Moving to Singapore from San Francisco

[bpnyey]

Hello,
Hope you all are doing great. I am in the interviewing stage for a VP role in a financial payments/crypto company based in Singapore. My ex-boss is trying to hire me for this role. He himself is looking to move to SG and will be my boss if I accept this role.

HR asked me what my salary expectations are. My Singapore market research indicated that around $220k-$240k will be a reasonable number. But this seems low compared to my current US compensation and stock options. I am currently working in a high potential crypto/payments company in San Francisco Bay Area at a Director level role and stable in my job.

I am 35 and have no kids yet. My mother (widow) and wife (not working) will relocate with me to Singapore and I will be the sole earning member for the near future.

A few questions I have
1. Does this move sound reasonable to you in the global pandemic? It's similar work profile and similar industry (crypto/payments)?

2. What can be a fair/higher compensation which a VP role can bring me? I don't feel great to move when I have no financial incentive. I get the fun of living in a very vibrant place but that alone isn't good enough to make me leave where I am today. FYI, I lived in New York before I moved to SF and have traveled to over 30 countries for personal trips.

3. What will be a good amount to allow me and family to live a decent SG lifestyle and save around SGD 8k-10k/month?

Thanks for your guidance!!!

[PNGMK]

Why can't you do the job remotely?

[bcheng74]

Don’t think you can relocate with your mother


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[sundaymorningstaple]

Don’t think you can relocate with your mother

This is incorrect. If the EP holder earns in excess of 12K/mo the EP holder can also bring in the EP holder's parents.

https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permi ... for-family

[TropicalExpat]

HR asked me what my salary expectations are. My Singapore market research indicated that around $220k-$240k will be a reasonable number. But this seems low compared to my current US compensation and stock options. I am currently working in a high potential crypto/payments company in San Francisco Bay Area at a Director level role and stable in my job.

Have you adjusted for taxes? US taxes are considerably higher than Singapore so I expect that your tax adjusted compensation will be rather higher than what you would get back in the States.

Also, I wouldn't compare Singapore with San Francisco for tech salaries. They are different ecosystems.

3. What will be a good amount to allow me and family to live a decent SG lifestyle and save around SGD 8k-10k/month?

This all depends on your threshold of "decent". But a salary of 12k a month wouldn't allow you to save 8-10k a month. Assuming you are like most expats you would stay in a private condo, you would be throwing out at least 3k a month (most likely 4-5k given your wife and mother will join you). On top of that, while taxes are low, it's not nonexistent, you would have an effective tax rate of around 12%, that would take another 2k out a month.
And once you put spending on top of that .... I think you would be saving under $5k per month, give you will have to support your wife and mother

[Addadude]

I would actually be more concerned about when the OP referred to "I get the fun of living in a very vibrant place but that alone isn't good enough to make me leave where I am today."

I'm really not sure that Singapore meets the criteria of being a very "vibrant place" - at least certainly for somebody coming from San Francisco... You might be in for some disappointment.

[bpnyey]

Thank you for responding.

I have worked in US most of my career and think Singapore will add to my experience. Ideally, I will like to spend 3-4 years in Singapore and can move back to US or somewhere else like Japan, Australia or Canada. Not keen on working remote from US.

I realize relocating will be tough and need to keep my expectations clear.

Will keep you posted on what I hear on the salary front. It will be more real. Thanks again.

[TropicalExpat]

This is not just about moving to Singapore, it's about moving back. You might find you can't get a job back in the US after your stint in Singapore.

If you want to work in crypto, I'm not I would move to Singapore from San Fran.

[baytobeach]

Hi Tropical Expat,

I'm not the OP, but chanced upon this discussion as I too have an offer to move from the Bay Area to Singapore (in a different field from OP)

I'm curious why you say

You might find you can't get a job back in the US after your stint in Singapore.

Was this specifically in the context of OP's crypto career? If this was a more generic comment, then I'm really interested to understand why a Singapore stint is not necessarily a positive....

[bgd]

i guess it depends on your industry. if you are an exec being transferred into a new role for experience then Sg is fine. If you are moving to sg in a new role in a new company then Sg may not help your career. In my experience Sg isn't seen as an upwardly mobile move, except for some very specific industries. In most cases you are better sticking to the bigger locations, London, NY, etc.

[TropicalExpat]

Hi Tropical Expat,

I'm not the OP, but chanced upon this discussion as I too have an offer to move from the Bay Area to Singapore (in a different field from OP)

I'm curious why you say

You might find you can't get a job back in the US after your stint in Singapore.

Was this specifically in the context of OP's crypto career? If this was a more generic comment, then I'm really interested to understand why a Singapore stint is not necessarily a positive....

Yeah crypto specific. Singapore is trying to be a competitive environment for FinTech, but it's lack of size really hampers it's ability to draw in talent, so if you move here in FinTech, yes you will be a big fish here...but when you move back to SF, you will be a minnow ... That's not disparaging the talent in Singapore, it's just a numbers game. The more people, the more ideas.
But I do think it's true of a number of industries.

Best of luck with your move. This forum is an invaluable, if sometimes blunt, resource