Can I live on $120000

[Mover]

I am just in the last stages of negotiating a move to Singapore. I think I could get them up to a salary of $10000 a month plus $2000 towards living expenses per month. Could I survive on this?

I have trawled the archive and looked at some real estate sites and I think £3500 - $4000 is the ballpark for accommodation I am just wondering if I will have enough left to 'enjoy' life in Singapore as well.

[Junebug]

As so often stated before, it would be helpful to know whether you are married, have childen, whether your company will give you a car or whether you will have to buy or lease a car yourself, whether your children (if there are any) will go to one of the private schools, etc.

[Food 4 thought]

You mention some prices for real estate there. One thing to keep in mind is whether presently you live on the 10thfloor with a great view, tennis court, putting green, pool, gym etc...I live very, very central in a brand new condo, 3 bedrooms and the abovementioned facilities. Rent is less than $4000 per mth.

Expats for whatever reason start comparing apples and oranges. I could tell you that my house in Sydney has none of the above and is renting virtually dollar for dollar. If you merely wish to replicate a middle class existence my personal feelings and experience suggests it is enough.

If however you require private schooling and some upmarket digs, then that is a different story wherever you are. I have never used the tennis court, putting green, gym and the pool only once. Horses for courses.

[Careful]

As mentioned before it depends if you have kids and their ages, if you require a car (you may be working a fair way out of town), if a car is provided does your company pay petrol etc, health insurance (medical and dental), who is responsible for utilities, what about tax!! Is your company paying relocation costs? What about flights home? These things could dwindle what seems like a handsome package down to virtually nothing. If I was you I would do a search of previous posts on this topic to get an idea of what is possible...Moving to Singapore, Expat package check etc etc. We are a family on a good package and I have to say though we thought we'd be saving a fair bit more - we are still saving but our food expenses per month are far higher than what they were at home(I am talking same for same), however if you are on your own or a couple I'd say your expenses would be low if you decided to eat Hawker food most of the time. Restaurants are not cheap however and alcohol can chew up your savings  too...so I am told by our single friends !! What I am basically saying is don't come here thinking you'll be an over night millionaire (OK it is an exaggeration!!) but realise that the cost of living here is high considering most things are imported. Also when looking for an apartment go for one with at least a pool and gym because the cost to join a club is high...about $8000 per year if I am not wrong.I would as a single or couple probably accept such an offer with medical insurance and relocation costs but with kids no way(schooling at an international school, thus same sort of curriculum and school calendar as home,$10,000 to $20,000 per year). Good luck and bring plenty of your favourite wine and your BBQ!!

[Allibert]

If you're single, you can live on this easily. I am also single, have a similar salary. My apartment in a condo with swimming pool and tennis court) costs $3000 p.m. near River Valley, now possibly cheaper and I've saved much more here than in saved anywhere else in my life. In fact for the money that I've saved here I would have needed 8 - 10 years in Germany, where I last lived. Contact me for more details if you're interested.

Alan

[maths]

correct me if i'm wrong
10,000 plus 2,000 = 12,000 per month x 12
Equals 144,000 ?
so basically I'd say yes you can survive unless your coming here to be an accountant.

[AzRaeL]

ermm DUH..
$10,000 a month and you wonder if you can survive? How about the rest of the people  out there only making half that or even a quarter that amount?

[evehow]

Like me lor!  

It really depends mainly on lifestyle choices.  If you MUST die-die live in a penthouse overlooking Orchard Road, be driven around in a Merc, eat and drink at 5-star restaurants every night, and do your shopping only at Takashimaya, sorry buddy.

But you have choices.  So, it really depends on how you want to live.  You can certainly SURVIVE (as this is the word you chose), but can you survive the lifestyle?

[ecole]

The amount should be OK if single and not looking for penthouse / merc etc as pointed out before. We should also not forget that anyone coming to Singapore will be subject to Singapore income taxes - according to their rules - which could amount to 20% to 24% of your income. So, is 12000 really 12000???

[Careful]

Again be careful...moving and insurance on your goods can be huge...for a family $15000 is not outrageous to ship a container of household goods. School fees as stated. Air fares home(should be included) but every year if you want a holiday add a one, two or more thousand per family member. Medical...another few thousand,add kids a pregnancy and a few dental visits and you can keep multiplying (read medical policies as dental and pregnancy can have stipulations). If you want to live to the same standard as you are now and you have a family start asking some more questions...too often some people like to advise "yeah easy I could live on that easy"..but the point is can you and your family live on that amount. By the way we do'nt live in a penthouse and mercedes...I don't think so!! Also this is a pretty pathetic blow....companies will provide a certain dollar figure for rental and some also for car...this isn't akinda deal where if you don't spend it you get the rest in cash. Anyone telling the facts will tell you cost of living in Singapore is quite high

[Can]

I make 60,000.00
Live on 20,000.00
Been here two years already,
Saved 80,000.00 to date
On a five year contract hope to save over a quarter million.

In my country, you multiply that by 24, at the current rate, perhaps more later.
I forego many things now, enjoy just enough, not to be bored, and I am okay.

I was always told it how much you save and not how much you earn that matters.

I must add that I do not drink or smoke, or go out for paid entertainnment.
I live alone, but visit friends at home, as they do with me.
Can

[slothuus]

Having checked the SG Inland Revenue website, believe that tax on a total of SGD 144000 per annum will net be in the region of 13-14%, so you'll have about SGD 10500 to live on per month.

[AzRaeL]

oh heaven forbid!
$10k a month..
such poverty *LOL*

[SoSo]

AzRael

Please accept that some people have already achieved a certain lifestyle and wish to know whether the package they are receiving will mean they can maintain that same lifestyle. It would not be reasonable to suggest that they should leave a certain style that they can afford in whichever country they come from to one which means they would recieve less freedom.

The fact that some earn more than others is a fact of life. I do not begrudge anyone that they earn more than I. There's more to life than than being envious, or suggesting that they're being greedy.

I do wish however, that the postings on this issue would be more specific in their queries. To be able to answer such a question fully, it requires knowledge of their current standards to see whether they can maintain those comforts that they have already achieved.

[nualum]

SoSo is quite right. How can anyone guess the poster's baseline, i.e. his/her present salary, present housing, present family status, present life style? Without that, much of what we say is speculative in the extreme. We also don't know anything about the poster's aspirations? Why is he/she thinking of coming here? Is he/her planning to live the good life, save money, travel Asia, find the inner child?

Nevertheless, we have seen a range of possibilities--a person who manages to save most of a salary of $60K, a peson who provides an unqualified no, and someone else who suggests great caution--plus a variety of other perspectives and possibilities. The poster will undoubtedly get better ideas by providing that baseline information.

As a side remark--In earlier lives, I did not really expect my employers to provide me with vacation money, pay for a servant, or worry about a cost-of-living differential. It is nice if one gets such perks, but they are not essential to live a life as good as I had at home, and if I wanted them, I paid for them myself. This is not to say that there will be some steep costs that an employer might quite reasonably underwrite. School tuition for children is one such case. There are others.

One last thing . . . it is possible to rent a furnished apartment and augment those furnishings with items in your own taste. This is actually not too expensive here. This option might well be cheaper than shipping all one's worldly possessions here.