That depends greatly on your personal situation. Please contact an advice centre, such as your local social services department. The advisors there will be able to assess your situation carefully and give you the right information and tips.

Anyone who collects data about you is required by law to give you a complete and accurate copy of the information on request. This is generally provided free of charge. You simply need to write to the agency that holds the database and request it for "Information under the Data Protection Act". You will need to enclose a copy of your identification papers with the letter (to avoid mix-ups)!

Website of the Federal Data Protection Ombudsman

If you wish to find out the data that is collected about your borrowing activities, you can contact the ZEK (Central Credit Information Agency) and the IKO (Information Agency for Consumer Credit). You can download a form for your information requests from the websites of the information agencies. Secretariat for the ZEK and IKO: Dr. iur. Robert Simmen, Attorney, Toblerstrasse 97/Neuhausstrasse 4, Postfach 382, 8044 Zurich

ZEK (Central Credit Information Agency)
IKO (Information Agency for Consumer Credit)

Some creditors engage the services of debt-collection agencies to pursue their customers' debts instead of doing it themselves. Be careful if you are contacted by one of these debt-collection agencies. The agencies sometimes demand payments in excess of your actual debts. Therefore, check each item on your bill carefully to find out how much of the debt you actually owe. Do not be intimidated by anyone with an unpleasant attitude. If you feel unsure, the best thing to do is to refer the matter to a debt-counselling service.

Verein Schuldensanierung Bern (Association of Debt Reorganisation Berne)

Bankruptcy could be a way out for the time being. However, you need to answer some additional questions before you can get any advice. We advise you to look for other solutions before filing for bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy should be the last resort. The following options are available to you:

First of all, this depends on whether you are married. If you are not married, you are only liable for your assets, debts and not your partner's. If you are married, you are liable for your assets, for your debts and for debts arising from the ongoing needs of the household. Other liability rules may apply if you enter into a joint contract with your partner. Therefore, we advise you to clarify the circumstances surrounding liability before signing any contract.

Communication with your partner is of primary importance. Discuss your financial situation on a regular basis so that you can identify any potential financial crises or difficulties early on.

If one of you has debts, we would advise you not to pool your income and financial assets. If possible, keep separate accounts.

If you are married, your partner and you can regulate your financial rights and duties in a marital contract. If you would like competent advice on this, contact a notary public or an attorney. Some examples are:

Swiss Notaries Public
Swiss Law Society
Democratic Lawyers of Switzerland

Absolutely not. In the event of your death, both your assets and your debts pass on to your heirs. However, your heirs can disclaim the inheritance so that they would inherit neither the assets nor the debts. If the heirs come into possession of your estate, it will be distributed in accordance with your Last Will and Testament within the scope of provisions of the law.

Writing a Will

The Land Registry will give you access to information about the current owner and the key data related to the property. An extract from the Land Register will tell you about other interesting data such as mortgage notes and usufructuary rights or building rights, preferential rights to purchase, buy-back or rental rights. You can obtain a copy of this document if you can indicate the nature of your interest or with the owner's permission.

List of Land Registry offices

Yes. For example, your friend and you could acquire joint ownership of the site (including the house).You decide between yourselves how to divide the land and the house between you.

Co-ownership can be a good opportunity to acquire your own property for less. Needless to say, one of the risks associated with this solution is that you and your friend may disagree in the future on matters such as how to use the house or how much money to invest.

It is advisable to draw a written agreement beforehand specifying who is entitled to use which part of the property and, who is responsible for the upkeep of the property, how to pool funds for investments, etc. Record this agreement in the Land Register. If you wish to take out a mortgage, make enquiries with your bank early because not all lenders are keen to fund co-ownership.

As a general rule, a foreigner (private individual) can buy a residential property and apply for a mortgage. However, there are some conditions that the foreigner must meet regarding buying a main place of residence or a second home. These conditions may vary from one canton to the next. Therefore, we advise you to contact the cantonal authorities in question to enquire about the precise regulations. You can also find relevant information online on the website of the Federal Department of Justice.

Federal Department of Justice and Police

Each property must have compulsory buildings insurance to cover against damages, such as those resulting from fire. There are special buildings insurance providers in most cantons. In other cantons, buildings insurance has to be arranged in accordance with the standards for buildings insurance set down by the Swiss Property Insurance Association. Important: Buildings insurance does not cover damage to the furnishings in your home. You require home-contents insurance for this.

Home-contents insurance policies generally provide insurance as new cover. In other words, you will receive the amount that you have to pay to replace the damaged or stolen object. However, some policies exclude skiing equipment or bicycles and only cover them at their current value. Please refer to the terms of your insurance policy.

The website of the Tenants' Association contains important information about rental costs, your rights as a tenant, how rent is calculated and the explanations of terms contained in your rental agreement.

Swiss Tenants' Association

Well, your question can be answered accurately only after reviewing your finances. However, a private pension plan is often a worthwhile investment because most people cannot maintain the same standard of living after they retire based on their old-age and surviving-dependants' insurance and work pension. Therefore, it is good to start a private pension plan early. You will value these additional assets when you get older. In addition, you decide when you want to pay money and how much. Another big advantage is that you can offset your pension plan contributions against your income tax liability to a certain limit.

Being Retired

In principle, you can get a separate preview of your pension from each of the three sources of retirement. You can request a statement from the Old-Age and Surviving-Dependants' Insurance Scheme (AHV) (1st pillar) at any time. It will show you how much money you have in your AHV account. However, you cannot receive a preview of the precise amount of pension until you are closer to retirement.

The work pension or 2nd pillar sends you a statement once a year on a regular basis. It shows, among other things, the total amount of capital that you will have in your pension fund in the future. The capital is always calculated according to your current earnings.

As far as your private pension provider (3rd column) is concerned, you will need to enquire about the possibilities of a pension preview, which will vary depending on the product and the pension provider.

Being Retired

When possible, only make purchases from websites with the “Verified by Visa” or “MasterCard SecureCode” logos. If these aren’t shown: only enter your card information if you are using a 128-bit SSL connection (SSL: Secure Sockets Layer).

Treat your credit card as carefully as you would cash. Don’t leave your card lying around unattended and don’t write down your PIN code.

Phone your card provider immediately and have them block your card. If your card is stolen, inform the police.

If you find an incorrect amount or unfamiliar entry on your bill, call or write to your credit card company immediately.

Every cash withdrawal from an ATM will cost you a fee of between 2.5% and 4% of the withdrawn amount, depending on the type of card you have, or at least CHF 5 (when abroad CHF 10).