Mustachians, introduce yourselves!

Share your story
21

Hi everyone!

I’m Nicolas, Swiss guy in his late 20s. I’m originally from Vaud and currently working in Zurich. I save about 50% of my income and I started investing with True Wealth one year ago. I’d like to reach FI by the time I’m 50. I am meticulously tracking my expenses in a spreadsheet. I guess I could use YNAB but playing with my spreadsheet is more fun than I care to admit.

I am currently looking for a good way to invest in funds with the pillar 3a. This article on Mustachian Post will be a great help!

I’m also shopping around for a better banking package. I am at UBS and pay CHF 10.- per month, which is not crazy expensive but as a matter of principle I’d like to pay nothing. :slight_smile:

Looking forward to discussing with you around here!

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22

Hey Nicolas,
welcome to the community!
for the pillar 3a i am doing some research myself, my current status is a VZ depot which has effectively a TER of 0.88. once I find something better, I will swich of course :slight_smile:
for banking i am very happy with postfinance. they have a threshold above which it has zero monthly fees. assets on the trading platform do count for this :wink:

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23

Thank you Mr. MP for setting up this forum!

About myself: Happy married to a very economic wife, living in best canton of central Switzerland, just improved our structure of living, that it allows us to save 55-60% of our pay out income (before income tax and health insurance, but after social taxes), working for an bank in real estate financing and interested to learn more about FI every day.

Personally I am not friend of the 3rd pillar, as it takes my flexability of investing as I want. We prefer to rent out a property and to rent a cheap flat for us, which gives us total flexability. But we are not allowed to use 3rd pillar money for this… When we lived in Zurich we maxed out 3rd pillar and paid additionally into the pension fund to lower taxes. As our marginal rate of tax / Grenzsteuersatz is much lower now, I am still not yet sure if we want to save this year in the 3rd pillar.

How are you guys protecting your portfolios against a very potential stock & bond market crash?

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24

Hello everyone,
I’m happy to have a Swiss forum :slight_smile:

For myself, I’m in my early 20s (never too early) I’m currently studying and working part time. I live near Lausanne. One of my big focus is mustachian investing, especially ETFs.
I would like to reach FI around 35, but maybe not in Switzerland.

I hope this community will find some answers on typical Swiss questions:
like should I open a 3a pillar ? which one is the best ? should I do my taxes myself ? and many more …
I will try to share most of my researches and advice on this forum.

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25

I’m not using YNAB. Just like @Nicolas, I track my expenses using a spreadsheet. I will probably sign up for free 1 month trial to see if it’s as good as it sounds.

26

Hi everyone,
I’m Grog. If you have read the forum on MMM you probably have read something written by me :smile:
What about me? Not married but happily coupled with one son, working in Bern, 31 y.o… 3 years ago I wasn’t happy with my job, long hours, not so rewarding. I switched job six months ago and now I really found a fit for me, so retiring is not my priority anymore. Still, my fire date is in 19 years, when I’ll be 50.
Nice to be here, life is getting in the way but I hope I’ll be able to contribute.
Good luck to you all

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27

Small villages FTW :wink:

28

And the 10kCHF question: what’s your job?!

29

May I ask what is/was the key differentiator which made you choose Switzerland vs. Canada — if not too personal?

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I personally use BCV Formule Directe which is CHF 3.5/m, and CHF 0/m once you got 10kCHF there.
I keep my emergency fund there (15kCHF) so we don’t pay any fees.

31

Thanks to you @Xeno to be part of the Community.
It’s quite funny to see you around, a banker! I hope to not hurt you guys too much with my past and future posts :wink:

Just to be sure to understand your question: you talk about a potential crash forecasted? or is it a generic question?

32

I’m curious to know the countries you think about for your FIRE life?

33

I can’t recommend it enough :wink: and somehow it has the look of a spreasheet — if that can convince you :joy:

34

about a year ago, i started using GnuCash (free open source) to keep track of my expenses. I like it, but i think for 99% of the users this would be geeky overkill, and it i am not aware of mobile device synchronisation. For me personally, the only thing it lacks is automated stock price query. there is a plugin for it, but i didnt manage to make it come alive.
why is everybody hyping YNAB so much as it costs CHF 60/y? there must be some open alternative…

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35

no idea yet, but maybe travelling for some years or stay some years in Spain or South Asia.

36

Well, I kept the YNAB Classic which was a one-shot fee.
Now if I wouldn’t have any option, I think I would still go with it as it has so much changed my life. Note that I didn’t dive into the new web version.

I would be curious to have your feedback if you give it a free trial.

Let us know if you find any interesting alternative.

37

I’m also tempted by Spain — at least during winter time here in CH (mid-oct until mid-apr).

38

I am a little different in this regard :slight_smile:
If I were barely FI now, i would not move to a cheaper or more sunny country. Simply because my social life, something that significantly contributes to my happiness, takes place here in Zurich!

But who knows, I might change over the years :smiley:

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39

Hi there!

I’m a south-german guy in my late thirties, living in Switzerland Kanton Thurgau. I’m using YNAB and try to budget and live the frugal way. At the same time I’m trying to invest smartly (passiv/buy-and-hold with low costs) and optimizing 3rd pillar, insurances, taxes and everything else to pay less and get the most out of it (e.g. moving 3rd pillar, switching health and car insurance and so on…). I keep track of my net worth and calculated my saving rates for the last 3 years lately. At the moment I’m calculating my pension gap, if I have one. I have no FI goal at the moment but it will be next. I try to find my optimal asset alocation and strategy at the moment. Can be Kommer, can be ARERO, can be something else (Meb Faber). I’m also investing in P2P lending. Next task will be also to find optimal investment strategies for my girlfriend and my little boy. I’m following MustachianPost and Mr. RIP in Switzerland and a lot of german blogs and podcasts but also some of the big US blogs like MrMoneyMoustache, etc. I’m a fan of Warren Buffett and I’m reading his books and books from Kostolany, Dr. Gerd Kommer, Gottfried Heller, Gerald Hörhan and a lot of articles ond PDFs. So, that’s it for the moment…

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40

I never made such a comparison. I have lived in 5 countries. Canada was the first one and Switzerland is the most recent one. Moved for either my job/education or my partner’s job.

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