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Salary v/s Cost Of Living in HK

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  1. #101

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    I shudder for the person forced to squat in this hovel
    The ceiling height indeed seems low..

  2. #102

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    Quote Originally Posted by RobRoy:
    Ok this is going to a small book I'm writing here, but I like this topic

    I'm totally with you in this thread. But I'm just thinking how old are you? I mean if you are born 1988 its a pretty amazing salary you have..

    GeoExpat is filled of people who love to explain how they found their perfect Hong Kong life living frugal on the Gold Coast or something similar. There is not really anything wrong with that, but sometimes a bit confusing when you are on geoEXPAT and the forum is filled with frugal non-banker/lawyers who lived in HK for 20 years and live of a salary of 60k per month.

    It seems you are surrounded more with people who live actual "expat" lifestyle with paid housing and kids paid through international school (which is still common at my company). And yes expat contracts is less common nowadays, but bankers and lawyers still make 150-250k per month + some bonus. So they can also afford the "expat" lifestyle without a package. But these are mostly older people, I would say its a tiny amount of people under 40 years of age that reach like 200k per month. I do have some friends who are mid 30s and make that, but they work front office at Goldman, it's not that many who work in that kind of positions.

    So if you take people in the age span 30-35, it's much more common with your type of sitation, you sit in a back/mid-office role and you make 60-70-80k per month. The do wells manage to get up to VP and perhaps take home around 100k and a few very few work front office roles and take home much more than that. Even most front office people I know, in the 30-35y age span who are expats, their package is something like 40k housing + 70k salary + 10k pension, which is better off than you, but not like miles better.

    If you later on closing in on 40 with kids, still sit with 80k and perhaps your wife is not bringing home the big bucks, I do agree with you, life aint that easy. You can't enjoy many of the luxuries of HK life, you still get by, but what's the point. Better move back where you came from. I think family life in HK, say 2-3 kids, you wanna make at least 200k per month as a family. Then HK except the airpollution is pretty unbeatable compared to living in other cities. HK has so much so to offer if you just can afford it.

    You ranting a bit about the local rich people, I happen to have quite a lot of insight in this area. I think you are off target on this one. Sure there are some very rich locals in HK, but they are also less than you think. Ok first of all, 4000 sq feet flat is insane, almost nobody has that (in a good location that is, Mid-Levels, Repulse, etc), people who live in flats that cost 100m hkd+ they are about 2000 sq feet net. Even most billionares in HK don't live much bigger than that. Second, most kids to these families have a lot to live up to, sure they will get a flat from the parents, but they work HARD for many years. And they have usually been drilled through school with tutors by their side since they were little. Sure there is the odd drop-out who just is a spoiled brat, but most of these people don't live such easy lives. The ones I met do not meet the parents at a country club, rather the opposite, after their studies at Harvard they toll long hours at an investment bank, as a doctor or a lawyers. The only ones I come across living something to the lifestyle you allude to, is housewifes to rich men, they can get millions per year just to spend on shopping, and they have absolutely nothing to do, except care about their looks and what they should wear and buy next.
    Hi RobRoy. Interesting perspective here. Yea you are right about how confusing this site is. There are some 'expats' living on local pay.. I'm not saying Hk local pay is bad I'm just wondering why these expats would live here when the same pay would give them a better quality of life their own country.

    As for me I came back to Hk for family reasons. Because I have a perm HKID I was classified as local.. even after transferring with my company. I also have an American passport so I get double taxed but I don't make enough to consider re-nouncing American citizenship. Also I figure I might head back to sunny California someday or maybe the U.K. (I also have a British passport)

    I do meet a lot of these rich local types. Some are well disciplined and respectful while others are obnoxious. It's typically the 'want to be' rich ones primarily upper middle class that are the obnoxious ones. Super rich are generally more down to earth. However if you talk about dating some of the super rich it's another story. Due to social pressures their family may not approve of certain individuals. My friend got dumped by a super rich guy due to her insufficient social status (she has a professional job, makes around 80-100k a month and lives Happy Valley). HK problems...

  3. #103

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    Original Post Deleted
    I always thought M&M was a she, no idea why.

    A 150k holiday could feed over 20,000 people.
    Kowloon Goon likes this.

  4. #104

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    Common now, there are surely a lot of people in HK spending 150k on a holiday for a family. If I randomly search for a trip to LA with cathay its sets you back 20k per person in Premium Economy. If you go for Business its 42k per person.

    Add on hotels, car rental, activities and food for a 2 week vacation. That's easily 150k for a family of 4 actually staying at 3/4 star hotels at 1500 HKD per room, eating at normal restaurants etc. Or for a couple of 2 splurging a bit by going in business class trying some nice food and staying at 5-star hotels at 3000 HKD per night.

    MandM! likes this.

  5. #105

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    Quote Originally Posted by RobRoy:
    Common now, there are surely a lot of people in HK spending 150k on a holiday for a family. If I randomly search for a trip to LA with cathay its sets you back 20k per person in Premium Economy. If you go for Business its 42k per person.

    Add on hotels, car rental, activities and food for a 2 week vacation. That's easily 150k for a family of 4 actually staying at 3/4 star hotels at 1500 HKD per room, eating at normal restaurants etc. Or for a couple of 2 splurging a bit by going in business class trying some nice food and staying at 5-star hotels at 3000 HKD per night.
    She said she and her friends spend $50-150K PER PERSON for a holiday.

    Vacations, if I go with a group of friends, we easily spend 50k per person, up to 150k per person. Yes it's crazy, and you can spend much less, but it's more about do what you want when you want with all conveniences.
    MABinPengChau likes this.

  6. #106

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    She said she and her friends spend $50-150K PER PERSON for a holiday.
    Maybe including shopping? 150k for one person just on travel is pretty steep. Almost needs to include a very expensive flight ticket to reach such an amount. Like business or first class. Business to New York with Cathay sets you back at least 60-70k. Staying at top hotels in New York could set you back around 8k per night, its doable but needs to be some pretty fancy location (New York, London, Paris, etc). It's very hard spending 150k going to Taipei or Bangkok

  7. #107

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    Quote Originally Posted by DimSum88:
    I disagree. I am not delusional at all. I am considered a local hire at my firm. I don't have high pay and 40k to 50k housing and other benefits like lots of other expats do. On top of that I would like to note that I am actually a Hk Chinese person who came back from LA so I'm not really sure if I am local or expat. I'm sure most of the expats working in Hk here who are non Chinese and/or have no roots in HK are easily making 200-300k per month. If not why else would they leave their comfy lifestyle in their home country?

    There are also the rich local Hk. Generally the young people in this demographic (aged 20-40) don't really rely on their incomes to live as they are living at home with their families in 4000 sq ft apartments with drivers and maids. If not, their parents gifted them an equally massive flat in the same area. These people generally might 'work' for family business in which a business meeting means meeting their mom or dad for lunch at the country club, or may have standard jobs but don't rely on the income for livelihood. This income is all 100% spending money / pocket change for clothes, entertainment, travelling, etc.

    So generally in Hk, there are the well above average earning expats or the rich family supported local HK. Generally it's a struggle for anyone not in either of those categories.
    Never before has the sentence "I'm not delusional at all" been followed by such delusion.
    elmaldito likes this.

  8. #108

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    I know girls who have spent 150,000HKD going to Europe to load up on Chanel and Hermes bags. They also eat at Michelin Starred restaurants and stay at fancy hotels with river and city views. Yes, it's possible to spend this much. Yes, these girls are mostly single.


  9. #109
    Quote Originally Posted by DimSumBond:
    I know girls who have spent 150,000HKD going to Europe to load up on Chanel and Hermes bags. They also eat at Michelin Starred restaurants and stay at fancy hotels with river and city views. Yes, it's possible to spend this much. Yes, these girls are mostly single.
    That has nothing to do with traveling or taking a holiday. The thread is about someone feeling poor in Hong Kong on an +80K salary because expenses in Hong Kong are too high. How is the scenario relevant to this discussion? Rather it just confirms the keeping up with the Joneses syndrome.
    merchantms and hullexile like this.

  10. #110

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    Easy to spend 150k per person. A first class ticket to Europe on Cathay is that much alone.

    MandM! likes this.