Visa Visa

We received notification today from the Hyatt-Europe office in Lucerne, Switzerland (the office is moving to Zürich around Nov 1, thus our move as well) that our visa paperwork was given the green light by Swiss authorities--the visas should arrive within two weeks. So now (gulp) it looks like we're really going..!

In truth, we didn't really expect any different, since Swiss visas for professionals in intra-company transfers are generally a slam dunk. The whole process from submitting paperwork to possessing a visa will take a month or less. We're receiving Residence 'B' Permits, which are generally issued to qualified and experienced people in specialized professions (and luckily, their spouses too). B permits are valid for one year and require annual renewal.

After ten years of being a B-permit guy or gal, a settlement 'C' permit signifying permanent residence can be granted for "well integrated" foreigners in Switzerland. The definition of well integrated has something to do with affluence, xenophobia and skiing prowess, but we don't know all the exact requirements.

The timing on the visa is fantastisch because Stephanie needs her freshly-pressed visa in hand prior to returning to Zürich in late September to search for housing for her spouse and dog!

Everybody's selling? Buy!

We met with a financial planner today, whom we recruited to help determine how to manage our vast hoard of assets between the U.S. and Switzerland. We hadn't worked with financial planners before, but of course there are different types. Some you just dump your millions to and they handle everything on retainer; Steph was referred to one of those type first, who politely said, "You can't afford me." But she recommended another, who charges hourly and simply analyzes your situation and makes recommendations that WE actually implement. More our speed.

After providing our financial documents last week, we were informed that our retirement account profile looked like someone had sneezed on the Money section of the Wall Street Journal. That's because Steph and I have had 8 jobs total (not each, thank you) in the past 14 years, all with different 401(k) plans, and there have been rollovers and partial rollovers and forgotten rollovers and ESOP's and spin-offs and stock certificates and jailed fund managers--all very sordid Wall Street-type stuff (I was simply shocked at the value of my Enron shares). So that needed some "tweaking".

Task #2 was to calculate our version of what dot-com entrepreneurs call their "cash burn rate." That is: after selling the car, TV, dog, etc., how long can Todd ride his bike in the Alps, happily jobless, while we live in outrageously expensive Zurich still paying the mortgage on a potentially unsold condo in Chicago? That was referred to as the "doomsday scenario" but I don’t know why, it doesn't sound that bad to me.

So we received our recommendations today, and we're in OK shape. I'll consolidate and reallocate our retirement portfolio online, no problem. And we can "burn" for a while, although if either Todd has a job OR the house sells, we're more or less out of trouble. Interestingly, we were also told--because you never really know, do you?--that we appear on track with our retirement(!) savings in 30 years, although a little more saving wouldn't hurt. We'll try to keep that in mind before spending 10,000 Swiss Francs on new ski equipment.

Busted by Google

It's a Google world! On Tuesdsay night, I posted a blog about the possibility of my current employer creating a position for me in Europe vs. moving to Zürich unemployed. On Wednesday morning, I hurriedly deleted it because ONE SINGLE MENTION of the name of the company was flagged by the "Google alert" of a friend at work, who learned everything instantly. Busted! Very nicely, he/she agreed not to spread the news and we got a good laugh out of it.

Suffice it to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the senior managers who know so far--it looks like they may actually want to keep me! So I'll be blogging gingerly about that situation as it progresses.

In other news, we canceled our miniature vacation to Cancun this Labor Day weekend because we really need to work on prepping the house for sale. We were going to fly using miles and stay at the Hyatt for free (nice perk), so it didn't really cost us anything to cancel. But I'm sure after a half day of gutter repair on Saturday I'll be longing for la playa and a few dozen Negra Modelos.

I attended the Cubs game last night with a work group in very nice box seats. The Brew Crew smoked the Cubs 6-1. I had been craving a hot dog for weeks, but the ones in the booth weren't spectacular. Gotta try again, I suppose.

Thus it begins!

Thanks for checking out the new blog started by Todd & Stephanie to chronicle our adventures moving from our lovely home in Roscoe Village, Chicago, IL, to Zürich, Switzerland (please note correct use of the umlaut, which appears to be a necessary part of the German language).

Stephanie has spent months (years?) at Hyatt Hotels working to arrange an international job offer and transfer, which was finally signed by both parties this morning. Congratulations to her for the now-official promotion to Marketing Director-Europe, Africa and Middle East starting Nov 1, 2007, living in Zürich!

The 'Cheese, Chocolate and Rolexes' moniker was shamelessly stolen from my very good work friend, Jeff, among the few people there currently privy to our true status. More on that later.

That gives Steph and I less than 70 days to complete the following activities:
o Sell our beloved condo and automobile
o Do an Olympic distance triathlon (Todd)
o Run the Chicago marathon (Steph - she's crazy!)
o Host a wine party for 100+ people with our upstairs neighbor Gayle
o Find a place to live in Zürich
o Learn German (even though they speak a dialect of German in Zürich, not true German)
o Move 5,000 miles away

Thus this blog was created, for those interested in following everything that can go wrong before an international move and--hopefully in the future--also a dynamite resource for details of dayhikes near Zürich with a golden retriever.

Since Zürich is not a huge tourist destination, many people probably haven't seen it, but it looks like this (beer not included):