moving to zurich

[mymotherisveryold]

My dh is waiting for a relocation package for a role in Zurich

How much is enough? We have 3 dc age 11-2.

Do we need international school for the eldest?

The rentals seem really high, even coming from London/South East.

Also can anybody explain the different tax rates please? eg Zug lowest in Switzerland, how does it compare with Zurich?

And are the different areas in Zurich taxed differently? I was looking at the Old Town, Horton (sp) and Zug.

Appreciate any advice/knowledge.

Thanks.

No idea about Zurich, we are in the other side of Switzerland but I can tell you a bit about relocation packages. Or you can post another thread asking what is common, it varies immensely.

We could have put our DC to International Schools but they were young enough to benefit from local schools, at 4yo and 6yo when we moved here. It is common for relocation packages to include this.

Removal costs obviously, also storage costs in home country (which we did not use so received a bonus).

House hunting trip is common, with hotel/car hire/relocation agent to show you around.

Some companies pay for things like home leave, once a year flights back to home country.

Rentals are high in Switzerland so if your DH is being paid in CHF it should reflect that. If he is being paid in Sterling, he should make sure that there is something in place to adjust for the cost of living. DH gets an allowance that is adjusted depending on the current exchange rate.

Have a look at the Swiss board, and post there if you have any other queries, there are a few MNetters in that area, or who have lived in the area. MN local Switzerland

Also you can try www.englishforum.ch. It is quite a useful source of info. BTW zug is not the lowest tax rate, the canton of Schwyz (sp?) is lower, but probably not as good a place to live with a young family.

Join thsi group and this group for advice, moderated by a friend of ours (please say hi!).

Yes it is expensive to rent (probably double SE England rents) but even apartments are spacious and some will have terrace/garden and udnergorund garage spot(sometimes extra rent). Kantonal taxes and Gemeinde(town) taxes do vary. Rent costs in Zug probably compensate for lower tax and it is all relative! I would n'l let that be the deciding factor. Ideally have the company fund a tax specialist to deal with it as it cna be a minefield, also request removal costs, deposit, health insurance, language tuition etc.

Do you mean Horgen btw ? If you want to have other expat families nearby, living in the city is probably less ideal but Horgen and Zug (and all towns between Zurich and Zug) have large concetrations of expats and thereby English speaking playgroups and activities, doctors and so on. It is pretty quick to get into the city when needs be.

International school places are in high demand and expensive (approaching chf30k pa when we left a few years ago) but if you plan to come back to UK you may prefer to keep him in an English speaking system.It will be a different syllabus though.

Hi. Ian only just learning about this subject myself! We are moving to Horgen soon- just waiting for our three eldest dcs to be offered places at an international school ( waiting lists are long for some age groups - get on the list of your chosen school as soon as you can)
in terms of relocation package, my husband is being paid in sterling so the tax issue will not affect us too much I believe. However he is getting a cost of living adjustment to cover the increased living cost. He is also getting a living allowance towards the higher rental costs. The school age children are being educated in international schools at the cost of his company ( the reason being that we will be returning to the uk after 3 years). Plus we are having all our moving costs covered and the services of a relocation consultant. We could have had a company apartment temporarily whilst we looked for something more permanent but were told that none of them were very practical for us and our 4dcs. We have had a house hunting trip and will get one flight back to the uk each per year. We have been very lucky with the package offered, make sure you negotiate yours well.
Ps we have been told Horgen is an excellent place for expats, along with most of the towns along the lake, although you'll get more for your money the further from Zurich city you go.

We are leaving Zug in two days time. While the tax is low, the cost of living is high. We pay a lot of money for a small appartment which would be about a quarter of the price in Aargau! (although that is mainly arable/dairy farming so not as cosmopolitan).Another thing to bear in mind is health insurance. it is wicked expensive so try to get that included, I have to say though the medical system is great.

Thank you for all your responses.

We are still waiting for the actual package to be communicated.

In the meantime I will check out the links.

Thank you.

Hello again!

We still haven't had an idea of the package.

His company are looking into temporary accomadation for us and they have asked about the childrens' ages, which makes us think they are looking at private schools.

My dh has a call set up for Tuesday with HR Zurich who are planning to tell him about the benefits offered in their lovely country.

We are aware of the high cost of living and health insurance. Is there anything else that he should ask about?

My dh says it's all about the money, in that if they can offer him enough we can take care of the cost of living. I'm dead keen to go it looks like a nice place to raise a family. Is there anything dh should ask on behalf of me to make it easier?

Again thanks.

Make sure HR can either explain the tax liability in a simple way (i.e your take home will be x% of your basic) or will pay for him to have a conversation with a tax advisor to explain this as getting this wrong can be a big difference to the package.

Other than that, understand

• Accomodation allowance
• Schools allowance
• Car allowance if any
• Flights home allowance if any
• Relocation costs- covered in full or just a flat amount given?

The key thing is for him to go into the meeting knowing what accomodation and schools will cost so he knows if the offer is a good one or not.

Most companies now expect you to minimise your UK costs (i.e. they wont pay your rent in Zurich and your mortgage in the UK).

Ouch! They had their HR talk.

We will get our initial one way flights out there (can book returns if cheaper)

No flights back every year

No private schools. Which we don't have a problem with for our younger children but our dd1 (11) is looking forward to starting senior school. It would seem mean to dump her in a German speaking school. I think.

They have asked dh to start on 1st September, but they still haven't offered him a salary.

I was like well maybe these benefits are something that your salary could take care of...if it's enough.

Until dh company can offer him a figure we can't make a decision. And now I want to go. I don't want to but my dd2 (4) school uniform for her English primary school.

We could do with a salary offer really.

Is this normal?

No idea of how things happen in the corperate world, but I would be very reluctant to go without an idea of what I would be paid. We left Switzerland three weeks ago and are still commenting on how cheap things in Belgium are by comparison.
IME, children do manage well at 'local' schools, normally the school will have a language imersion or tutor for those who don't speak the local language. Depending on how long you are planning to stay, I may be reluctant to put a child into a school with a totally different curriculum to the one she has been used to. Returning to the UK could be a problem in that instance.
Good luck.

Will we need to buy a new telly and toaster to use in Zurich or will our UK one work?

Your UK ones will work, you'll have to change the plugs though. If you are going and have space in your shipping take some SR flour, marmite, branston pickle and HP sauce, basic drugs - paracetamol and calpol for teh children. Swiss calpol tastes of butterscotch.
Spaghetti hoops and baked beans, both available but costly. Super plus tampons are not available either.

Thanks for the response and the food tips. We do like our marmite and baked beans here.
I'm still not sure whether we are going or not. I am keen as mustard. English mustard, I should probably stock up on that too.

Yes, Colmans is available but really costly. Tea bags you can get at asian grocers. the other stuff is gettable, but, bloody expensive. Sugar free squash is unheard of and oxo cubes are specialist too

Don't think tv will work with their cable but small electricals do with an adapter (easier to buy here). You will find expats moving out who have tvs, Ikea furniture and larger electrical items like washing machines to sell on, often relatively new. Globus in Zurich has a food basement with a UK section, there is the London Store in Zug and the BP petrol station on the lake at Wadenswil used to stock familiar UK brands - all at a price (Think tiny Marmite at price of large one in UK). However since we left even the local supermarkets like Migros and Coop stock a reasonable range. It took months ot sort out dh's package (bank) but once it was a goer it happened very quickly -we visited in March and he started in May.

It looks like dh will start his new job at the beginning of January.

I'm really excited!

Thank you Kreecher and Lizs and baggedandtagged (I copied and pasted yours!)for your responses. I kindly request any advice/tips/recommendations that any of you have.

I love englishforum.ch by the way.

Great news! January can be a bit of a funny one - either very cold and snowy/icy even around Zurich itself or damp and gloomy. It might take while to get used to driving in those conditions. Go prepared for it to be bitterly cold too - good winter boots and jackets etc a must for all, and salopettes for the kids to wear to school (H and M, C and A, Manor, Dosenbach and Tchibo are worth a look locally). Younger kids strip down to long underwear/tights indoors and take along slippers to playgroups. Even if you don't get skiing this year (unfortunately I think you'd arrive too late to sign up for the International Ski Club lessons which many expat kids do), sledding is easily accessible.

Hi

If you let me know when you get here, happy to meet for a coffee and link you in with some English mums. Quite a few of us about. Do you know yet where you'll be living? We're in Waedenswil - lots of Brits this side of the lake, also Oerlikon......Switzerland is wonderful for families, if I could get my family and M&S shipped over it would be perfect :)

Oh thank you, that is so sweet.

Is Waedenswil on the west side of Lake Zurich?

I know we will miss our wonderful extended family, dreading telling them too...

The lady from the school service contacted me today and was really trying to sell me Zug. She said the commute for dh would be clean, short and easy. And that Zug International School was more British than Zurich International School. She also said that it would be easier to find accomodation in Zug than Zurich. (we are two grown ups and three children) We will have a month in a comapany flat or something.

It looks like me and dd1 will be going out to look at schools in the middle of October. Dh works overseas a lot and this is when he will be in Switzerland, so we thought we could piggyback on his paid for hotel room.

If I take dd1 out what should I do with her to win her round? She is not keen on leaving her friends.

Hi,
We are moving to Horgen (Zurich canton) a month from now for a three year assignment but the kids will be going to International School of Zug and Luzern. My impression is that it is more european in feel than ZIS which is more american but this isn't the reason we have chosen it. Definitely visit them as soon as possible and be prepared to possibly go on a waiting list for the international schools, demand is high although due to the mobile nature of expats there is a constant turnover and lists seem to move quickly.

This thread is really useful. Sorry to hijack but LIZS is it worth buying winter clothes in the UK before we travel or is the range offered better in Switzerland?

I was wondering that about the clothes too.

Personally I wouldn't bother buying winter clothes to take with you. We were happily surprised by the cost, this is after buying up the whole of Decathlon in Bangkok. Another point worth bearing in mind is the fashion in Switzerland is a bit different to that in the UK. If your children don't mind looking different it will be fine, if they are more sensitive flowers wait. Do bear in mind the kinderborse are wonderful things. The Swiss get rid of some fantastic clothes.

Thank you.

Hi, we've been in Zug for a year now and have 3 DDs at the Zug International School so let me know if any queries. I would go mad at Decathlon before you get here as all the ski/winter stuff is very expensive and I saved a fortune last year.... Having said that you can get it all here -like everything-at a price!

Not sure if anyone can help with this - where should I be looking to live if I want to be able to stable my horse within say a max 15 minute drive?

Is there anyone here with horses in Zurich? What are the livery costs like?