Cost of Living in Schwyz / Zug

[Ultraviolet]

Hello

Anyone out there live in Schwyz or Zug? I'm looking at roles in these two areas. In terms of living a 'comfortable' life, any ideas on what would be a reasonable salary?

By 'comfortable life' I mean: 4 bed house, 160-200m2, top-end 3 series or similar and supporting wife and 2 kids (they will probably go to State school).

The roles I have been looking at have been in the 160k - 200k CHF range. Any idea what this would equate to net (there seems to be low tax rates in these Cantons)?

And also, would this be sufficient to live a 'comfortable' life (see above) in either of these areas?

Any comments / help / thoughts most welcome. I've also been looking on englishforums.ch, but would appreciate a PH view also!

cheers,

UV

[Ultraviolet]

GillyD said:

lots of useful stuff - thanks

Thanks Gilly

Apart from rent (say 4000CHF) and month, and shopping (say 1500CHF) a month, are there any other 'large' costs that I should budget for?

For example, is there any insurance that you need to buy?
Finally, any idea on tax? Its seems to be around 15kCHF on 150K income - does that sound right?

Also, international schools seem to be around 24kCHF per child per year for primary school! Is this right?

UV

[Ultraviolet]

Thanks Gilly

Can you recommend some villages around Zug for me to look into? Is Cham nice, for example?

Neil

[Ultraviolet]

All

Thanks for the help so far. I'll be looking in Zug or Schwyz and will probably aim to get the kids into the international school in Zug. I'm still going through the interview process for the job, so will know more in a couple of weeks.

So far, I'm budgeting around 4500CHF for rent (for a 4 bed house or flat, around 170sq ft), around 1600CHF for food per month, and 30k CHF per child for schooling as the main costs. It looks like my potential employer will pay insurance and contribute to the school fees, which is good.

If things go ahead, I'll look in Zug, Cham and the villages mentioned by Gilly... any other suggestions (especially) in Canton Schwyz most welcome.. I may well PM a few PHers to get the insiders view, when things move forward.

I checked on a tax calculator on one of the sites, and it looks like Zug and Schwyz have an income tax of around 10%, which seems fantastically low... is this correct?

One final question... my wife wants a dog as a precondition for the move! Any ideas if this will cause any problems?

thanks

Neil

[Ultraviolet]

Thanks Garlof

that's about what I worked it out as... 9% in Zug seems a bargain... although it looks like this is offset to a degree by the rental prices...

Neil