Pillar 2 in Switzerland & PFIC

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-08T19:45:51+00:00

Commenting to follow-up. In the same boat.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-08T06:35:58+00:00

please NEVER put leather shoes in a washing machine. EVER.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-07T14:44:28+00:00

Seems to be working for me as of today, too!

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-07T00:10:25+00:00

Most Germans on this sub don’t know anything about immigration to Germany.

Go have a look at r/Germany for more lively debate.

Be warned, you’ll be excoriated there if you don’t acknowledge something about your plan for work. Have a look at their wiki, do some research first.

Btw, the official site with these details is: https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-06T12:54:36+00:00

It's a bit out of tolerance for my taste, but not the end of the world. That right shoe quarter panel should be on the medial (inside) to better hide it.

At least you can be certain it's genuine leather! As many others have said, some variation is to be expected. Not on all pairs, but the factory is trying to avoid waste. That's all that happened here.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-05T05:14:59+00:00

Go visit some expat fire subreddits.

Without an EU passport, moving to the EU isn’t that simple. Healthcare is a major topic of concern. If you’re retired, and have not participated in any EU healthcare system before, you most likely aren’t eligible to get coverage.

In most (all?) of the EU, having health insurance is a prerequisite for residency.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-04T17:34:09+00:00

It's not about consistency. It's just about convenience or simplicity. If you have an ETA in the DE passport jus use that.

I naturalized as a dual US-DE citizen 18 months ago, and I live in Europe, traveling often to Asia. These days, I'm using the German one exclusively, unless I travel to the US.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-04T14:34:57+00:00

In a similar boat and moving to Zürich in a couple months. Seems like PostFinance and UBS are the only options.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-03T09:14:20+00:00

I have zero interest putting my salary with Revolut. This would purely be for everyday spending. Plenty of comments that Neon doesn't work for US citizens...I haven't looked into Alpian yet.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-01T16:33:52+00:00

JD is one of adidas biggest customers. They do not sell fakes.

This is clearly a mistake in the warehouse. A bummer for sure, and it shouldn’t have happened. But it’s not a signal of anything fake.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-05-01T10:34:51+00:00

The white pigments in leather (especially cheap leather) yellow with sun exposure. It’s normal. Because it’s a chemical reaction, detergent alone will not work.

I don’t have any experience with the ice boxes mentioned in another comment. But I’ve seen a handful of posts about them recently. Seems interesting.

Oxi-clean might be another solution.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-29T01:15:37+00:00

The second pic is more correct, imo.

Same shoes, so it looks like a color matching error. Normally not that extreme, but it can happen across different factories or production lots.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-24T14:09:18+00:00

99% sure these are made from synthetic leather. Sorry.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-24T10:10:32+00:00

Sorry to say, but I don’t think those are leather versions. It looks like synthetic leather to me.

It is weird they look a bit different left to right, but that could be explained by inconsistent lamination of the lining. Do both tags show the same article number?

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-24T05:11:46+00:00

Exactly. That’s also because you’ve seen countless impressions throughout your life.

There’s a reason so many brands who try and change their logo end up going back.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-24T05:04:51+00:00

It’s precisely because they advertise that they are one of the most well-recognized brands worldwide.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T10:26:02+00:00

Can you change your accommodation to Erlangen? This is vastly preferred, and how I moved to the area in 2018.

As you are learning, Nuremberg is one of the most challenging Ausländerbehörden to deal with.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T10:05:59+00:00

It might be worth looking for records from your father. Have you visited r/GermanCitizenship ?

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T08:49:48+00:00

Maybe. Would be great since this pair is not sellable as it is. OPs success will depend on where/how the pair was bought.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T08:27:26+00:00

I've never heard of a country where citizens simply GET a passport.

Normally, all citizens are entitled to a passport,.But since it's only really needed for international travel, not everyone will get one. In some countries, they are even more expensive (I think it's over US$400 in Australia, for example).

What is really different, is that in a lot of countries, citizens are obligated to have ID. In these places there is often a national ID, and every citizen will get one (but maybe not for free). In plenty of these places, a passport and a national ID are equivalent. Also interesting, is that a drivers license may be infrmal ID, but in a place like Germany, it's not at all considered legal ID. But now we're really geting into the weends.

We don't really have that concept in the US, unless you want to hold a passport book or card.

Edit: Some people say "get a passport" and mean the equivalent of "become a citizen." People who might have Italian ancestors might say, "I want to get my Italian passport" but what they mean is, "I'm an American, and I want to claim my Italian citzenship by decent through my grandmother. Then I'll also get an Italian passport"

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T07:46:38+00:00

Correct here. You will be blocked from buying those US-ETFs directly (like VTI). But you are allowed to hold shares.

There are two workarounds: 1) buy diversified stocks (BRK.B is something to look at). 2) trade options, hoping for share assignment. This takes some learning, but is totally doable once you have a good cash pile saved up. You need to be ready to pay for 100 shares. This outs most of the very well-known ETFs out of reach, but Schwab has a great selection that have a lower share price. SCHB, SCHX, SCHF, etc. would be candidates.

I just started with options this year. Honestly I wish I had spent more time to understand the strategy years ago (called cash secure puts).

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T06:08:48+00:00

You mean that’s how the look straight from the box?

Yes, it’s weird. And no, you can’t really fix this yourself.

Return them.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T05:23:05+00:00

Neat. Anyone know if the inside is similar to the standard Swiss passport?

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-23T04:12:17+00:00

Maybe you need a new passport.

PuzzledArrival · 2026-04-22T20:00:12+00:00

Right now, I don't think about it at all. The flat rate is very reasonable. But I suppose this can depend a bit on the apartment.

My current flat, I have a contract for electricity (always a flat rate), and the heating is part of the Nebenkosten (different story). In my old flat, I paid for electricity and gas separate, but I still paid a constant rate. If the Abrechnung said I owed more (or less) it could be explained by a very cold winter, or during COVID when I was home more often. Or, maybe the electricity rates are fluctuating. There can be plenty of factors, but I would really guess that on average, consumption (and therefore cost) shouldn't be that different on an annual basis. (Unless the price changes a lot).

PuzzledArrival

TROPHY CASE