I’m in my early twenties and fortunate enough to earn a good 6-figure salary, which puts me in a very fortunate and privileged situation, especially for my age. However, I still feel pretty conflicted about actually living life here, not just earning money. I don’t want to work my whole life, which is why I save more than 50% (more or less into the FIRE movement) of what I earn after taxes, which obviously, even with a big income, is only possible with a really money-optimized lifestyle. I live in a shared flat, in a low-tax “Gemeinde”, and can work mostly remotely. I have a cheap gym, always shop at Aldi/Lidl, and basically have no other expenses: Leisure spending? Minimal. Restaurants? Rarely. Going out? Pretty much never. Non-covered medical stuff like going to the dentist? FUCK NO. Let me not get started on how f*ed I would be if I wanted kids. There were times where I wasn’t as frugal, but since I learned HOW massive the difference is between Swiss pricing and Eastern Asian/European or even German/Spanish pricing, it’s hard not to feel like a lot here is just a scam. Nowadays I do most of the fun things abroad. Don’t get me wrong, especially as an “Usländer”, I genuinely appreciate Switzerland for what it offers/offered me: great education, excellent career options, safety, a good healthcare system (if insurance pays), relatively low taxes, a beautiful region, good public transport, decent political stability, a strong currency, and just so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had elsewhere. But right now it feels like the smartest approach might be to grind hard and save aggressively in Switzerland while enjoying the free/cheap things like the beautiful landscape for the bigger half of the year, and then spend up to 181 days abroad working remotely where I can actually enjoy life without worrying about every expense. Am I the only one who feels that way? Info: Used AI for proofreading. submitted by /u/xk1r4a
Originally posted by u/xk1r4a on r/Switzerland