Hi everyone,
I’m currently working in Switzerland and evaluating my portfolio for maximum capital growth over the next 10 years. My ultimate goal is to maximize my total net worth in cash/liquid assets, but importantly, I need to heavily reduce my stress.
My Track Record (The Real Estate Burnout): I've been very active in real estate over the last few years.
- 2019: Bought an apartment to live in, renovated, sold in 2022. 50k profit. It gave me a 20%/year return on cash invested, but required a lot of unpaid sweat equity.
- 2021: Bought a house, renovated, moved in 2022 (currently living here). Have 150k equity in it. Again, 20%/year gain over cash, but massive unpaid hours.
- 2023: Bought 3 apartments, selling today. Again, around 20%/year return over cash.
So physically, I'm consistently getting around 20% profit on cash in real estate. But the work hours and stress are eating me alive. I want to relax and just enjoy life.
My Track Record (The Market):
- I'm fully invested in my Pillar 3a with VIAC (100% equities) and getting an average of 12%/year over the last 5 years.
- I also tested VIAC Invest with a lump sum right after the first Trump announcement crash, and I'm currently sitting at a 25% gain on that cash.
Because of this, I'm strongly exploring going full or hybrid into ETFs/markets to get my time back.
My Current Assets (450k CHF Net Worth to Deploy):
- Asset 1: Selling an apartment right now, netting 150k CHF cash.
- Asset 2 & 3: Two rental apartments with about 300k CHF in equity, generating a true 15k CHF net-net per year.
The 3 Options on the Table: To make a fair 10-year comparison, I am assuming an 8% annualized market return, a 100k CHF property appreciation across the 2 rentals, and that all rental income is reinvested into the market. (But these are my biggest unknowns: will the market realistically average 8% minimum? Will the houses actually appreciate 100k?)
Option A: The Conservative Hybrid
- Invest the 150k CHF cash into the market. Keep the 2 rentals yielding 15k CHF (on the 300k equity).
- 10-Year Math: Market Growth (150k) + Reinvested Rent (15k/yr) + 100k Property Appreciation = ~941k CHF Total.
- Downside: The 15k rental income is taxed at my marginal income rate in CH, the property appreciation is subject to Grundstückgewinnsteuer, and I still have to manage tenants/maintenance.
Option B: Sell All & Go 100% Equities
- Sell the 2 rentals to unlock the 300k equity. Combine it with the 150k cash = 450k CHF total straight into the market (VT/VWCE).
- 10-Year Math: 450k compounded at 8% = ~971k CHF Total.
- Upside: Given that Swiss capital gains on equities are 0%, compounding an 8% market return over a decade seems mathematically incredibly strong, plus it's 100% passive. It completely solves my burnout problem.
Option C: The Leverage Play (Cash-Out Refinance)
- Keep the 2 rentals, increase the mortgage to extract 100k CHF cash. Combine with my 150k cash = 250k CHF to invest in the market.
- Because of the higher mortgage debt, my net rental income drops from 15k to 7.5k CHF/year.
- 10-Year Math: Market Growth (250k) + Reinvested Rent (7.5k/yr) + 100k Property Appreciation = ~949k CHF Total.
- Upside: I get to keep the physical properties, my ROE goes up, and the extra mortgage interest is tax-deductible against my Swiss income.
My Dilemma & Questions:
- Are my baseline assumptions (8% market growth vs. 100k property appreciation over 10 years) realistic?
- Does the 0% tax on market gains and the "zero hours of work" make Option B (Sell All) the undisputed winner here?
- Or does the leverage and tax-deductibility of debt in Option C mathematically beat selling, making it worth enduring the real estate headache?
And the goal will be to retire fast abroad where i have no expense with household "benefit of also investing in real estate abroad" so living costs for the family without working we will need 3000€ net and will live a very good life.
So getting 5% in 1million will be already set for retirement living.
*Real scenario, but used AI to help write post to try to explain it to be understood by all.