If you pay a lawyer who pays off the officiers you don’t even have to appear.
I think the chair-moving system is probably to avoid the fraud you described.
At the land frontier, especially with Nicaragua, the situation is as you describe or worse. If you don’t pay the civil gentuza that hangs around the officers at the border they come up with tons of regulations to not let you enter. Airports are better to enter the country…
Corruption is everywhere. The more sophisticated the laws against it the more expensive it gets. Or who can pay the lobbyists which probably is just another word for bribe payers…
Anyhow, I did not want to participate in corruption and had time. But it did not work. Actually it worked enough for me to get a temporary permit which is supposed to last the 3 months until a decision is made. The first permit is valid two years, which would have given me the right to stay 27 months. But as the decision took 30 monts I could stay with the temporary permission the full 30 months. They did shoot their own leg.
May I ask how you filled your free time in the beginning after you stopped working - and how you’re filling it now? I understand that your investment strategy only keeps you busy for a few hours per month…
How did you and your wife manage the situation - with her still working? Was she also working at the time, or did she take a break, or continue as before?
I’m also planning to (at least semi-) retire in two years, and by then, I’ll be the same age you were when you stopped working (51). My wife currently works part-time and will likely continue, though she could probably do it remotely. We’re not planning to relocate but would like to travel intermittently - ideally during the cold winter months - while keeping our roots and residency in . I anticipate this setup couldn’t last ‘forever’, though (health, kids/parents, boredom) and am trying to evaluating all the possibilities from as many angles as possible…
Actually I spend a bit more time with my investments because the few hours per month was only about the dividend portfolio.
I travel quiet a lot, have a house in Switzerland with a big garden, an apartment at the beach in Spain (where I am at the moment) and some hobbies. Covid did put me a bit out of shape and I sold my two motorbikes after riding motorbikes for decades. Now I own two bicycles.
I like the good life a bit too much. So I have to check not to eat and drink too much and that is probably the most difficult part.
Love the Buell as a concept. My full CH license eligibility is coming up (new rider) in autumn and thinking about what to get. Teetering between something really stupid like a Rocket 3 or Diavel v4, or even stupider like a VMax or more sensible: RnineT or Moto Guzzi Audace. Brain says RnineT, heart says Audace.
Saw an Audace in Greece a few weeks ago and it has such amazing presence, there’s nothing like it on the road, but it’s damn heavy and so am I. Then again the beemer is bound to work like clockwork, sounds like clockwork, the boxer engine is super smooth and powerful, and the bike is an all-rounder, just a tad too sensible.
Those are completely different bikes, probably think about supersport vs custom first. I had both, bought a Harley VRSCD night rod once because my wife did not want to mount the sports bikes any longer. But then she said it still goes to fast for her, so I went solo and changed it for the Buell.
None of the ones I am looking at is any kind of sporty, even the moronically expensive Diavel v4 is too big and heavy to be called any kind of sport in my opinion. Sure, the bike itself has the ability, but most riders don’t I’m more of a laid back rider, taking in the scenery, chilling at 2000rpm.
That said, I think the Nightrod is a great bike, a 21st century Harley, pity the Harley crew is so conservative. I was actually also seriously looking at the Nightrod but unless you NEED the HD logo there’s nothing it does that a lighter, more powerful bike doesn’t do better. Indian Scout soft tail is another I was looking at until I sat on one, found it wayyy too low.
Took a Fazer around a block once and that was enough for me to know sporty isn’t my thing, but that’s the beauty of motorcycles, there’re distinctly different experiences.
It might look impressive if you think that 100% is the maximum, but heat pumps can be 300% to 500% efficient.
District heating can also be an inexpensive option if you can negotiate the installation and connection costs, and if you don’t require much heat.
I have personally installed (or rather my grandfather back then) air-water heat pumps in all my homes since the 1980s. When I replaced them in the early 2000s, my electricity bill was almost halved, which was great, especially since the heat pumps and electricity were half the price back then compared to today!
Sounds nice and I have something like that installed in Spain. But in Spain nobody cares for a permission and the cost of everything was probably like the cost of the permission needed in Switzerland; for air conditions the cost of the permission is higher than the cost of the A/C.
I had it checked many years ago in Switzerland and they said I can’t go down because of some drink water source close to my land. And for just air it is probably a bit much.
It is ridiculous; they tell you what to do and then you need a permission to do it. And you have to pay and pay. And wait and wait. And then pay more.
Why can’t they just let me in peace?
I probably have to do it anyhow and hopefully there are solutions now that do not interfere with the drink water sources. But I really would not like to spend my energy and the little time left on earth with bullshit like construction just to have place to sleep and shit.
Back to topic: probably I won’t bother if I cannot deduct it from tax. I can spend the winters somewhere nice and warm with that money for the rest of my life…
So yes, there will be less maintenance of houses in Switzerland if the tax change goes through.
(Sorry, a bit off-topic, Kantönligeist):
I was thinking of what to do if my heating system breaks down. Probably I could just ask a company of another Kanton to replace it and done. Paying a fine for that probably is cheaper than installing a new heating system. It is forbidden only in Kanton Zurich.
Don’t misunderstand me, I fully agree with you that heat pumps are THE superior way of heating buildings, but:
I paid my last batch of oil some 93 cents per liter (of which ~25% is tax), with a 98% efficiency and a condensation heater this gives me 8.9 cents/kwh
with an average efficiency of 300%, the heat pump costs the same if the electricity price is 26.7 cents/kwh
I pay electricity currently 29.8 cents/kwh, all included
Also, you cannot simply exchange a oil (or gas) heating system with a heat pump unless you have floor heating everywhere.
It is sad in fact that the best solution is penalised by financial considerations, but that’s life.
As I see it I either waste a lot of money or I waste a lot of money and time and comfort (for the construction). The question is what you can change so it does not still count as a new system…
I’ll try to maintain the heating system as long as possible and then probably just sell the house, offers are piling. Or start a motion that our village (that has voted against that bullshit) can change Kanton…
Sorry, off-topic. If only I had somebody I trust to do all this, I don’t care too much for the money and would live somewhere else during construction. But there are just no more trustworthy constructors around. All retired or died, problems of getting old…
Not sure about that. Because they changed the zone and my house looks now like a dog house in between all the blocks. So the house would be torn down anyhow, there is more than enough land to build one or two more blocks. So, actually I would sell the land and get a reduced price because there is still a building on it, no matter what heating system it has.
For anybody else to live in the house the heating system has to be changed according to Kanton Zurich laws. So I could not even rent out the house.
Maybe it was a bad idea after all 30 years ago to buy that house, as in Switzerland real estate never belongs to you thanks to bureaucracy. Price appreciation of the land was nice but stocks did win even more.
OK, back to topic: still being able to deduce the costs from tax will influence what I will do, sell or not.
Hum, not a specialist per-se, but why do you consider that being so complicated in terms of construction work to replace your oil heating system with a heating pump?
As I consider it you can replace the current system with the internal unit and connect to the current installation within the house, the main obstacle is connecting it to the external unit, pair of pipes containing the refrigerant that transfers the energy. Is that part particularly complicated for your setup?
Yes. And of course other votings that reduced construction land too. So two wins (land, zone) against one loss (heating system), in stock trading that would be more than OK.
As I said, I am missing the energy to put into such a project and the last time I had it checked there was no way to go down enough for a water based heating pump. And an air based one probably is not strong enough or too noisy for a permission.
Thanks for the suggestions, probably I will open a separate thread, there seems to be some experienced people around.
Air-Water heat pumps produce hot water at a much lower temperature than oil or gas (~40 degrees vs. 70 IIRC) and this is not enough for existing radiators (floor heating would be fine) so they would have to be improved (so I have been told). Which I understand means increasing the water flow: bigger pipes.
Depending on how the piping is done, this can cause a lot of works inside the house (or minimal ones or none at all btw).
Thanks, had that looked at too some years ago. No problem at all, only the boiler/water tank would have to be switched from the oil burner to electricity and the installed boiler does even have this possibility. And I have floor heating.
I think the main problem is not being able to go deep enough for water and an air based system not producing enough hot water or being too noisy and therefor difficult to get a permission for. And of course me not wanting to put much energy in such a project.
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- while keeping our roots and residency in 
. I anticipate this setup couldn’t last ‘forever’, though (health, kids/parents, boredom) and am trying to evaluating all the possibilities from as many angles as possible…
I’m more of a laid back rider, taking in the scenery, chilling at 2000rpm.