I moved to Switzerland and I understood why the country has so many millionaires

Hi! My name is Olga and I have lived in Geneva for over 5 years. I left my usual life in my home country and my career in banking to work as a baker and write about travel. But the bakery always comes first.

Especially for readers of awesome.club I share the peculiarities of life in Switzerland and tell you what everyday life is like in a city where 6 out of 10 residents are millionaires. At the end of the post, there is a bonus that will help you get to know Geneva, without resorting to the services of a guide.

My husband received a job offer in Geneva and we decided to move. We had already visited Switzerland, but living and visiting are completely different things. Before leaving, I began to study in detail the information I found on the Internet about the peculiarities of life in Geneva. But I have to admit I didn’t find out much. So, I came up with the idea of ​​creating my blog to describe details about our move and simply share my impressions of our travels, which maybe can be useful to someone.

$4.87 for an organic cucumber

Before we moved in, everyone warned us that life in Geneva was insanely expensive. And it really is. I remember being surprised by the prices: 5.5 CHF (Swiss franc — CHF, 1 CHF = 3.92 reais) for a glass of water in a regular coffee shop and 115 CHF (450 reais) for a kilo of steak🇧🇷 I’m talking about a plain steak, not a kobe steak!

Over time, we learned that most locals bought food at the market or went to neighboring France, which is 20 minutes from downtown Geneva. The prices are really different, some products can cost almost twice less. The same meat will cost around 30 — 35 CHF (117.60 — 136.46 reais).

Of course, there are certain limitations to buying food in France and then transporting it across the border. First, the amount of purchases per person must not exceed 300 euros (about 1,311 reais), otherwise, you will have to pay customs duties. And secondly, in Switzerland there are limits on certain types of food. For example, no more than 1 kg of meat can be transported. If you’re shopping for groceries with your spouse, the limit will be doubled.

The rent for this 2-bedroom apartment with an antique kitchen and no stove is CHF 3,150 per month.

When we moved, we faced a big problem when renting an apartment. The fact is that even the local population prefers not to buy real estate, but to rent. According to some reports, only 40% of Swiss residents own their own home, while everyone else rents them.

Sometimes it’s 50 people at once to see an apartment in Geneva! Taking advantage of this situation, the owners organize real castings for their future tenants, requesting information and documents, as if they were processing a bank loan, and choosing those who are willing to sign a contract for many years.

The average cost of a 2 — 3 bedroom apartment is 2,800 — 4,000 CHF per month (10,975 — 15,680 reais). Any house that costs less is either on the outskirts of the city or is small and has some defects (it has a construction site nearby, is close to the railroad, or is an attic with a door and windows to the highway). Sometimes, of course, you can find a nice apartment for a lower price, but few are so lucky.

Swiss medicine occupies a prominent place all over the world. But who would have thought that we could have so much trouble with a pediatrician?

When I moved, I tried to make an appointment with the doctor for my daughter. First, there was the language barrier: for all the offices I called, they answered me in French (my knowledge of the language was limited to a few sentences) and sometimes answering machines answered automatically. If I managed to establish contact, they replied that there were no more schedules. In the end, one of the mothers at our daycare, who has lived here for a long time, helped me make an appointment with a pediatrician.

Grangette Clinic — we went to this clinic on the recommendation of my acquaintance. The modern building with an aquarium full of fish and children’s play area with books is just 5 — 10 minutes from the center of Geneva.

Everyone who lives in Switzerland for more than 3 months must have health insurance. Even the basics are quite expensive: around CHF 300 (R$1,176) per month, and for a child 100 — 150 per month (R$392 — 588). Dental services are not included.

However, if a person goes to the hospital without a plan, they will be taken care of anyway. If the patient does not have a home or is unemployed and cannot pay, they will attend to him free of charge.

In this country, doctors generally do not treat patients at home, not even children. For emergencies, there is the SOS Médecins service, but a general practitioner, not a pediatrician, will come.

If an adult is sick, he should go to the clinic or call an ambulance. A call can cost approx. 1,000 CHF (3,920 reais), although no one can indicate the exact price. However, if it is an emergency, a real risk of death, they can even send a helicopter.

The Swiss are used to living by the rules and often severely punish those who break them. For example, there can be no noise after 22:00. It is even forbidden to take out the trash or mow the lawn on weekends so as not to disturb the neighbors. Otherwise, they will not hesitate to call the police. Fines for talking on the phone while driving, incorrect parking, speeding, etc. And they are very tall. Once we had to pay a fine of 180 CHF (705 reais) to open the parking lot where our car was parked until after the closing time, at 19:00. And recently, a policeman was fined CHF 600. for exceeding the maximum speed allowed, when chasing some criminals.

Each year, when planning the budget, it is calculated how many fines each local resident must pay. For example, in Zurich, according to the plan for this year, it is CHF 152 (R$595) per person.

I always liked the bakery. Baking, mixing textures, decorating, that’s what I love. 3 years ago I started making cakes to order. At first it was just a hobby, but Geneva is a very small city, so information spreads quickly. I started getting requests not only from my blog followers, but also from local customers, as well as family and parents of my children’s schoolmates.

Currently, I can’t take all orders by myself, so I decided to open a cafe. But it’s not that simple. First, you need to have a lot of permissions, then wait another month to make sure the neighbors don’t object. Another problem is finding a place with a suitable rental and location. For example, I once went to see a four-story building in the center of the city, near Lake Geneva. There, on the first floor, I could set up a small and cozy cafeteria, but I was told the price was 23 thousand Swiss francs (more than 90 thousand reais). At first I thought it was the rent for the 4 floors, but I found out it was the price of only 68 square meters.

I cannot say that my life is very easy, but I am progressing towards my goal. So I hope very soon to be able to invite everyone to my own bakery.

We have a fondue pot in our house

If you come to Geneva and don’t try a fondue, you haven’t learned anything about Switzerland, because here it’s almost like the tea ceremony in England. Therefore, almost every family has its own fondue pot at home, and sets for preparing it are sold in supermarkets (although they are more for tourists).

The main varieties of fondue are cheese, meat and chocolate. Although in restaurants you can find a wide variety of flavors: cheese with champagne, mushrooms, truffles, bacon, etc., personally, I prefer cheese, although for many the smell of melted cheese is not one of the best.

I love living in Geneva. But what I miss the most here is the open and warm relationship between people. The Swiss do not allow you to immediately enter their world. They watch and analyze it for a long time before they start to have confidence. Although, of course, there are exceptions.

I also realized that Genevans cannot imagine their life without planning. Meetings with friends, vacation trips, weekends: everything is always scheduled in advance and is very similar from one year to the next. Previously, I found it strange that a person had such confidence in their future and their financial capabilities. But I got used to living like this and I think we have a lot to learn from the Swiss.

After living in Geneva for 5 years, I understood why there are so many millionaires here and what that means. Every Swiss has an average of half a million dollars in his account: according to data from the Annual Global Wealth Report (Global Wealth Report), prepared by the bank Credit Suisse🇧🇷 This is why the richest people on the planet are believed to live here.

But you have to take into account many factors. First, this is just an average. According to the same data, only 10.6% of the Swiss have more than 1 million dollars, and some do not even have 10 thousand dollars, that is, not all Swiss are fabulously rich.

Second, this figure is more likely to include pension fund savings as well. It can be used, for example, to buy real estate or to receive your own retirement. In other words, it’s not a million in cash, but in inaccessible economies until a certain point.

Third, few Swiss spend a lot of money buying expensive cars and designer clothes. Modesty, economy, asceticism and respect for work are the foundations of Protestantism, a religion in Switzerland since the Middle Ages. Therefore, the tradition of economy of the local residents is passed on from generation to generation.

Fourthly, here you can’t even buy a house for a million Swiss francs, except in a small town far from the main ones. Prices are very high, so even millionaires live a modest life.