Moving to Singapore with a Family

[JessieLondon]

Hello,

I am looking for advice from the forum on a move to Singapore next year. I have an opprtunity to relocate with my law firm but am worried that our finances may not be enough.

I earn £100k and have two children aged 3 and 6 months. My husband will be looking for work so initially unemployed. We would like a 2/3 bedroom apartment with decent local amenities (pool, transport, schools). My office is based in Raffles Place.

My work will provide a basic relocation package to cover shipping, flights and 4 weeks accomodation but beyond that, nothing in addition to my salary.

In your view, is this enough to live comfortably in Singapore bearing in mind school costs for my 3 year old and we would like to travel to the UK at least 2 times a year to visit grandparents and family.

Also, what areas would you recommend? and, if we are prepared to take trains and taxis, can we live without a car or is this essential for kids?

Thank you so much for your help with this. It is a bit overwhelming but we are really keen to give our children a better quality of life and London is simply a rat race.

Jessie

[PNGMK]

Hello,

I am looking for advice from the forum on a move to Singapore next year. I have an opprtunity to relocate with my law firm but am worried that our finances may not be enough.

I earn £100k and have two children aged 3 and 6 months. My husband will be looking for work so initially unemployed. We would like a 2/3 bedroom apartment with decent local amenities (pool, transport, schools). My office is based in Raffles Place.

My work will provide a basic relocation package to cover shipping, flights and 4 weeks accomodation but beyond that, nothing in addition to my salary.

In your view, is this enough to live comfortably in Singapore bearing in mind school costs for my 3 year old and we would like to travel to the UK at least 2 times a year to visit grandparents and family.

Also, what areas would you recommend? and, if we are prepared to take trains and taxis, can we live without a car or is this essential for kids?

Thank you so much for your help with this. It is a bit overwhelming but we are really keen to give our children a better quality of life and London is simply a rat race.

Jessie

Who pays for schooling? In a year your 4 yo needs to start something and that's USD$24,000.

Who pays for housing? You need at least $5,000 p.m. I suspect.

You'll be ok on that salary though. Income tax is a big factor - make sure you do not have to pay UK income tax on that salary when you move out here!

[BedokAmerican]

http://travel.cnn.com/singapore/life/te ... old-132289

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/comment--will- ... 17052.html

There's somewhat of a rat race in Singapore as well!

[singapore eagle]

There's somewhat of a rat race in Singapore as well!

Absolutely. There are lots of good reasons to live in Singapore, but a quiet life isn't one of them!

Anyway, we relocated from London five years ago and now have kids of 4 and 2. Our monthly outgoings, for a lifestyle which I reckon matches how we would live if we were still back home, are:

housing $6k
car loan $3k (almost paid off thankfully!)
nursery fees £2.5k
utilities/TV/phones $0.5k
miscellaneous expenditure $4k on average probably, mostly spent on the kids

I'm sure that this makes us high spenders in Singapore; the average household income is $5k a month after all. But I wouldn't say we are extravagant.

I personally don't feel that we could live without a car now that we have kids. But I see other families that have got the art of using taxis down to a fine art.

[Hannieroo]

The biggest problem with taxis is rain. Nobody wants to stand in it with a buggy. But if your children will ultimately be cared for by a helper then that doesn't matter because few of them drive so it'll be sat still all week.

[x9200]

I would say the biggest problem with the taxis is that for children older than 1yo there is no good and safe car seat option.

[JessieLondon]

thank you everyone for your helpful posts so far. i feel somewhat assured about budget/ ability to do without a car (for the initial year at least maybe not longterm).

Now i just need to find the right area and nursery. GULP

Thanks again