This. Boy do I regret not taking that opportunity before I had kids…
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I should have added “max” to the estimated taxes. In ZH, it’d be closer to 30k (income tax only), which would put OP just within the top 20%. He does recognize it’s a great income, which seems to point at expenses.
I’d be interested in the wife’s salary development:
It obviously has, at each step, from 195 to 125. Was that due to part-time? Or a different career? Or actually a decline for the same kind of work during that period?
I’ve seen our emplyoment income going down due to part time, expenses going up in general due to inflation (with salary increases not catching up) and for now kids in day-care (which also went up due to inflation).
However, it’s been mainly eating into the saving rate. The figures above are only an example, but not too far off on my numbers on the expense side.
It’s a bit distorted because big one-off expenses are missing, though.
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I think everyone feels that way at time, but that is because our perception of wealth and costs are both extremely subjective. That is where it helps to look at facts. The two main criteria to look for in this case are:
- Increase/decrease in your income.
- Increase/decrease in the inflation rate.
If increases in the official inflation rate do not surpass increases in your income, then it is likely that the inflation is self-imposed.
Premiums for mandatory health insurance do go up, but the increase is predictable at around 5% per annum. There have been no substantial upward changes in taxes. So both health insurance and tax costs are easy to predict and to budget for.
Once you know your real income minus taxes/mandatory health insurance/social security contributions, you can deduct that amount to find your real income.
A logical next step, in my opinion, would be to then deduct the amount/percentage that you want to save. This is a “tax” to yourself, so to speak. How much of your income you deduct depends on your savings goals.
The amount you have left after deducting your savings from your post tax/contribution income is your real income. All budgeting and spending considerations would be based on this income only. If this income does not enable you to travel, own a car, etc. then you simply work with the reality of living within your income.
This may seem like a harsh approach, but the fact is: There is no limit on how much you can spend, but there are limits on how much you can earn and save.
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He meant 80k-120k km not chf.
The “off season” are the season where people without children travel. He has children.
Let me help you: The Case Against Travel | The New Yorker
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I wish my car would generate 1k chf bills.
120k km per year is a huge expense item, in terms of car’s wear and tear, gas, and again, if that’s related to leisure activities, it means there are additional expenses related to these km. So OP may have a life full of enjoyment which is very nice but can be expensive.
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Just adding some context:
120k km/year is on average 328 km per day.
You only have this amount if you
A) use it for work to drive the whole day from X to Y
B) Live >150km from your workplace
C) immediately hop into the car after work to drive to the other side of Switzerland to have leisure.
I assume A or B, as C sounds very tiring to me. 
Maybe there is a D) which I do not know as a non-car enthusiast.
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Actually he wrote 80 120k km per year. So maybe he makes just 80 km the whole year 
(See Walken’s video
) as people often say here “I see myself out”
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OP does, but I replied to Prometheus and I couldn’t tell whether he has kids or not.
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I have one little thing to add to the topic. In what order of magnitude is this mortgage? OP compares it to rent. If the rent would be 20k and the mortgage is 7k, then I have news for you.
Also I would be interested whether the real estate ownership has been seriously planned (Rückstellungen? Considering paying off the mortgage or not? etc)
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Yes most of the mileage is done for work but a big part for leisure, trips and general use, probably half of it it is for work the rest for family use. We only have one car.
Mortgage is 1600 a month, a comparative house to rent would be between 4000 and 4500, if you can find in the area, as a single house is beyond difficult to rent.
As soon as I hit 7 years ownership I plan on selling and buying something else to fix up, it’s the sweet spot regarding gains tax on property and it’s a great opportunity to liberate the equity I have in the place.