Does anyone have any idea of the standard of living in Zurich for a teacher with a trailing spouse?
I'm looking at the elite tier schools where the salary comes in over 70,000+ swiss francs on search ( I have no clue what the actual salary would be). It doesn't seem like housing is included....
Would we be able to save and live well? How would it compare to being in one of the elite Thai schools? How about retirement savings/pension?
Living and salary in Zurich
Re: Living and salary in Zurich
You're monthly costs for two people will be between 4000-5000 francs per month including housing and insurance. If you ski or travel, you will want to budget another 1000 per month. If you live like a mouse, then you could do slightly better. You'll need at least 70000 after tax to get some savings. You will be put into the Swiss pension fund which is not great, but is secure.
Response
Concur with @Green your looking at about CHF50K a year for a single and about CHF60K a year for a couple to do okay, which doesnt include any frills in the budget. The tax rate is about 30%, so you would need an income of about CHE100K a year to meet a reasonable European lifestyle. You wouldnt have any savings or any real splurges, mostly work and home maybe an evening out on the weekend.
WE packages rarely include housing at anything except the elite tier IS, and they don't need to to fill their recruiting needs.
How would Switzerland compare to Thailand, in what way? Economically CHE70K would be a typical income for a working professional. 2LDK, monthly transportation, mobile, utilities, reasonable food budget, a few new clothes once a year, local holiday time. Compared to the salary at somewhere like ISB, you would be living a VERY high lifestyle if you wanted, 4LDK, domestic help, you could exclusively take taxis everywhere, mobile, utilities, fine dining regularly, monthly shopping and exploration/travel, daily massages (okay thats not fair, massage, the therapeutic type, is dirt cheap. Literally ordering dirt to be delivered to your home would cost more) would all be reasonable expectations.
The biggest differences are 1) Financially, to retire out of Thailand, you have to do it yourself and take responsibility for it yourself. Switzerland will give you a pension, and social insurance. 2) Asian culture vs. Western culture, its less a culture shock and easier to acclimate. Of course Thailand has certain recreational and social opportunities that would be unaffordable on a single IT salary in Switzerland.
WE packages rarely include housing at anything except the elite tier IS, and they don't need to to fill their recruiting needs.
How would Switzerland compare to Thailand, in what way? Economically CHE70K would be a typical income for a working professional. 2LDK, monthly transportation, mobile, utilities, reasonable food budget, a few new clothes once a year, local holiday time. Compared to the salary at somewhere like ISB, you would be living a VERY high lifestyle if you wanted, 4LDK, domestic help, you could exclusively take taxis everywhere, mobile, utilities, fine dining regularly, monthly shopping and exploration/travel, daily massages (okay thats not fair, massage, the therapeutic type, is dirt cheap. Literally ordering dirt to be delivered to your home would cost more) would all be reasonable expectations.
The biggest differences are 1) Financially, to retire out of Thailand, you have to do it yourself and take responsibility for it yourself. Switzerland will give you a pension, and social insurance. 2) Asian culture vs. Western culture, its less a culture shock and easier to acclimate. Of course Thailand has certain recreational and social opportunities that would be unaffordable on a single IT salary in Switzerland.
Re: Living and salary in Zurich
Doable, the salary would be around 95k. The tax is not 30%, but considerably lower. You would live well on that money, but not Thailand style on an elite school package. I have lived in both countries, it depends what do you want really. Asia amazing for travel, eating out, no domestic work. Europe less travel but still plenty, as switzerland is in the middle of Europe and you can drive to most places. I would say that in Asia you would live like an executive while in Europe you are just someone with an average lifestyle (cooking, cleaning, not out all the time, etc). Good luck, both countries are great places!