# help pls: some queries



## rs2000 (Dec 12, 2010)

Hi All. 

I have been offered a job with a bank in singapore and I am in the process of deciding whether to go for it or not. I work in Hong kong and have a wife & kid who will be relocating with me. 

I realize similar questions might have been asked before but I have a few queries I would really want your input in. Really appreciate your help here. 

1. The base salary is 165K SG$ a year. Assuming a 20% tax & deductions, I am assuming it translates to 11K a month. 
Please let me know if this assumption is ok 

2. I plan to take the SG PR if & when I get a chance. I heard that PRs are supposed to contribute towards cpf and its 15%. so basically I will have to pay around 2k sg$ /month. am I right? 

3. in terms of my expenses, please help me make a budget. I want to live ona 3BR condo and I am willing to travel around 30 mins in the MTR/bus to raffles. I want my kid to go to an international school and also need a maid. We dont drink but like to eat out roughl;y twice a week in a middle to upper range restaurant. The other expenses like general clothes shopping etc. I have made a list below and have entered my roughly estimates. Please help make them more accurate 

Condo 3BR: 3500/month (assuming I live in places like chinese garden, lakeside etc with direct 28 mins train into CBD). is it possible? 

Misc house expenses: cable, phone, utilities: 500 sgd/month 

maid (inc. levy): 700 sgd/month 

School fees: 1500 sgd/mont (normal internation school, my kid is 4 years old). 

household grceries (we cook at home includes milk, food, other stuff): 2000 sgd/month 

misc shopping + eating out+ entertainment: 2000sgd/month 

car (plan to buy a 2nd normal sedan , includes gas, parking, road taxes etc):1500 sgd/month 

total :11,700 sgd/month 

4. the above adds to 11,700 sgd/month. now this is MORE than my monthl salary. I really want a 3br, maid, car and international school. assumign i get all these, it seems there is no room for savings . am i over-estimating the expenses. other expats wioth similar family structiure, please can you give your inputs. its upsetting to see i wont be able to save much. 

5. my wife is expecting out 2nd child in june 2011. the bank gives basic emegrency hospitalization and expenses. but does not provide materinity coverage. for expats(not PR), is it possible to come in and get outpatient and maternity coverage (its pre-existing when we move in and i think some companies dont cover this). any companies giving such insurances? how much does the insruance cost/person? if we dont get insurance, how much is maternity cost in a decent average private hospital? 

6. i am being hired at a VP level in middle office of an internation bank (product control), is the base salary equal to the market rate? any comments here 

sorry for the rather long message but it will help me a lot to make up my mind. 

Thanks again for your help here!


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

rs2000 said:


> Hi All.
> Thanks again for your help here!



Answers in a nutshell:

1) you must clarify that with the people who are recruiting you- as some take a gross annual pay and divide by 12, whereas some divide by 13 (as AWS is an option) and some include performance bonus in .. which you may get - in large size, medium size or small size or never if the overall company performance goes to dogs .. 

2) CPF - yes, you contribute - but on a sliding scale - i.e. unless your employer is insistant - you start with about 7% which the employer matches with a contribution, and it increases to reach [bold]20%[/bold] of your pay, and at that level the employer will contribute 14.5% - as to what happens to the money - please check www.cpf.gov.sg for what the contribution is used for - i.e. medical, retirement fund etc. 

3) Singapore is only 60 mins or so one end to another - so to give you an answer - you can spend 12,000 per month on a fancy apartment (and you are still not in the mid-range of luxury condos) or stay in a decent apartment for 3,000 per month and still be happy - only you can make up your mind on what you consider as right 

And you should come here and see the expenses: I know enough expats who only shop in top end supermarkets and spend over 2,000 plus a month on groceries, which is about more than the salary of a secretary.

And you could are working all your expenses based on life standard / spending power back home. I can tell you this- things you are asking as normal - international school, condo, car etc. etc. are considered luxury, and I am basing that on a number of European bank friends I have - who stay in condos (well, they got that part settled as part of their perks) and children go to normal schools, and none of them I know drive their own car, and they all prefer to eat in cheap roadside stalls, costing about less than 5$ a meal, and not a 50$ steak meal.

As for the living expenses you have worked out - let me say this - though some may violently dispute - the average Singaporean makes do with a monthly pay of 2,500 to 3,000, including paying for lease on apartment, and living a decent life, and using public transport, and staying in a 3 bedroom public housing - no sir, they are not shacking up in their parents place as some have concluded.

As for pay - going back to the same question - some may say you are under paid, some will say about there, and some will say 'over paid' - from what I know from a AVP of a British bank, he draws about 200K per year, excluding apartment and two flight tickets back home for him and his family.

I been here for about over 10 years and maybe I could still get it all wrong .. 

Cheers


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