# Looking to move to Singapore from USA



## kitcat (Jun 17, 2013)

Hello All

My husband & me r looking to move to Singapore soon from USA.My husband has accepted a job in Singapore & he will be making SGD 190,000.

I would like more information on housing availability & cost to rent a home or condo.

I would also like to get more info on how much of income tax we will be paying & cost of living in singapore for a couple.

Is SGD 190,000 enough to have a decent standard of living in Singapore??

If u could help answer these questions it will be very helpful.

Thank you


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## kerpap (Jun 17, 2013)

hi.
that is a very good salary to live on.
for renting a condo it depends on what part of the island you wish to live in. if you want to live in the city center than the cost is much higher. 4k - 10k per month depending on how many rooms.
living in the east is much cheaper and to be honest more peaceful. you can expect to pay $2k - $5k per month for a condo.

you can also go the public housing route and rent an HDB apartment.
(HDB is Housing Development Board) a lot of HDB are actually very nice. they just dont have a pool, tennis court etc.
public transport is great here however if you want to own a car be warned it is extremely over priced. 
you need a COE (certificate of entitlement) which is the right to own the car for 10 years, around $90,000 then the car will be around $40,000 - $100,000
plus other taxes, its really better to just take taxis everywhere.

as for taxes, it is very easy and cheap! your employer will pass you a document and you simply go online and setup GIRO and the money will get deducted.
you still need to pay US federal tax too which is 1 or 2 extra forms to fill out and mail back to the US. I never end up owing anything.
you can expect to pay $7,600 in Singapore income tax on a $190,000 salary (give or take) this was based on my salary-tax calculation of about 4.5%


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## kitcat (Jun 17, 2013)

kerpap said:


> hi.
> that is a very good salary to live on.
> for renting a condo it depends on what part of the island you wish to live in. if you want to live in the city center than the cost is much higher. 4k - 10k per month depending on how many rooms.
> living in the east is much cheaper and to be honest more peaceful. you can expect to pay $2k - $5k per month for a condo.
> ...




Thank you for the quick response.How much of the US federal tax does one have to pay every year ?? i mean %??
How about public transportation how much does one end up spending monthly on transportation & how much does Food & other utilities like internet,cable & phone service set u off by??
Does one need to think about having a maid to help with the general upkeep of the home?? That being said how cheap or expensive can it be to have maid??

Whats the preferred area or location to look for condos ???

Thank you.


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## kerpap (Jun 17, 2013)

hi,
for US taxes, in my case, I didnt have to pay anything, just file. if your company pays you in US dollars than I think that is when you have to pay and at the same rate you already pay now.
I file every year and owe $0. I also own no property in the US and have no investments in USD.

our MRT (railway system) is cheap. you should get an EZ-Link card and put $20 on it and that should last you a week or 2 of daily travel. from the airport to the city is around $1.50 its higher though if you buy an individual ticket so get that card. it also can be used for the buses which cost less than a dollar depending on how far you go (tap in and tap out with the card). I actually take taxi's to and from work (15 - 20 ride during peak hours which is an extra 30% of the metered fare) in total $400 for my monthly taxi rides

food is cheap depending on where you buy it. the more "American-like" the store, the more expensive. Cold storage is the name of a super market that caters more to expats than locals. you can get super cheap stuff at Sheng Siong, a more local super market that wont have as many imported western items. other than alcohol which is very expensive, the price is about the same as in the US.

I have 2 cell phone lines, internet and cable at about $250 per month. electrical in private condos is higher about $150 if you dont run the AC with AC can be $500+

I personally dont have a maid. you can get them though I think for somewhere around $1,500 per month? $500 is the monthly salary and the other $1,000 goes to the agency.(so I have heard, I may be wrong) .

preferred location would be dependent on where you will be working.
the choice condos will be next to an MRT station and shopping mall with easy bus and highway access.
I live in the east near the airport. it is nice and quiet however far away from anything so I have to commute to shopping centers etc.
Marine parade is nice, Siglap area would be a good start.


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

note that if you place your kids in International Schools, the 190K may not be enough.

No kids, then it is much ok to have a more than comfortable life in that amount  

For Singapore taxes, you can calculate, at www.iras.gov.sg .. there is an online calculator


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

jason.mantle1: seriously, you don't need a third party to do your taxes here .. and setting up bank account etc, well, it doesn't need a rocket scientist to setup bank accounts, etc. and if you are coming from US with a Citi Account it is much easier 

of course, if you have $ spend it, engage 'agents' and 'consultants'

.. all things are pretty easy here in Singapore .. from filing taxes to opening accounts, personally I see no reason to pay somebody for stuff you can do yourself ..

And for property, I would not engage any agent unless and until I see the property on offer. 

just my 2 cents ..


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## kitcat (Jun 17, 2013)

kerpap said:


> hi,
> for US taxes, in my case, I didnt have to pay anything, just file. if your company pays you in US dollars than I think that is when you have to pay and at the same rate you already pay now.
> I file every year and owe $0. I also own no property in the US and have no investments in USD.
> 
> ...


Thank you for all ur input it gives us some direction to start our search!!!


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## kerpap (Jun 17, 2013)

have you and your husband visited Singapore before?
I highly recommend a preliminary visit to get a lay of the land.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Citibank's "Tap and Save" account is the best bank account in Singapore at the present time, in my opinion, as long as you can maintain a minimum balance of S$5000. (Shouldn't be a problem.) One reason among many is the debit card you get with that account is also an EZ-Link card, good for buses and trains. If you buy a fare card get the "NETS" flavor, then you'll have both NETS and EZ-Link (the two local payment networks) covered.

I would not even think about getting a car in Singapore.

Try to avoid over renting, meaning try to keep your likely American-sized expectations about housing space well in check. Housing per square foot/meter is quite expensive. If you can keep housing well under control you'll go a long way to keep total costs under control.

That communications budget looks too high to me. Starhub, the cable TV company, is currently running a special at $29.90 per month (24 months) which includes Internet (10 Mbps), a very basic set of TV channels, a decent DVR box (called a Hubstation), and, for about S$2/month extra, a home telephone line with unlimited local calling (in and out). I'd start with that package (called MaxOnline Basic I think) and see how that goes. (You can add the HBO channels for S$16/month later, for example.) Prepaid mobile phone service is almost always more affordable than postpaid. Prepaid with unlimited incoming calls, a lot of SMS, and a little bit of outgoing calls/mobile data is only S$0.50/day (Starhub again, called "Happy Stars Plus"). Any unlocked GSM phone that supports the 900, 1800, and 2100 (3G/UMTS) bands will do. If you don't have such a mobile phone you can buy one in Singapore inexpensively. Be sure to buy the SIM card that's NOT marked "tourist."

Sign up for Google Voice before you leave and you can use that to call the U.S. for free via your Internet connection, at least for 2013. At the very least you'll have a free U.S. voice mailbox with a U.S. number, and that can come in handy.

Before you leave I would get an ATM card that has a zero foreign currency markup (except the 1% network fee which is unavoidable), because you'll need some cash when you arrive. If your current bank doesn't have such a low cost card then I'd go to Capital One and open an account with them, and also get a Capital One Cash credit card (the one with no annual fee). The Discover It card is a good backup card which is not too widely accepted in Singapore but is good enough as a backup. Set up both these credit cards for automatic full balance monthly payments. Resist getting a credit card in Singapore until you really know what you're doing -- they're not great bargains, particularly when used overseas. The Citibank "Tap and Save" Visa debit card is just fine to get started.

I also like the idea of looking for an HDB sublet. Actually some HDB apartments have community centers, some with pools, if that's of interest. My view is that having a Fairprice supermarket nearby is the #1 amenity.

On edit: I see StarHub has changed their offer. It's currently S$39.90/month for 100 Mbps fiber Internet and the rest the same as described above. There may be an installation fee added for that particular plan. The channel lineup is very basic (16 channels) but that's fine to start. Still very reasonable.


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