Hi All,
I currently work in Dubai in a mid management role with a tax free salary of 12K SGD + 4K Housing Allowance + 1.5K Schooling Allowance + Bonus (so a decent salaryfor a mid management role).
Apart from that my wife gets home around 7-8K from her banking job (5K fixed + bonus).
As a family, we live quite a upper middle class lifestyle (maid, car, small 3BHK rowhouse) and still save close to 80K SGD.
Now, all of this sounds fascinating (esp. for an Indian family) but we don't enjoy life here because we always feel like an outsider here. Dubai is not 'home' enough. It is great for money but not so good for life.
Due to this, when this role opened up, I was keen and my wife is fine with leaving her job and moving with me. And we assumed that they will match up my salary and even raise it a little as SG is considered 15-20% costlier than Dubai.
Now, to the questions:
1. Can a UPPER middle class family save at least 5K per month out of a 12K monthly SGD salary, excluding a housing allowance of 2.5K?
2. How easy is it to get a banking job in Singapore? What kind of salaries do account managers / relationship managers make?
3. How much do full time maids / nannies cost? I pay around 1K SGD here.
4. Company is offering a schooling allowance of just 1K. Is it reasonable for a private International School? It seems quite low.
Money is not my priority but lifestyle definitely is. I don't want to compromise on the way I live even if it means less savings.
I request answers from only those people who have moved from Dubai to Singapore. Other people might misinterpret as a brag-post. Only those people will be able to understand my dilemma.
Awaiting answers.