Arno, a 37-year-old Berliner who prefers to remain anonymous, started working for a Swiss company after studying computer science. Thirteen years after starting to cross the border, Arno now earns 127,270 euros a year. There is also an annual bonus equivalent to approximately one month's salary.
He also received inflation compensation of around 1,040 euros last year, Arno reports to the “Spiegel”. His employer plans regular salary increases.
“That this [alles] I am aware that it is a great privilege,” says Arno. “But I wouldn't say I'm paid outrageously.”
At the end of the month, a computer engineer has a maximum of 500 euros left
In general, your income seems higher than it is. Depending on the exchange rate, you will initially receive about 10,600 euros per month. After deducting social security, unemployment and pensions in Switzerland, he was left with around 8,580 euros. Of this amount, you have to reserve about 230 euros for health insurance and 3,300 euros for taxes.
“[Der Steuerbeitrag] is generously rounded,” says Arno, “because in the past the tax office often wanted little up front and then demanded considerable additional payments within a strict payment deadline.” He prefers to calculate with too much rather than too little, especially since the exchange rate also fluctuates.
In addition, he and his wife, who earn around 2,900 euros net, took out a real estate loan for a condominium in southern Germany, so around 1,560 euros were withdrawn from their account each month.
They now buy food regionally and organically because it is “silly” to use their salaries to buy “discount junk.” After deducting all fixed expenses, he was left with around 2,500 euros. “I will be happy if at the end of the month there are still 500 euros left,” says Arno.
High-income earners: “I'm always surprised by how much money is lost.”
In reality, one should save more than the more than 7,000 euros net that he and his wife have monthly. But “there are always new purchases or orders from Amazon that are added.”
Meanwhile, they have simply become accustomed to a “certain standard of living”: designer furniture instead of Ikea, expensive visits to restaurants, concerts and visits to museums. A short trip over a long weekend could “cost 1,000 euros” if you are used to a “higher level.”
“I'm always surprised by how much money is lost with a theoretically relatively large sum,” says Arno.
One in two Germans does not know their partner's salary
While Arno can barely cover anything with a monthly salary of 10,600 euros, most German employees earn much less. Recently, a Kununu check showed that software developers, the second highest-paid professional group in Germany, earn an average of around 58,176 euros gross per year.
Furthermore, according to the survey, only one in two Germans knows their spouse's salary.