Thank you. That was my first thought too - people don’t uproot themselves to make less money! But the idea of something new is tempting, at least before the kids come along!PNGMK wrote:No. Doesn't work for me. The only reason to move overseas in your scenario is to make a lot more money, not a substance wage which is what 10k a month is for an expat couple.
Thank you. B is probably the sticking point here. Husband would probably not have an issue getting a higher paid job if we were to go back (we wouldn’t go back otherwise unless we had to for some reason) but wife would probably struggle in her very niche industry.Strong Eagle wrote:Singapore is an exciting place to live and work, and you need to do two things.
a) An apples to apples comparison of your salaries, housing costs, transportation costs, holidays, and incidentals. If you can't at least break even, then are you willing to take a lowered standard of living in order to live in Singapore? As PNKMK pointed out, $10K per month is the lower end of a wage that permits living in a semi-D or nice condo project.
b) What's going to happen, career and salary wise, when you go back? Are you going to be able to return to the salary levels you currently hold? More than one person on these boards has failed to maintain salary parity, at the least, because of lower wages accepted in Singapore.
Thanks, Mike. The decision would definitely be much easier if we didn’t still have to pay NZ tax. Cost wise - we live in Auckland, have a mortgage (roughly 3k a month), but we would rent the house out and that should cover most of it. Transportation maybe around 350 a month combined. Currently it takes us an hour door to door each way.MikeJones wrote:I think the killer there is "we’d also still be paying NZ tax". That salary decrease would be about break even for take home pay if you were paying Singapore taxes, on NZ tax rates it makes no sense at all.
As SE says you need to do a thorough comparison of your costs, I expect some will be higher in Singapore (rent and food) and some lower (transportation) depending on where you are living in NZ and your choices as to where to live and transportation options in Singapore. Personally I'm on a little less than what you are talking about and doing OK but that is just for me with no dependents or pets, and not living in any of the expat heavy (and therefore more pricey) areas.
Mike
This is what I found -PNGMK wrote:Why would you have to pay NZ tax? Wouldn't you be none resident tax wise?
Nah. Rent it out and it's not your abode, it's an investment property. Working in Singapore at a lower tax rate and no NZ tax makes this workable.jyeo012 wrote:This is what I found -PNGMK wrote:Why would you have to pay NZ tax? Wouldn't you be none resident tax wise?
Tax residency
If you're overseas for less than 325 days in a 12-month period then you're likely to be a New Zealand resident for tax purposes.
You're likely to be a non-resident for tax purposes if:
you're overseas for more than 325 days in a 12-month period and:
you don't have a permanent place of abode in New Zealand.
A person other than a company who has a "permanent place of abode" in New Zealand is a New Zealand tax resident, regardless of how long they've been out of New Zealand.
Considering we still have a house here and this is our home, looks like we are tax residents
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