Suggested Package for relocation from London to Singapore

[pppq99]

Hello folks, nice to be here - excuse me with my first post

So long story short, the company I work for has come to a mutual agreement to relocate me to Singapore. They will handle all the company formation/setup (really just setting up an office so I can work there) which is nice!

However, they obviously haven't done this before, so have put it on my plate to suggest a suitable relocation package that won't put the family out of pocket (since I am doing the company a favour, and there is a need for someone in the Singapore timezone).

What relocation components should I be asking for, and what should I budget? This would be rough estimates for now, and I'm sure there will be some negotiation/compromise.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, little one who will be 1yo when we move next year, and a doggo).

Initial thoughts were:
- Health insurance for the family
- 2 or 3 months accomodation (swinging towards Serviced Apartment) while we search for a permanent place
- Airfares
- Shipping costs

Anything missing - also what (in GBP or SGD) should be the number to put down? Again, rough estimates for now Was also thinking about asking for some schooling cost contributions - as basically we wouldn't have to pay anything in London (well, bar the odd nursery day or two - I work from home largely).

Cheers!

[Lisafuller]

Would the company be footing the cost of housing or is that on you?

[sp786]

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, little one who will be 1yo when we move next year, and a doggo).

Initial thoughts were:
- Health insurance for the family
- 2 or 3 months accomodation (swinging towards Serviced Apartment) while we search for a permanent place
- Airfares
- Shipping costs

Anything missing - also what (in GBP or SGD) should be the number to put down? Again, rough estimates for now Was also thinking about asking for some schooling cost contributions - as basically we wouldn't have to pay anything in London (well, bar the odd nursery day or two - I work from home largely).

Cheers!

I am not aware that companies pay schooling allowance and 2-3 months accommodation. Even top companies very big foreign companies with a sizeable FT pay only 1 month Service Apartment rent and ask you to find a place within a month.

Secondly the school fees is contentious because I assume you're saying it's free because your taxes are very high in UK and you send your kid to a subsidized school hence your taxes take care of them (just as in Canada)? If that's the case you may not be able to demand because the taxes in Singapore are very low and it's next to impossible to send an expat's kid to govt school. International Schools are very expensive (starts at SGD 1200 per month for Nursery and may go up to 2000) but thats the only place you can put your kid at.

Airfares + Shipping Costs + 1 month service apartment (let's assume near river valley or orchard) would be approximately SGD 15,000 to 20,000

~ 6000 per month for service apartment
~ 5000 - 8000 for shipping depending on total weight and existing freight charge (i heard it's expensive that pre-covid)

You may also ask for salary advance or a relocation allowance of SGD 5000 for the first month, i.e, the month when you may not receive your salary to cover your food and living expenses.

On average all put together for the time period i've said would be SGD 20,000.

[pppq99]

Would the company be footing the cost of housing or is that on you?

Thanks for the replies so far!

Well the company I work for has never done this before, so it's sort of my responsibility to put 'something' together to then negotiate/compromise on.

My idea was in terms of housing - company would at least cover 2 months of temp accommodation (and my boss already suggested this anyway, so that sounds like an agreement).

On an ongoing basis - our housing costs 'go up' as we currently pay ~1300GBP a month on a mortgage, and we'd have to rent in Singapore, driving it to roughly 2500GBP - so wanted to propose a housing allowance to make up the extra.

I think as long as my proposal is fair, I'd probably be able to get it through the door - certainly the 'up front' relocation costs, and then I figure out any other ongoing allowances (essentially an uptick on my salary).

At the end of the day it's a win-win - company needs someone out there, we want to move, and the company is fully supportive and will put skin in the game to ensure the move is not a negative one

[ProvenPracticalFlexible]

Here's some items you might wanna try, with some estimated costs:

Initial 2months Service Apartment
Travel to Singapore in Business Class
Quarantine hotel and covid test fees when arriving (4kS$)
Healtcare plan (basic allowance 3-4KS$ per year for GP, Specialist outpatient, dental etc + Hospitalisation insurance)
Shipping cost of your stuff
Annual holiday travel back to UK in Business Class for whole family
School fees (Nursery-Kindergarten-Primary School) min 20kS$ per year
Housing allowance 6-8kS$ per month
transport allowance 1-1.5kS$ per month

and big enough salary of course

[pppq99]

Here's some items you might wanna try, with some estimated costs:

Initial 2months Service Apartment
Travel to Singapore in Business Class
Quarantine hotel and covid test fees when arriving (4kS$)
Healtcare plan (basic allowance 3-4KS$ per year for GP, Specialist outpatient, dental etc + Hospitalisation insurance)
Shipping cost of your stuff
Annual holiday travel back to UK in Business Class for whole family
School fees (Nursery-Kindergarten-Primary School) min 20kS$ per year
Housing allowance 6-8kS$ per month
transport allowance 1-1.5kS$ per month

and big enough salary of course

Great suggestions!

Is the healthcare plan doable at that figure? I was searching around and it popped up as 15k GBP for the whole family

[ProvenPracticalFlexible]

I'd say yes, for the basic GP etc. I used to have 3.2kS$ or 3.6kS$ annual allowance, and in a family of 4 (well 3 as my wife has her own from her work) it was always at the end of year force spending to get all used. GP visits and dentals for regular check ups etc don't cost much.

All bit bigger things would go under hospitalisation and surgery plan. Like any skin operations, cutting of moles etc, even if it's a 15 min operation with no anesthesia.

But it depends a bit on what kind of package they purchase. My company just moved to a new model, now we have GPs fully covered but for others there is 10% co-payment, but the total sealing is in hundreds of thousands per year.

So the bigger plan and cover you can get the better of course

[Sunjackal]

Just remember that everything over here is going to require you to pay for it, as opposed to in the UK a where it was covered under our taxation system.

Health insurance, schooling (it’s really expensive for foreigners - so make sure you look at where you’d want your child to go and factor those costs into the remuneration). If you plan to drive, it’s also very expensive to put a car on the road.

[Wong_Jnr]

Here's some items you might wanna try, with some estimated costs:

Initial 2months Service Apartment
Travel to Singapore in Business Class
Quarantine hotel and covid test fees when arriving (4kS$)
Healtcare plan (basic allowance 3-4KS$ per year for GP, Specialist outpatient, dental etc + Hospitalisation insurance)
Shipping cost of your stuff
Annual holiday travel back to UK in Business Class for whole family
School fees (Nursery-Kindergarten-Primary School) min 20kS$ per year
Housing allowance 6-8kS$ per month
transport allowance 1-1.5kS$ per month

and big enough salary of course

That's sounds reasonable for a good starting point.
Try to get a package where they'll cover the schooling (whatever the cost) as that's the large cost that will keep on increasing as your kids get older. You don't want to leave yourself selling yourself short on that from. Car/housing/travel less relevant, just build those into your salary request.
Really though any tax savings from your UK salary will cover housing and transport.
Even if you take a similar salary in SGD to what you earn now will be like a 30% uplift