Thanks a lot for the quiet/quite thing, wasn’t even aware of the two words and of course the corrections robot doesn’t help quite a bit. Please tell me such things, as I hardly use English any longer since I stopped working 12 years ago.
The numbers above were in CHF, all-time highs in all currencies in … let me check… in USD December 26, in CHF and EUR December 10.
As said I trade only in U.S. markets mainly because of trading cost and data availability. However, I do not only hold U.S. stocks, but the Dollar makes any type of comparison easier.
The CHF is the big exception, the exotic currency that multiplied its value by more than 4 to the Dollar since first world war. But then in that many years the accumulated interest difference was probably more than 400%. And as I said, the volatility is peanuts compared to stocks.
I’m curious as to why you have 299k as a Lombard loan and 48k in cash. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pay off the Lombard loan by 48k and extend it as soon as you need cash?
(This may be a naive question, as I am not familiar with Lombard loans)
48k is about the minimum I keep in CHF, EUR and USD in several accounts. Probably will soon have to get some more CHF, AHV is too low…
It is even worse: I keep around 1k in cash. Came in handy at the blackout in Spain: the only restaurant that was open because they cooked with fire asked to show cash before serving and many Spaniards did only have a card or non-working phone to pay… and had to leave hungry.
Got robbed once and lost the 1k, that is the other side. No risk no fun…
My own stance on that is that lombard lans are poor tools to provide liquidity. Their conditions can change at any time and they can discount your collateral at their discretion. When you intend to withtraw the cash, the availability might not be there.
Margin is part of the money management of my mechanical strategies. I always use margin for taking out money, as me needing money is a bad signal to sell. Then, depending on the strategy, I just wait or I sell until the needed margin multiplier according to my money management is reached again.
I never ever go even close to my margin limit. You have to oversee your margin situation at every moment.
However, I probably will pay back the mortgage in some years, but only if the market continues its crazy bull ride. When markets go down I raise my margin debt.
Overall I am very happy and realize I am in a lucky position. Market held up well, compensation was good and I fully exhausted Pillar 2 (1E) buy backs. I feel that I have FIRE achievable with 35.
My current tax rate is as high as it gets for Zurich and looking back a move to a tax advantageous canton and city would have substantially helped accelerate the timeline. That being said, it is against my convictions but I admit it does hurt a little to think a 20-something minute train commute would have saved me about a million those last few years.
Objective for 2026: preparations for FIRE mid 2027, assuming stock market holds up. To me, this means:
Diversify from US
Reduce stocks exposure just a little (by ~10%?)
Goal: reduce exposure to a possible AI bubble eventually deflating (both income and savings quite exposed today) in preparation for eventual FIRE in 2027
Buy-in amount was limited (all things considered).
Interesting way to look at it. Assuming my average 2 days in the office, 1 hour extra commute per day, works out to ~ 2500 CHF/hour. Thank you for making me cry .
More seriously though, I live in the city, I enjoy its services, I believe one should pay for those and that also counts for high income earners. I don’t believe in externalizing costs (e.g. traffic, those huge ZG plated SUVs that make my life as a bicyclist a little more dangerous every day). I can only hope the city and canton put that to good use.
At the risk of making your cry more, is that more or less than your all-in hourly ‘rate’ at your job? If less, I guess you can easily put it down to not wanting to ‘work’ longer hours. Otherwise… here’s a hankerchief
I guess large part of the comp is not covered by pension? (otherwise I would have expected a fairly large gap, esp. if most of the compensation above the 1e threshold)
Out of curiosity, what’s the sector? (I haven’t really heard of people in tech having 1e, so I guess it’s financial?)
Quite a lot more simply from the fact that I’m taxed at 37% ~25% (ZH city+canton) whereas ZG would be ~9%. Commute time, even one hour extra a day, is a fraction of my yearly hours. So, yes. I’ll go and grab a beer tonight and congratulate myself to being a good citizen.
Some of us in tech do have a 1E (fairly recent though).
Would you just postpone FIRE? A year? But I’m gonna help you with the transition: transfer your income into my account so you can simulate what it’s like IRL -on a financial side- and you’re keeping optionality if you change your mind after a year without income.
Out of curiosity, do you say you are 35 or that you will be FIRE by the age of 35? Do you really plan to stop working at that age, or just take a break and then return to a less stressful job?
I understand people who want to retire early at a certain age, or reduce their workload or take on a less stressful job simply to enjoy a more peaceful life. So I’m curious to know what you plan to do once you’ve achieved your theoretical FIRE at the age of 35 (if I understand it correctly)? Asking because I’ll be 36 and still questionning myself in my current job
I agree, we are on a Swiss based forum. Why would you not calculate in CHF? Because you plan to leave for RE? But still, everything for you is in CHF right now, going abroad do people really calculate what the costs are in USD rather than CHF? Your entire frame of reference is CHF, I find it bizarre one would not track one’s assets in CHF. And this includes me having mostly USD denominated stocks/ETFs (though my Excel does show actual return and constant FX return).
Planning to spend FIRE in another country would indeed be a valid reason if the prospect is spending the accumulated wealth there and to simply keeping accumulating while in Switzerland.
For some comparisons, also, what matters is how assets behave with regards to one another. If data is more readily available in USD or another currency, taking the extra step of converting everything into CHF wouldn’t enlighten the decision more. This doesn’t apply to the net worth perspective of this topic but can be true for allocation/strategic/tactical decisions happening more broadly on the board (and I think this discussion is about more than just this thread).
I personally think it’s important to label things appropriately and compare what is comparable but people should use the metrics applicable to them or convenient for them. Financial decisions are personal after all. None of us will partake in the benefits or share the losses another one of us does because of their decisions.
One thing probably going on under the surface, which certainly affects me, is that we tend to / may compare ourselves to the other posters so we would like that comparison to be meaningful and fair. I think it should apply to topics like this one (‘share’ your net worth progression implies taking into account the recipients/readers more than the poster, it’s data sharing) but not necessarily all topics on the board.
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I wish you all a good start into 2026!
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