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Considering Transfer Offer to HK

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    6

    Considering Transfer Offer to HK

    Hello,

    My wife and I have recently been lucky enough to welcome our first child during these interesting times. We live in London, UK, but are from S Korea so we made the decision to have the baby and spend a few months in Korea as things escalated back home in England.

    I've recently had a transfer offer to HK through my job as a consultant and, while the package seems ok (~60K HKD/month, pre-tax), I was surprised at the high living costs, even compared to London.

    I was wondering if I could get people's thoughts on the feasibility of two (Korean) expats raising an infant in HK.

    Researching the internet, I've worked out the following living costs for the three of us, if people could give their opinions on whether too high/low:

    Water/Gas/Electricity/Internet: 3500 HKD
    Mobile Phone: 500 HKD
    Groceries: 1500 HKD
    Food: 2000 HKD
    Travel: 1500 HKD

    Local friends/colleagues I spoke to have recommended the areas:

    - TKO/LOHAS Park (far from client/our offices and airport but new-build homes with seemingly great value for money)
    - Olympic/Kennedy Town (near the offices and a cultural centre... but one colleague does not recommend)
    - Tseun Wan (further from offices but well-connected)

    We were hoping for a 700+ sq ft (saleable area) 3 bedroom apartment costing just under 30k HKD. As my wife will take time off from working, a quiet home in a clean environment (preferably with playgrounds, parks and other families) is preferred.

    Also, the company has offered 70K HKD to help us move our personal items from London. Does anyone know if this is reasonable? All removals companies I've found require personal details entered to give a quote...

    Thanks in advance for your help.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    60k/month is livable, but you won't have much spare money to enjoy Hong Kong to the fullest. Is there a bonus, or 13th month? At least tax is low - does your company have the rental reimbursement process all set up as this will make a big difference at your salary range.

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  3. #3

    60k split between the 3 of you is certainly livable but I'd not want to spend 50% of salary on rent. On gross salary, that's prob 60% so I'd reconsider somewhere less than 20k so you can save more money as there's a lot of costs you may not have factored in.

    aw451 and Kreaner like this.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Sep 2018
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    Quote Originally Posted by SonicYouth1:
    60k split between the 3 of you is certainly livable but I'd not want to spend 50% of salary on rent. On gross salary, that's prob 60% so I'd reconsider somewhere less than 20k so you can save more money as there's a lot of costs you may not have factored in.
    With a child, dependent spouse and 30k rent (assuming they have a rental reimbursement scheme), OP will be paying a couple of hundred dollars per year tax at most. Although I agree that 50% is a bit too much for rent. It's best to be able to save more for a rainy day.
    Kreaner likes this.

  5. #5

    It really depends on your standard of living.

    60k would be more than enough for most - if you're willing to live somewhere more local / far away, do groceries at wet markets, eat at local restaurants and send you kids to local schools. It becomes a little trickier if you're looking to live in a new building, shop at supermarkets, eat at nicer restaurants and send you kid to a private playgroup/pre nursery.

    As others have pointed out, rent will do the most damage. Depending on your office location, you may want to consider other locations which are a bit further out, but more affordable.

    Kreaner likes this.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Jun 2018
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    1,478

    Agree 50 percent on rent is too much... I doubt you'll spend 3500 on utilities (pretty cheap here, but of course depends how much you blast the AC) but will also be very surprised if you can get away with 1500 on groceries. Budget for 500 dollars per carrier bag and go from there!

    If you are used to commuting in London then LOHAS, while “far out” by HK standards, is not a bad option. You have to spend a lot in Olympic/Austin area to get decent space.

    Kreaner likes this.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 2019
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    Budget for utilities, groceries and food seems way too low to me. At least you can save on childcare costs for now, but single income and intended budget for rent are scary. 700 ft is a lot for Hong Kong, and be warned LOHAS Park is close to a (former?) dump site, although I understand smells may not be a problem now (used to be in particular during summer).

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  8. #8

    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    6
    Quote Originally Posted by bravizzel:
    60k/month is livable, but you won't have much spare money to enjoy Hong Kong to the fullest. Is there a bonus, or 13th month? At least tax is low - does your company have the rental reimbursement process all set up as this will make a big difference at your salary range.
    Sorry, not sure what a 'rental reimbursement process' is... is it my company paying for a portion of my rent? They haven't offered anything like that.

    There should be a bonus, but that's discretionary up to 25% of salary and times are currently tough (there was no bonus last year in the UK) so I'd rather not count on that.

    Lohas sounds less appealing now and it seems we need to aim for a smaller flat nearer the 20k/month range...

    My office is near Olympic and from what I understand, client offices are in that general area as well. I heard that living too central is not recommended with a child as there is no room to manoeuvre a buggy (presumably less so during covid).

    Also, could I ask what a more reasonable budget for food/groceries would be (for a family of 3)? I'm hoping it's not far off my original guess...

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kreaner:
    Sorry, not sure what a 'rental reimbursement process' is... is it my company paying for a portion of my rent? They haven't offered anything like that.

    There should be a bonus, but that's discretionary up to 25% of salary and times are currently tough (there was no bonus last year in the UK) so I'd rather not count on that.

    Lohas sounds less appealing now and it seems we need to aim for a smaller flat nearer the 20k/month range...

    My office is near Olympic and from what I understand, client offices are in that general area as well. I heard that living too central is not recommended with a child as there is no room to manoeuvre a buggy (presumably less so during covid).

    Also, could I ask what a more reasonable budget for food/groceries would be (for a family of 3)? I'm hoping it's not far off my original guess...
    Rental reimbursement is a tax thing that most companies do. When your employer reports your taxes to Inland Revenue they subtract the rent and say they provided the apartment to you. The value of this is considered to be 10% of the salary that was reported.

    In your case, if you took the 30k flat your annual tax would be based on (12 * 30k * 1.1) with a kid and a dependent spouse tax exemptions you will be unlikely to need to pay any tax (with the 30k flat).
    Kreaner and traineeinvestor like this.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    6,745

    Air pollution is quite severe


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