Fresh PhD graduate jumping into FI world

Hi all,

I am an Italian guy living in Switzerland since about 4 years.
I just finished my PhD in Computer Science and I am about to jump into the job market. I got interested in the FIRE movement watching a video of @MrRIP a couple of week ago. I started to read then his and a couple of other related website/forums, mainly specific to Switzerland.
I would like to share my current situation and ask for feedback on how to improve it.
I have already several ideas, but I’d enjoy some confrontation here :slight_smile:

In these years with my PhD salary I was able to do the archive the following:

  • about 40k on a UBS saving account, meant to act as emergency savings;
  • about 20k in my third pillar invested at UBS (Vitainvest 75 World fund) that I believed to be a brilliant investment before knowing about its TER (1.7%);
  • about 10k laying on an Italian saving account.

My idea is to invest big part of what lies on my saving accounts on ETF via IB or DeGiro (given I won’t reach 100k in the very near future) and to keep much less for emergencies. I would like to keep it simple using 3 kinds of ETF, one for world shares, one for CH shares and one for CH bonds (in about 50/30/20 percentages).
For my third pillar I was thinking about moving to VIAC or Finpension. I have no idea of how complex is to do the transfer. An option could be to just start a new one there.

I would also be interest in knowing your opinion about the new mobile-only banks like Neon or Zak. As said, at the moment I am with UBS. I have a Young Professional account that costs me 6 CHF per month.
I know that the other alternatives do not have fees but I don’t like the idea of doing every kind of operation with my smartphone. Plus, I could never complain about the service at UBS.

That’s it basically :slight_smile: Thank you very much!

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Welcome giograno!

Easy.
Open an account at one of them, make a transfer request with provided UBS account number, and they handle the work.

P.S. Skip the bonds.

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Welcome to you !

You can skip the bond as your emergency cash and your 2nd pillar could be considered as bonds.

Like @dbu said, you just have to open an account on VIAC or Finpension and make a transfer request with one of them to UBS.

If you don’t want to do all the management of your finance with an application, stay with UBS or take your cantonal bank account if it is cheaper than UBS. Sometimes, you don’t pay fees if you have a fixed amount in your bank account. For example, with BCV, if you have 10’000 CHF you don’t pay fees to the bank.

Welcome, and thanks for the mention :slight_smile:

Thank you very much all :slight_smile:
I will definitively open an account with VIAC or Finpension and move my third pillar.

What would you suggest the other saving just lying around on my saving accounts?
I want to pursue a long term strategy investing in ETF. For a new investor with less than 100k, would you suggest IB to access to US ETF (that afaik are more tax efficient) or DeGiro with EU counterparts?

Definitely IB if you plan to reach 100k within a few years.
I also learned yesterday that if you’re below age 26 you get special conditions with IB (but I don’t know your age).

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Thanks :slight_smile:
I wish I could take these under 26 special conditions, but unfortunately they do not apply to me!

Haven’t heard of those conditions. Can you tell us more?

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/index.php?f=38144&p=requiredminimums

Basically the monthly fee for accounts below 100k is reduced from 10USD to only 3 USD for people of age 25 or under.
I don’t think there’s anything else

Hey welcome!

I think you have a pretty good idea of where you want to go. I’m also at UBS and can’t really be bothered to move I think, the fees are what they are (10CHF per month for me), but I think their website is good as well as their support. I quite like the budget part of the ebanking. It also is very handy because it automatically categories expenses and most of the time it’s correct, takes off a lot of work categorising all the transactions yourself. That is if you want to keep a close eye on your expenses :wink:

I personally had a basic fisca UBS account for 3A which is pretty bad, I transferred everything to VIAC a month ago, it’s very easy just use the form you can print from the website. Just be mindful that the actual transfer will take several weeks, 3 weeks in my case before the funds were transferred.

I personally decided to go with IB for my investing with a smaller sum than you. I’m looking long term and I don’t want the hassle of having to switch from Degiro to IB at some point or whatever. You can check this article about that Financial Quickie: what’s the minimum amount that makes sense to start investing on Interactive Brokers? – Retire In Progress maybe you recognise the author :stuck_out_tongue:

Good luck!

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