quick question on money

[johna]

Any advice on this would be most appreaciated
I'm just sorting out wage deal with my company., moving
from Uk to HK and wanted to know a rough idea of how much i would need to earn to have a reasonable standard of living for two people?
My company believe that as HK has lower taxes that my wage should reduce because of this and I need some reasonable arguments to counter this, add to this in that I'm not on a london wage!

Am on short notice with this as have meeting with my boss in the morning!

cheersfor any help

[KnowItAll]

John,

Take a look at this thread.

http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/showth...p?threadid=247

We have the basics worked out there.

The major increase in cost of living will be rent, which is to be honest a bit higher than parts of London and often comparable with the more upmarket areas.

Best of luck and don't forget to factor in a couple of beers that you owe us, when you get here.

[KnowItAll]

Heres another resource, a bit more official than my ramblings.

http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

Scroll down to the bottom where costs of various commodity items are compared in US$ terms.

Rents have fallen considerably and you can get rental pricings on www.gohome.com.hk

[KnowItAll]

And finally ..

http://www.info.gov.hk/hkecon/cost/index.htm

Hong Kong Govt's official cost of living survey.

[johna]

thanks for the info...hopefully will be able to afford the cost of a good few beers in return when i come over!!

[Botox]

Hong Kong has lower taxes, but don't you pay double on your first year? And you may need "moving expenses"

Seriously though, stop it with the "rent in Hong Kong costs more than London" - not today it doesn't. Pre-2000/1999/whatever, that was certainly true, but now I see places in Hong Kong around £1000/month which would cost at least £1500 in a comparable "nice" central area of London. And it's a buyers market in Hong Kong, so bargaining with the landlord is a good way to knock a sizeable chunk off the rent - I saved a nice bit that way too.

I'm not saying Hong Kong's cheap though, as people earn comparitively less than southern English workers, but they do by and large have less to pay for too. But I know a few years ago HK had a crazy economy.

[shri]

Botox, Still is a pretty competive economy, depending on the sector you're involved with.