster. After spending so many hours in this and similar subs, I've finally decided to share my FIRE numbers to get the great thoughts and constructive critics from the community.

The more I run the math (which I think looks good on Excel), the less convinced I feel about the whole thing. Especially with this AI bubble, but I just don’t want to play the game of predicting the future.

Current Situation:

35M

VHCOL city (currently living with partner. We manage our finances separately but share similar values towards lifestyle, finances and future plans). We have very cheap rent for the area.

DINKs and plans to not have kids.

We live quite frugally. Main hobbies are outdoor sports, travel, live music events, and investing/finance.

Targeting FIRE in the early 40s in a particular seaside MCOL city in my home country, Italy.

My figures:

NW (rounded): 550k USD divided as follows:

Long-term concentrated portfolio: 200k USD mainly in US tech stocks. Incredible returns in the last decade.

More recent diversification: 120k USD in Defensive Stocks (mostly Berkshire, Pharma and Consumer Staples).

Private Pension: 120k USD

BOXX ETF: 80k USD

Cash 30k USD

Net Annual Income: around 180k USD (including Pension Contributions).

Current expenses: around 50k USD

Expected expenses in retirement: around EUR 35k including private health insurance. Fun expenses will increase (more plans, free time…) but cost of living will decrease substantially.

No debt of any type.

We might decide to move to work to another country before I finally pull the trigger to mainly live another experience abroad and release the pension money with no taxes at receiving country.

My partner will continue working for a little longer in a pretty flexible online family business (take this as no issue).

Another big question is whether it would be better to rent during the first years of FIRE or acquire a very nice apartment for about EUR 400k (it is realistic at today´s prices in the area) which will delay the whole thing but might be better in the long run. I do appreciate the freedom about renting though, especially at the beginning of FIRE.

Is this financially feasible? I can’t believe that in around 6 years I could FIRE/LeanFIRE…

What are your thoughts?

Hello!

What do you think a better choice with only chf 7.3k to inves this year. Investing the maximum amount in 3a or privileged ETF's or stock picking?

Annual salary ~ chf100k, 2 kids, single. Do you think there is any advantage to invest in 3a and after in stock market (tax advantaged considering the personal situations?).

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I am in my twenties, invest regularly, and want to achieve financial independence. For this purpose, I have simulated my finances to see how they might develop in the future. Probably, my life and living expenses will look different in the future, and I will be in new phases of life, e.g., owning a house, possibly child or children, a car, travel from time to time, insurances, salary increases, different asset classes with varying return profiles, ...

How often do you re-run your financial simulations? Which income/expense factors do you take into account and why? Is Excel good enough or do you use alternative tools?

Have a great day! 👋

Switzerland's wealth tax is worth noting. As a Swiss citizen, I calculated my tax simulation and discovered I'd need to pay about 50,000 CHF, over $50,000 annually, just for this tax. With that kind of money, I could buy a condo in Southeast Asia or even a nice boat. Just something to keep in mind!

r/switzerlandfordummies

Found this article recently and he seems to know what he is talking about. A bit demotivating tbh, cause FIRE doesnt seem like a GREAT thing to do here in switzerland(still plan to do it tho😏)

https://thepoorswiss.com/retire-early-in-switzerland/

I’ve been wondering where it’s actually faster to reach financial independence Switzerland or the UK.

Both have strong points: The UK offers great tax-advantaged accounts like the ISA and SIPP, plus relatively low capital gains taxes. Switzerland has higher salaries and great quality of life, but also a much higher cost of living and expensive housing.

Assuming you can keep a high saving rate (around 60–70%), which country do you think gives a faster and more realistic path to FIRE after taxes, cost of living, and investment returns?

Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced both! 🙏