In most, if not all cantons of Switzerland, within cantonal borders, municipalities have names with the same ending and that usually sound very similar. Is there a historical reason for this? Haven't really seen much of this pattern in other countries. Funny thing is once you cross cantonal borders it immediately changes to different patterns. Some examples:

Zürich: Dietikon, Effretikon, Dietlikon / Thalwil, Adliswil, Volkestvil

Bern: Ostermundigen, Ittigen, Zollikofen, Schüpfen

Vaud: Pully, Cully, Lutry, Bussigny / Renens, Denens, Echandens, Echichens

Genève: Veyrier, Vernier, Meinier / Satigny, Dardagny, Cartigny

Valais: Evionnaz, Vernayaz, Dorénaz

St. Gallen: Uzwil, Wil, Zuzwil, Flawil

(Won't really include Ticino since it's the only fully italian speaking canton)

1. I'm US citizen, just moved here. As per my info, the usual third pillar, second pillar doesn't give me any tax benefits. Because USA taxes total income anyway. Is that correct info?
2. I'm a regular employee, not an ultra-rich, tax holiday shopper. No sizable savings in US / other countries. I can luckily save some money - 10% of my salary. What simple tax saving options I can use, to reduce my total tax (Swiss+US) burden? Not looking to buy any property anywhere, but prefer plain investments into index funds / bonds etc.
3. What work expenses are tax deductible - considering total taxes? I know that, CH offers tax break on things like transport expense, lunch / mobile bills. Is that also considered in US taxes too, or is reciept-keeping futile?

So basically a few weeks ago on Wednesday, my dad was being a BIG a$$ to my little brother. For NO reason at all. A package for him came by post. And my brother took it in from the postman. So far so good. In the evening, my dad came home and started screaming. He shouted, because the package looked opened and weird. Then he ACCUSED my little brother of opening the package and STEALING the box. He started calling him a liar/piece of $hite and that he should go to his room to get the box straight away. He kept saying that he didn’t do anything and that the package arrived like that. My dad said that it can’t be, that the package was “opened” bla bla bla. The thing was, everything was still inside. My dad was being such an ahole, that I stood up and shouted at him. I said that if he doesn’t believe my brother, he should go check his wardrobe and he will find that there is nothing, because he is not a liar. My dad then came up to me and said “shut up bitch. You have nothing to say here”. I then retaliated and said that he should stop looking at everything and everyone so negatively, I am sick and tired of his attitude. For 20 years I have never said anything when my father said something mean, but I was so angry that evening, that I couldn’t control myself. The emotion anger is quite new to me. After that my mum sent me to my room.

My mum called the company the next day to ask how the box was packaged and it was packaged exactly how it was when my brother received it. So my dad was WRONG and he didn’t even apologise to my brother for everything he said.

Two days later, my dad came up to me and asked if we can talk the next day. I said that I want to talk now. So we went to talk. I was going to tell him that a) he shouldn’t call me a bitch ever again and b) that I will not keep my mouth shut, as I have done that for twenty years. (I literally protected him when child services accused him of abuse MULTIPLE times!!) So we sat down and the FIRST thing he said was: “I decided that you are to leave my house by July” Obviously I was like huh, but I didn’t say it out loud. He then outlined the conditions AND he said that I have to pay him $500 (?!) a month until I move out. I have been paying all of my bills (health insurance etc.) myself, even though it’s his job. Like what, YOU are the one who is kicking me out and you have to support me until I am finished with university anyway. So the 1.5k I am giving you rn will bite you in the a$$ later on, because there will be 1.5k less in my savings. And he will only start sending me money after I have used up all of my savings. So he is kicking me out and I have to use my savings? Make that make sense. By Swiss law he must support me until I have finished my first degree (which will be my bachelor’s in 2027).

AND he didn’t even consult my mum about it?? Like the next day I asked her if she knew I have to move out and she was like no??

Any advice or responses would be greatly appreciated. Direction to different Beratungsstellen maybe? You can criticise me - I am open to changing my point of view.

I’m about to finish working for a big company, so I still have a legally true Arbeitsbestätitung (employment confirmation) till the end of the month of April. What are the things I can do, in the next week or so, that I can’t do without an Arbeitsbestätigung? For example, if I wanted to take out a lease on a new car, should I get that done now? What else won’t I be able to do after my contracted period finishes? I don’t want to break any rules!

After checking many different car abos, I see that Carify would work best for me. They have a great choice of used cars, which makes it a bit cheaper than other sites with new or newish cars only.

I just found out they use referral codes and if I use someone's code, I will get 200 CHF discount and the person sharing that code will get that as well.

Would anyone like me to use theirs? I want to book the car tomorrow (yay, the salary is coming!) :)

PS. If anyone would like to use my code, it's AL-CARIFY-15446012828

I understood that most of the banks (I like Post Fianance´s offers), they ask for ´´gute bonität`´´and obviously 1 year of permit B ( in my case ).

How do you get a gute bonität in this case if I had no credits in Switzerland?
Had some in Germany which were fine, everything paid but here nothing.

Will I be eventually elibigle for 14k CHF (400 ish per month)? The salary is around 7k brutto so that s not a problem, but the bonität.

my wife will come to switzerland and will look for a job. She doesnt want to disclose that to her current employer, so it will be hard to get a reference letter. Furthermore it will be in a foreign language and for a different profession.

Will be that important?

My wife and I have worked together in a small training center, helping the unemployed become better with certain PC software. She has been working since 2001 and me around the past 9 years. The direction of this company was a couple, who split a few years back. Ever since then the workplace has become increasingly toxic, which is magnified in a such a small environment, less than 10 employees. We love what we do for a living, but in the end, we understand that this job is not worth the abuse that we are putting up with.

There have been many RH/Team meetings in the past years, all with very negative tones, nothing positive. A few months back, the direction scheduled another RH meeting because they were not happy with something I did. For some reason, my wife was invited too. She played no part in why this meeting was taking place, it was all because of something I did. In this meeting, the direction proposed that we both quit the company, or "play corporate". The error that I commited was nowhere near that serious, but we decided to agree to "play corporate".

After this meeting the atmosphere at work improved for awhile, until about a month ago. We use a certain software to communicate at work, and the director enjoys to post very scarcastic comments repremanding certain employees when they do something he doesnt approve of. In the last few weeks I have been the target of many of these comments, again for minor things such as not vacuuming my class before leaving for the day. There was a team meeting a couple weeks ago, where the director was unhinged, border line screaming at everyone for small things. Skipping to today, I have recieved another RH meeting with the direction, again including my wife. We both have a very bad feeling about what this is about. We fear this could be another attempt to push us out or maybe worse.

I would very much appreciate some advice. I was not born here, I have lived in Switzerland only for the past 9 years, and am not up to date as far as the protection for workers. I totally understand my wife and I need to find another job ASAP. How should I prepare for this meeting tomorrow? If they try to get us to sign something, like a resignation letter for example, what should we do? Do we have the right to not sign something immediately? What should we be aware of when reading what they propose? Thank you in advance.

Hello, I visited an appartement and the current tenant is leaving and has to find a person who can take over the lease.

My application was transferred (it was the only one) and the rental agency does not want to continue to rent the appartement. In other words, the current tenant leaves, and the agency will not rent this anymore.

Is this possible ? Isn’t this a break of the rental agreement by the agency ?

My application was excellent and I had all the requirements (salary, poursuites, employer’s letter, references …)

Since I moved to Switzerland some years ago I don't have "traditional phone line" (landline or mobile). Instead, I have an "infinite mobile data" plan. I am curious to see how many people has no "traditional phone line" as well. When I bring this up in conversations, everyone stares at me and be like "what? You have no phone? How do you live?". I originally did this due to lack of money (data-only plans are really cheap, like 10-20 CHF/month for infinite in all CH). Luckily, now I have more money, but I still decide to have no phone since I always managed to talk with everyone I care using WhatsApp, Telegram or what not, and at the same time I also avoid annoying spam calls. Additionally, I save some money. Whenever I am forced to call to a non-internet phone number I use some app like e.g. Spype, which happens once or twice a year.

Disclaimer: My question is just out of personal curiosity, I don't work for any phone or internet company.

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Hoi! I want to buy my familiy some chocolate from Switzerland. But I am unsure what the best options are. Of course there is Sprüngli, Läderach, Lindt, Cailler and a lot of other brands.. But I am unsure which product to buy from which brand. So what are the best products of the different brands? Any specific recommendations?

For example how about buying a box of Cailler pralines or from Läderach? Or are their chocolate bars better? Or a truffes cake from Sprüngli? Thanks a lot <3

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this topic, but I've noticed others posting similar issues, so I thought I'd share my experience. A few months ago, I began receiving calls from random people asking why I had called them. Apparently, it appeared that I had called them first. Initially, I was skeptical, but one polite individual even showed me the call log with the time my number supposedly called.

This started happening after I initiated the cancellation of my contract with Sunrise, though the contract is still valid for another year. Has anyone experienced something similar? If so, what should I do? How is it possible for someone to use my number like this?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Bonjour all,

Firstly apologies for asking the same "Can I work two jobs question"
So I received a job offer to become a sailing instructor at a well known private school in Geneva and it's something I'd really like to work on (I've been a sailing instructor in the past). The working hours would be Mon-Fri from 16:00 until 19:00 and potentially Sunday times, from April-June and end of August until October; 18.5 hours per week for about 5 months in the year. However, I recently started working 100% (40 hour week) at an NGO in Geneva. My question is would this be legally feasible? (My current contract has no provisions prohibiting a second job). I've read on all the former posts here in r/Switzerland, as well as the Swiss government website but could not find anything pertaining to my situtation. As I currently work an office job but sailing would be outside of the 45 hour limit. I have an interview for the sailing post Monday and any information would be great so I can come prepared.

I have an e-reader (Kobo Nia) that just broke down and I know which part is broken. If I had an old e-reader of the same model I could change the part and repair it, but I have no idea where I could find one. The various Brocki's don't have broken stuff. Is there a place (physical or online) where they have old non-functioning devices available ?

(I'm in Bern if that helps)

To their credit, they call from a real number (which i never answer*) which is listed on search .ch .

On search .ch they have like a hundred numbers listed, different languages, and to my great amusement -- * No advertising material

But they are persistent, 3-5 times per week they call..

​

*I have called it back before from my blocked work line, answered as concordia.

I'm struggling to understand why in my company all new fathers send out those Rundmails when they have a newborn. Same happens when they get married. And then their chefs always ask for money for a gift. It's not even people from my team.

Why is this a thing? It's the 3rd time in 6 months, is annoying and sounds like begging for money from strangers essentially.

Hey All,

do you know threre a still any flowery areas (blooming bushes, trees, flowers) in the Zurich area and around for a shoot? :)

Please help us! I really want some flowery romantic pictures 😻

Many thanks,

Viktorija

Im Titel stehts eigentlich schon. Wir haben bei unserem Miethaus eine Kündigungsfrist von 6 Monaten, wollen aber bereits in 3 Monaten raus. Ich habe gelesen, dass wir ausserordentlich kündigen können und wenn ein Nachmieter der finanziell und allgemein zumutbar ist, gefunden wird, sind wir von der weiteren Mietzahlung entbunden.

Die Vermieterin hat es nun aber überhaupt nicht eilig mit der Suche nach einem Nachmieter. Dürfen wir als Mieter schon ein Inserat schalten um einen Nachmieter auf eigene Faust schneller zu finden, oder braucht es dazu die Erlaubnis der Vermieterin?

We have some friends staying with us for a couple of days that are from Australia and they’ve never seen snow.

The weather hasn’t been so great lately, and I know there has been some snow. We haven’t got as much time as we like, but I would like to show them some.

We live near Schaffhausen and have a car, but not so much time or money.

Any suggestions for where to go to find snow today?

Edit: Thanks all! Loads of great ideas! I really didn’t expect so many so fast! Hearing that there should still be some around in the next couple of days (combined with jet lag) meant we now have a lot of options and it seems maybe we don’t need to rush as much as we thought. Thank you for all your tips and advice

I recently thought about the similarity of the french and swiss german word for sweets, which is "bonbon" and "guetzli". Both have a part in their word which translates to good. So does the word "guetzli" origin from the french language or vice versa? or is it just a coincidence?

Hi guys I’m living in Switzerland and I want to watch the matches of my team Manchester United, how I can see the premier league in Switzerland it’s many offers or not ? But at same time I want a football subscription with champions league ? Someone can help me to choice best offer?

Good Evening everybody, i want to ask for some advice. I am currently enrolled in my first year at ZHAW in a technical bachelor course and about to finish second semester fulltime(due to personal reasons im not able to do parttime). I am struggeling, as im not sure i want to continue and i dont think ill have any benefits from it, due to beeing a very handy person and only just keeping up with the study, so im not sure if ill even be able to complete it. I know it would be beneficial to my career and pay, but at the same time i cant imagine spending another 2 years in school. I am debating whether a course as a techniker Maschinenbau or Systemtechnik would be more beneficial, as i could work 80% and be at school 1 day and 1 evening out of the week. I want to ask for any Experiences and people who have experience with either to share, and just advice on what you guys think is the better course of action. Thanks in Advance

I'm living in a small town in Vaud.

All my neighborhood buildings have fiber access and they have FTTH. It's only the building where my flat is located that lacks it. Once Swisscom told me that the owner had not signed the document to bring fiber into the building.

Where I can find the real cause? How/where I can refer to oblige the agency or owner to do it?

Does it cost too much for the owner that he/she refused to sign?

Honestly, in the heart of Europe in 2024, being without fiber Internet is unacceptable and bizarre, really I mean. I only have 50 Mbps old ADSL with twisted copper technology and I hate it when I pay nearly 50 for it per month.

I get now and then 3-4 recruitment agencies that ask me for the same role - admitted it doesn't happen often. But still I would like to find a good recruitment agency where at the end of the line is a human beeing that has more than 30 seconds for me and is not responding with automated emails (like I just experienced with one of them). Any site where I can find reviews? The only review I find are about working at that recruitment company, which is not what I was looking for :).

Hi all! I'm visiting Switzerland for the first time tomorrow and I need to get from Basel to Bern.

Are there any other options or just train? I'm also trying to look on BlaBla Car but apparently it's not available in Switzerland? Are there any other apps you use?

Due to todays incident which is insofar rare as usually less severe events dont even make it to the public, what was "the" incident during your RS/ER or WK/CR that might never made it into the newspapers?

For me it was not in my unit but the same casern we stayed where some dude on (weekend I think) guard played with his gun while sitting until he shot in the ceiling in front of him. No one was harmed but its still crazy to think about the potential danger. Dont know what the penalty was though.

Is there e job or a sidehustle in switzerland that you can do without any experience and can make you allot of money. Maybe because nobody else wants to do it. It doesn't matter if it is an Hours a day or 1-2 days a week.