Canton Vaud, home of the rich and famous - and me

Before moving to Switzerland, I always knew the country and its inhabitants were wealthy. That it was the land of low tax rates and attracted the rich and famous. But reading an article recently, I was surprised just how many famous people called Switzerland home. Tina Turner lives near Zurich. Roger Federer lives near Basel. But it seems to be canton Vaud, the canton that I call home, that seems to be the most popular.

Canadian singer Shania Twain lives near Vevey (also the home of Nestlé),
Ikea's Ingvar Kamprad
singing legend Phil Collins lives about a 20 minute drive away, while former F1 driver Michael Schumacher lives in Gland, the next town over. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder and owner of Ikea, is actually the richest person living in Switzerland and lives in a modest house near Lausanne. Most exciting of all is that I've heard rumours that none other than George Clooney has a residence in Switzerland with a 1260 post code - my post code. George Clooney could have a house in my neighbourhood! 

Aside from celebrities living in the neighbourhood, the signs of serious wealth and privilege are around. At nearly $100,000 per year, the most expensive school in the world, Le Rosey, is just up the road in Rolle. It educates the children of the seriously rich, celebrities and royalty. 

Down along the lake, and up in the foothills of the Jura, sits the nice houses and sprawling estates of these people, living in quiet anonymity. Sheltered from view behind thick trees and high walls, you only get a sense of the luxurious scale of these places from a plane as it comes down the lake, getting ready to land at Geneva airport. I always like to grab a window seat on that side of the plane since it's the only way I get to see how the one percent live. 

Nyon and Geneva also put on a bit of a luxury car show each weekend, with the latest model Ferrari, Bentley, Aston Martin and Maserati cars out in town. And Geneva has no shortage of high end jewellery stores either. Got a penchant for diamonds? Bulgari, Chopard, De Beers can sort you out. Have a taste for fine clothes and accessories? Gucci and Hermes will help sort you out. 

But expensive cars, shops and the rich and famous aside, Switzerland is just like any other normal country. Not having millions of Swiss francs in the bank doesn't mean life here can't be enjoyed - the simple pleasures here are free or affordable. I guess having the wealth which many in the country enjoy simply makes things a little easier. While that kind of money wouldn't hurt, there's little to complain about the quality of life here.

$witzerland

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a long time, but now I've been compelled to. Long before I moved to Switzerland, I knew it was an expensive place. Perth, where I'm from, is also pretty expensive; in fact, it lies just outside the top 10 of the world's most expensive cities. (Geneva is ranked 3rd.) So when I first moved, I didn't really notice too much of a difference.

But gradually, you do notice things. Rent for my nice, but very small, apartment is 30% of my decent salary. Public transport is pretty efficient and reliable - most of the time - but it comes at a price.

Meat - which I've discussed before on my Empress Eats blog - is also outrageously expensive. So expensive in fact, that people who live within 50 kilometres of a border will travel into France, Germany or Italy to stock up on it - and try not to get caught by Swiss customs on the way home to avoid paying the tax on it. People closer to the borders will regularly do their grocery shopping over the border as well, saving as much as 40%. I found it amusing when I read an article recently saying the major Swiss grocery chains are going to start closing stores because people are going elsewhere.

Travel abroad and you start to notice it even more. I've been to London a few times now and regularly stock up on goods at often half the price. Last weekend, I bought a pair of Doc Marten shoes in Paris for CHF 50 cheaper than I could in Switzerland. 

Better off buying Esprit in the US

The US is where you really notice the difference. Last year I went to New York on a bit of a shopping spree. Walking into Esprit, the vast price difference is there in black and white. The price tag has the prices of the same garment in different countries. Price of a shirt in the US - US$29.50. Price in Switzerland - CHF 49.90. So what, you say - they're different currencies. True - until you covert the price in Swiss francs to US dollars and realise that the same garment in Switzerland costs US$55.

So what compelled me to write now on a topic that's been bothering me for months? Health insurance. Private health insurance in Switzerland - unlike in Australia, where it's considered ideal to have - is obligatory. You don't have health insurance in Switzerland and you're in big trouble.

Thing is, health insurance here is expensive - really expensive. At home, we paid just over $100 a month for top level cover. It coved everything. Here, we pay four times as much for virtually no coverage at all. Our current premium is CHF 425 per month (roughly the same equivalent in Aus $). Late last year, I went to an ordinary doctor for a 15 minute appointment that wasn't covered under my insurance plan and received a bill in the mail three weeks later for over CHF 200. A month ago, I badly cut my finger and ended up seeing a doctor three times, including having stitches put in, and then later removed. I haven't received that bill yet and I think I'll need to make sure I'm lying down when I get it.

So I was apoplectic with rage when I opened a letter from my health insurer yesterday saying our premium is going up to CHF 836 per month, nearly double. Double! At least I can change insurers, but the reality is that I will still need to pay four times the price for one tenth of the coverage I get back home.

I understand that Switzerland is expensive. Salaries compensate for it. Or maybe it's a chicken and the egg thing; maybe prices are expensive because everyone is paid well and tax is low so there needs to be at least one catch.

Whatever it is, I've learnt over the last year to not get too caught up in the price of things here. I no longer compare things to prices back home. And I now automatically look outside of Switzerland for goods that I know will be expensive here.

Maybe Switzerland needs to take a look at itself and ask whether charging such exorbitant prices is justified. Either that, or legally change the country's name to $witzerland. At least that would serve a warning to people.