Financial justification to relocate to Singapore from Melb

[woofwoof]

I earn AUD$120K p.a. and am contemplating a move to Singapore. I have a young family and I would like to know, based on some of your experiences, what is a fair package to ask for? I'm 50-50 on the decision but an attractive salary package may sway me the Singapore way. I know it's a tough question but I'd like to hear from some of you who'd made the choice and were in the similar situation as I'm in now.

I understand that in the first 2 years, I will not be able to obtain the Singaporean PR which means no CPF?? Can my company still contribute to my superannuation fund?

Cheers

[anjin-san]

Assuming they paid you the same wage as in Australia, you'd still save through (relatively):

- cheaper food
- cheaper public transport
- cheaper rent (especially if you're from Sydney)
- far, far lower tax rate

Not too sure about the CPF issue. I know that neither you nor your employer make contributions to be fund, but I've heard conflicting views about whether or not your employer pays your 'contribution' to you up-front, so you still technically benefit. Still looking into that (very attractive) possibility!

[aussiemum]

your from melb , then rent will kill you and if you are thinking of driving , the cost of a car will kill you too, and health insurance too, and don't forget an International School. do your research careful and ask for more money or an expat package, with allowances, rent,education,health insurance.
cheers

[woofwoof]

your from melb , then rent will kill you and if you are thinking of driving , the cost of a car will kill you too, and health insurance too, and don't forget an International School. do your research careful and ask for more money or an expat package, with allowances, rent,education,health insurance.
cheers

I know rent & car are very expensive in Singapore but what my concern is health insurance. I've got private healthcare in AUS which costs my family around AUD$3k+ p.a. Do they have the same system in Singapore? It is an important consideration for us as we have a 3 y.o and another baby on the way (but he/she will be delivered in Australia before we leave).

[micknlea]

The most important thing I could say to you is to do your homework thoroughly first. We learned the hard way, we initially moved to Hong Kong and we didn't take long enough to consider all the ins and outs of that move. It cost us a lot of money and although it looked attractive at first we ended up in debt as a result as we did not realise the true cost of living there and what we would need to live somewhere near to the same type of standard we lived in back home in Melbourne (which was nothing special, just life in the eastern suburbs).

Not sure from your original posting if you are looking at an expat package or just a package, they can be very different. A lot of expat packages include rent, school fees (international schools are not cheap), school bus fares, health insurance, utility charges, yearly travel to home city. This can make your base salary a lot more attractive. If you are not looking at an expat package then you will have to check out all of these costs to add into your budget.

Health insurance is available here, and is probably about the same in cost perhaps a bit more, but doctors/hospital tend to be more expensive than back in Melbourne. As I said a lot of expat packages have health insurance as part of the deal, and if yours does don't forget to check to see if yours just covers you or if it includes that whole family as well, many don't! Dental cover is another really important item to think of too.

Perhaps you should consider looking at "portable" health insurance that you can take with you and not lose any benefits or have further waiting periods. There are several international companies who do this sort of thing and it is quite popular with expats around the world. BUPA is one of them sorry can't remember the others,most seem to be British or American. I could not find any of the local companies in Australia that seem to do this though.

Depending on what you eat food can be a lot more expensive here too...meat for instance and deli products are very pricey, as is wine! (just triple the price back in Melb and you will be close). Lots of other things are cheaper though.

The weather will take a bit of adaptation since you would be coming from Melbourne where humidity is practically non existent, but once you are here for a while you just sort of get used to it.

I miss Melbourne and its quirky weather, but our family loves Singapore as it is a lovely place to live. We certainly don't regret the move here. Good luck making your decision.