a few questions about relocating

[cameron_uk]

I've been offered a position out in singapore...

i'm expecting to be paid approx 100k (sing dollars) a year plus medical cover etc

I have a wife and small daughter to support .. would this be sufficiant to lead a decent lifestyle?

Also any mothers out there, do they have such a thing as mother and baby groups in singapore .. my wife enjoys taking my daughter along and finds it a good way to meet people

thanks in advance

[varun]

Cameron,

does your company cover your rent, child's education, annual fly-backs, local transport, etc? If not, while you CAN lead a decent lifestyle, it would really depend on your definition of "decent". I'd wager most of the folks on expat packages on this board earn on average twice that if not more, especially when you factor in housing allowances, education allowances, et al. Whether one gets all (or any) of these perks really depends on the industry you're in. (Medical cover, btw, is cheap - to the tune of a few hundred dollars a year for fairly comprehensive coverage, so that's not much of a deal).

If you're comfortable living in an apartment instead of a house, in the "suburbs", and are comfortable not owning a car but taking public transport instead (which, by the way, is fairly good, with inexpensive taxis), you'll be okay. Not great, okay. Not an expatriate lifestyle (

All told, "a decent lifestyle" means different things to different folks - it really depends on how good you have it where you are currently. A lot of people mistakenly assume that just because someone's from the US or the UK (or other "western country"), they earn a fortune and live like kings (or queens, as the case may be).

Best,

- V.

I've been offered a position out in singapore...

i'm expecting to be paid approx 100k (sing dollars) a year plus medical cover etc

I have a wife and small daughter to support .. would this be sufficiant to lead a decent lifestyle?

Also any mothers out there, do they have such a thing as mother and baby groups in singapore .. my wife enjoys taking my daughter along and finds it a good way to meet people

thanks in advance

[ringo100]

I think you should be ok as you don't need schooling. I'm from the UK aswell and have an average job, while I earn $70k ($90k with bonus) I am single and don't feel the need to have my own apartment. I lead a nice life style and my monthly budget is as as follows:

Housing: $850 Shared condo, but includes internet, cable, PUB.
Food: $600 Eat out every lunch and evening but local food.
Travel $100 MRT to and from work everyday.
Phone $150 but would save if I went onto a contract.
Going out $2500 Far too much.

So about $4,200 a month. The rest is saving + holidays. I know your situation is different but the above is a guide.

Another guide which I use for the uk is to compare a sing salary to uk salary factor in tax at 75% and cost of living at about 80% to get a rough Idea of a uk salary i.e. $100k/0.75/0.8 = $167k /3 = GBP55k. not perfect but ok as a guide.

[beenhere10years]

I've been offered a position out in singapore...

i'm expecting to be paid approx 100k (sing dollars) a year plus medical cover etc

I have a wife and small daughter to support .. would this be sufficiant to lead a decent lifestyle?

Also any mothers out there, do they have such a thing as mother and baby groups in singapore .. my wife enjoys taking my daughter along and finds it a good way to meet people

thanks in advance

I think ringo100 is well intentioned, but I think his housing number is low. Our PUB, cable and water cost that much a month (and that's with me turning off lights and only running the air/con at night). Housing is a big expense, if it is covered by the company, find out your budget. Either way, look at the classifieds here to get an idea of what a 3 bedroom condo will cost you.

100K should set you up very nicely, but pay special attention to what Varun said: find out what your company is paying for before you make any decisions. Is your daughter school age? Another expense to consider. Get all the details of whats covered and things will start to fall into place. Good luck.

[cameron_uk]

cheers guys .. i'm going to look into schooling etc in more detail .. at the moment she's only 18months but if we are out there long term .. its definatley something i'll have to consider ..

its early days yet .. they have interviewed me and told me approximately what i'll get but still no detail .. will deinately look into it more before accepting ..

cheers again for you time .. and i may see some of you soon

[uk-kiwi]

hi - at 18mths i don't think you have to worry too much about school. there's no requirement to send children to school at 3 like alot of people do here. that's considered pre-school anyway and most companies don't pay for that. but you should think about a car definately and factor that in. we have a 20mth old son and came here thinking MRT / Bus / Taxi but honestly, now i've become a stay at home Mum, i would go nuts without a car. there's no concept here of ramp access to cross the roads or get to the MRT so you have to carry baby and buggy up and down steps.

apart from that, plenty of mother baby scenarios - it seems to me that because of the inexpensive home help and the fact that spouses don't generally work, everyone comes to singapore to breed. it's definately a good place to hang out with the children!