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Hi Mike, first, let me wish you the very best in your search for a 'good' place. I've lived over three zones, born India, lived Middle east for 10 years, UK citizen for 12 years following and now new to Switzerland.  This is my humble thoughts about 'savings' to buy property. It's not only the US or Switzerland where your potential is the best. No matter the place your 'own' potential needs to be tapped. In other words, you may live in US or Switzerland but if your spend profile is lavish eating out, tours etc. then no matter where you work your dream house will remain a distant dream. Coming from the UK, I know of many who have not only one but multiple properties. If you look around in places like Brighton for instance, average landlords own even over 20 properties.

The moral of the story is find your first million and then you enter financial orbit. In other words, leverage your strengths. As a software engineer, look for small enterprise activities that bring in the extra income. this should be in addition to the stable income stream. Second, look for tax planning routes to channel your investments. Above all, in your initial years (I'm assuming you're in 20's) strive to save as much and reduce the urge to splurge and live up to peer pressure.

In summary, your own prosperity is not simply the function of taxation and high cost of living. It is the function of what goals you set with a time horizon. I hope to have made some sense to you.

Wishing you a great life ahead whereever you settle.

Best,
Francis

Hi Mike,

Switzerland has high taxes !!!

What it offers is a safe place to live and raise children, a stable economy, few unemployement, stunning nature and good balance between work/family and a great quality of life in general.

However, real estate is incredibly expensive and taxed !!!! Swiss often prefer to continue to rent as it is not always perceived as a benefit to invest in real estate.

Given your project, I would say it’s maybe not the most suitable place for you and maybe you want to investigate the US further.

Good luck.

Hi Mike,
I have lived in the UK, US, Bahrain and now since many years in Switzerland.
Groundwork you have done looks excellent, however, thinking of buying Real Estate in CH for cheap is not possible, at least in areas around Zurich, Basel or Geneva.
CH entertains 3 types of taxes, Federal, Canton & Community. The last 2 differ , depending on your residence.
Even the total taxes are likely lower than in the UK, Cost of Living by regular Standard is much higher in CH, so actual Savings cannot be really accumulated.
As a SW Developer, I personally would focus on Income Tax free destinations in MEA, e.d. U.A.E.
Although I love the US, I fully agree to your analysis and I don’t think this be an option for you.

CH is a great Place to live, however not to accumulate savings.

Cheers,

Hi Mike
I have read other people comments and tend to agree with the rationale that CH isn’t ideal to save greatly over time.
It is a fact that your tax rate will differ from one canton to another as well as from one town or village from the one down the street. Geneva is the highest while Schwyz or Zug is the lowest but do not believe you can go by without a solid knowledge of the local language and dialect.
The situation in CH was way better 20+ years ago as you could buy a house from way less than Chf 1 mio. Now you must have 1.5 mio to get something decent.
FYI, more and more Swiss nationals are moving to the US as the overall situation is better ( Trump being the negative !)
Look to Dubai though
Hope it helps
Roland