The cost of setting up

When setting up life in a new country, you will need some cash. If you need to wait until you get paid, it will be quite difficult. We took a guess at what we would need to get set up at about 20k CHF, and that has proved out to be about right. Here is a breakdown of the things we needed to pay for:

• Rental Deposit = 3x montly rent
• First Month rent
• Heath insurance premiums - in Switzerland, you need to select a plan within 90 days, and then you are back-covered. Of course, you also owe back premiums. So, for us, they sucked out two months of premiums. 
• Renters insurance - annual premium
• Rail passese
• Registration fees for the city/canton
• Money for moving-related incidentals (car rental to procure household goods)
• Down payment on furniture rental or purchase of necessary furniture pieces
• Grocery and incidentals budget during first few weeks until paychecks roll in

Question Assumptions

When setting up life in Switzerland, we've noticed some differences from things we take for granted in the US.  One of the notable ones is that dental treatment is not part of the basic health insurance. Then, when you buy a premium coverage package, you are basically only covered for one cleaning a year.

At first, I rejected this idea. I thought that if I get two cleanings a year in the US, I should get the same everywhere. But, then, I decided to question the assumption. The Swiss have some of the healthiest people in the world. Do we really need two dental checkups a year? Only time will tell. I suspect it's not good or bad - just different.