Transfer to HK - kids/schools/where to live???

[Jam79]

I recently moved with my family from London. We came in January this year and had our schools sorted before the move in August.

Youll need to get the total package from the company to assess if it's worth your while. HK can be very lucrative but it all depends on the package. The tax rate is low but that can be easily negated on housing and education costs.

[Mat]

Overall OP as many have said...depends on the school but still:

- 30 K housing
- School paid
- 42K monthly income
means roughly around 90K a month for the family (assuming ~ 8/9 k per kids for school)

It's OK, not in the top bracket but OK.

Make sure (you may have mentioned but I read quickly only):
- they also give you a flight back home every year (else that eats your budget)
- they provide good medical (some stuffs are super expensive here...yes a local system is good but dentists etc can cost you an arm and a leg for example).

As for housing, of course if you can increase it all the better but for 30K and depending on where is the school you can look at (and since you don't mind up to an hour commute):
- Ma Wan
- Gold Coast Area
- Discovery bay
- Some areas of Sha Tin and Ma On Shan
- Tsuen Kwan O
- Tung Chung / Tsing Yi
- Sai Kung / Clearwater bay if you are after the village style kinda thing
some other places I may forget -- point is pretty much everywhere in HK you will find areas that are close to some school and are "affordable" for your budget.

These are just some areas, there are more for sure.
For Example Ma Wan if you manage to get your Kids to ESF Tsing Yi and you work in central, it becomes a great place as commute will be short for all of you and living environment is great if you fancy a beach, a few resto and a nice pool. if you are into nightlife, fancy bars and high end entertainment it will be hell.

What I mean, is that you can do what you want in HK.

[Char Siu King]

I haven't read the whole thread but I wouldn't move OP. It's an incredibly challenging situation with children.

If the company can guarantee places at a good quality international school (close by) and pay for a decent size apartment, then it's a different story.

Every year I have friends and colleagues move back home because they can't afford school for their kids who are born in Hong Kong or they get fed up with the pollution etc .

[imparanoic]

will you and your wife consider owning a car, makes a big difference especially when you have kids

[Mat]

I haven't read the whole thread but I wouldn't move OP. It's an incredibly challenging situation with children.

If the company can guarantee places at a good quality international school (close by) and pay for a decent size apartment, then it's a different story.

Every year I have friends and colleagues move back home because they can't afford school for their kids who are born in Hong Kong or they get fed up with the pollution etc .

Agree I have seen that but in the cases I have seen (might not be same for you) is people who came here single/just married and got kids in HK after 2/3 years and then they find it very challenging because suddenly the $ they used to have and consider great for a couple was not that great for a family with school/helper etc etc. I think different if you already come as a family and have the right expectation (easier said than done).

[kimwy66]

There is one thing that the OP can take full advantage of in Hong Kong - an exchange rate at HKD 9.54 to the pound and sinking. Sending money back to the UK will make him a rich man by the time May has flushed the country away.

[TheBrit]

There is one thing that the OP can take full advantage of in Hong Kong - an exchange rate at HKD 9.54 to the pound and sinking. Sending money back to the UK will make him a rich man by the time May has flushed the country away.

Or maybe not....

The normal procedure at my company is to provide you with roughly the same take home pay as in the UK, which I guess would be around the $500k pa mark.

Depends when the Hong Kong package is calculated..... a couple of months ago - all is good. If it is not yet set, then Sterling depreciation could be disastrous.

[Firemin]

So, I can provide further provisional details that answer some of the suggestions/questions etc:

• Salary will be the basically the same as UK (NET), based on a 3yr averageexchange rate (i.e. mostly unaffected by Brexit), plus an annual bonus (essentially productivity/commission based)
• Housing allowance of HK$30k pm, possibly slightly more to be negotiated (I am of course free to top up from my salary)
• School/nursery fees paid for for both children (but not debentures)
• Private healthcare/medical and insurance for whole family (standard in my company anyway)
• No car allowance provided but possible provision for an extension of housing allowance to pay for parking (as they appreciate the need for a car with young children)
• Return premium economy flights once per year back to UK for whole family
• All moving/relocation costs paid for
• Payment of mortgage / cover of rental shortfall for UK property

As an illustration, our mortgage/nursery fees currently represent our biggest outgoing in the UK (~37.5% of combined take home pay excluding my bonuses), neither of which we would be paying if we take the move, albeit that we see a 25% drop in combined take home pay if my wife isn't working (at which point those outgoings become 50% of my take home pay alone).

So in essence we would be seeing potentially a 37.5% increase in our disposable income prior to paying any bills etc. I struggle to see how food/utilities can be that much more expensive than the UK, but any advice in that regard would be greatly appreciated...

I will have a look at some of the suggested areas for accommodation and it seems we may well be able to arrange a "trial" period of around a month so we can see how we acclimatise.

Please keep any further advice/suggestions coming!

[Jam79]

Are they matching uk salary on a gross or net income basis?

[Jam79]

Sorry, ignore my question, just read it again. I think overall the deal is not bad. I'd recommend that you check out Gold Coast. Great for kids n the shuttle into central is like 15 HKD. The international schools here are better than your state or prep school in U.K. Check out Harrow International in Gold Coast. Great facilities.

Can you rent rent your place out in U.K. And get the mortgage paid for by the company?