The Swiss Appeal

I will start with a simple question: Are you and your family safe?

Today this might be an uncomfortable question to ask for some, but worthy of all our consideration. With so much uncertainty in the world today, we need to analyse the various decisions we must make to keep our family and investments secure.

For financial and personal protections the following criteria are important:

A diversified portfolio that includes:

• Gold, which has been a topic of many of my recent articles
• Agriculture and food related investments, a natural human requirement 
• Property and residence.

We have seen an alarming increase in terrorist attacks across Europe. As a result choosing where to live and where to set up a business, have become important.

For people who have a degree of mobility, a few countries stand out: 

When seeking safety and security, the top 10 nations of the Global Peace Index and of the ranking of the happiest people in the world in 2016 were:

Due to the terrorist events that took place in Sweden and Norway in April this year, Scandinavia will suffer a slight downgrade for 2017.

The following nations top the lists

For the Americas, Canada is first in class.

In Australasia, New Zealand kicks all the other countries in to touch,

In Europe there are two distinct areas: 

? Northern Europe, with Denmark a clear favourite and Iceland faring extremely well. 

? Central Europe, where two small countries, Austria and Switzerland, punch way above their size.

When considering safe property investments, a buyer should consider mortgage rates. Again Denmark tops the list: Mortgage rates at Denmark’s two largest lenders have fallen below zero!

Denmark appears to be the clear winner. Reality is a little different. 

1. As Denmark has had a negative benchmark deposit rate for nearly five years this has had a significant impact on the housing market, which has experienced soaring property prices. The risk of a property price collapse looms on the horizon. 
2. Income tax in this country is very high 
3. Sales tax is very high

This is where one country stands out. It is a rather small country in the centre of Europe. It is covered in mountains and lakes. It is known for its watches and chocolate and some of you will have guess that I am referring to Switzerland.

Switzerland today offers a rather interesting package within Europe for any person or family seeking a safe clean country to live in: 

It ranks 7th on safety and 2nd on the happiness list.

What many might not realise is that Switzerland has

1. Low tax rates in many cantons
2. A negative prime rate and as a result has cheap mortgage rates 
3. Housing prices have been falling and appear to be bottoming out
4. Good transport and connectivity to the whole of Europe and the world
5. A diverse population with excellent linguistic skills including English
6. A very well educated and skilled work force 
7. A strong image on the world scene.

For the last 5 years property prices in Switzerland have been falling. As a result this country is becoming increasingly attractive as a base to own property.

With an excellent educational system, extremely cheap university fees, it is one of the most interesting countries to raise a family.

Not many people speak about Switzerland, as the Swiss are not good at selling themselves. Many today still think that this country is a very expensive place to live in and where the cost of the work force is too high.

Due to the introduction in 2010-11 of the additional band of tax in the UK, a number of companies moved from London to Switzerland. These companies came too early:

• Salaries were high 
• Cost of living was high 
• House prices were high 

As a result some of these corporations came, tested the waters, decided that life was too expensive and left. They should have held on a little longer.

The EU crisis forced quite a few changes. As Europe disintegrated, unemployment rose in the countries bordering Switzerland and the results were inevitable. A natural arbitrage took place.

“Frontarliers” is the name given to people living in surrounding countries but working in Switzerland. Their numbers soared. The impact of the EU crisis started to come into full effect. Salaries dropped as the “Frontarliers“ accepted lower pay than the Swiss and forced a significant correction in headcount costs. 

Today Switzerland is a far more balanced country. 

It will never be called cheap but the excesses of the bull-run that lasted until 2012 are over.

• Salaries have certainly dropped one third if not 50%
• Social charges are much lower than in continental Europe
• High quality housing has become affordable again 
• Education is top notch and if you chose the Swiss schooling system virtually free
• Sales tax is low

The only point that can remain confusing is the Swiss income tax and corporate tax system. There are significant differences between the taxation of each of the 26 cantons and proper advice is required in order to make the correct choice.

However if you are looking for solid investments and a safe place to live, the following package has become very interesting and difficult to find in any other European country: 

1. Property in Switzerland

2. An investment portfolio that includes

o Gold stored in a Swiss vault

o Agricultural and food related investments via Swiss companies who are some of the world leaders in this field

Switzerland will learn to market itself and therefore attract companies to establish themselves in this country. As usual the first to take the plunge will end up with the best deals. 

The package will be “Made in Switzerland”: A trademark recognised around the globe.