# Considering Move from AU - Is Salary offered worth it?



## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

After Tax in Oz I earn around $100K USD and my wife around $40K USD

Package on Offer in Dubai is 180K USD (tax free obviously), and from that I have to pay my accomodation, which for the two of us near JBR/Marina (2/3 BR Apt) I expect to be around $35K USD.

There is a gratuity after 5 years of around $80K USD.

Unsure if my wife will find work there (Finance Industry - not exactly rocketing ahead in Dubai???)

Expect to get around $35K USD renting our house in AU.

So the question is, with the difference in cost of living in Dubai compared to AU (some tell me it is lower, some say it is higher?!) is it a worthwhile move purely on financial grounds?

And - is this a reasonable package for Dubai?

............
EDIT - should probably add, also includes 2 Return trips home per year, plus relocation package, telephone paid, and Health Insurance and Schooling paid.


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## ns0035 (Apr 9, 2010)

tsurte,

Without being too specific, I'm currently going through the same finanical evaluation myself. In confirmation, does your (proposed) USD180k include provision for education, flights back to Australia, relocation package, telephone Health Insurance, etc - or are all of these items something that your employer will pay (over and above the USD180)? You must deduct (from your USD180k your accomodation/utilities costs - correct? What about a car - will your employer give you one? Once again, they are pretty cheap to buy locally (petrol @ AUD0.40cents per litre?

House rental in Dubai vs what you can rent your place out for sounds 'awash' , but (from what I hear) you may well have to pay more than AED127k (as I have calculated it from current USD/Aud exchange rate, then back to AED). Maybe even AED150k.

In short, if you're getting all the fringe benefits in addition to your USD180k, but your wife doesn't work, then it still might make some financial sense, but only you will be able to determine how much more you actually want to take home - over and above the current Australian (combined) package that you and your wife are on. Like I said, we are currently going through a very similar analysis





tsurte said:


> After Tax in Oz I earn around $100K USD and my wife around $40K USD
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

I have to pay for everything in that 180K, except for flights home, relocation package (there and back), telephone, medical insurance, and kids schooling - moot point as we have no kids.

So in essence, my living costs including housing and car have to come from the 180K. What is left is the disposable. 

35K USD = around 128K Dirham. I expect, based on my research, to be able to get a 2 possibly 3, BR apartment around the JBR/Marina Area. Vacancies are high at the moment.

To be honest, I dont feel the deal on offer is quite cutting it at the moment, but interested in all points of view - some colleagues there have found that the cost of living is actually a lot lower than Australia, especially if you live in an East Coast Capital City like Sydney.


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

tsurte said:


> I have to pay for everything in that 180K, except for flights home, relocation package (there and back), telephone, medical insurance, and kids schooling - moot point as we have no kids.
> 
> So in essence, my living costs including housing and car have to come from the 180K. What is left is the disposable.
> 
> ...


G'day Tsurte ....

We went through the same exercise last year, before I finished up taking the position here and moving my wife and effects over from Brisbane ....

Before comming back to the Middle East (Dubai) in the middle of last year, I was working in Dallas Texas but my home was still based in Brisbane Australia. 

Like anywhere a lot of whether it will be worth while comes down to your life style and wants and dislikes.

Having lived in both Sydney and Brisbane, I know Brissys by far cheaper. For us its worked out just fine. We are in a very similar rent range to what you are suggesting but then again we decided that we needed a bit of greenery around us as brought our 2 dogs and cat over with us. 

Re transport ... Although I get a car allaownce here, I just pretty much used the money from the sale of vehicles in Oz to cover the 2 replacements here.... I bought a 2006 A6 Audi for the equivelant of 22K AUD and a 2007 Jeep for 12K AUD ... both very clean vehicles with very low K's, so cars are cheap enough, particulary if you can afford not to get involved with HP.

Re Rentals ....... Another point of contention here is the rentals, where in Oz you'll be asked to put up a guarentee to the Rental Tenancy Authority and then generaly pay a couple of weeks or a month in advance ..... here they insist on either up front predated cheques of 1 or 2 cheques per year ..... (you can negotiate more sometimes). That effectivly means you would have to come up with either 6 or 12 months rent in advance. I know its rediculous but thats the way they do it ..... bloody greedy !

We have found that financially it is worth the move, but the bottom line is its all up to you!!


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

G'day Tsurte .... almost forgot ... the other extra here is the yearly gratuity that is payable under state UAE law ...

Pretty much boils down to 21 days pay for each of the first 5 completed years, then 30 days per completed year there after up to a maximum payment of 2 years in value ....

Every little bit helps and this is independant of any other gratuity or bonus your employer pays in the mean time ...

Cheers


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the reply.

Cars I am not concerned about - we just sell our cars here and will have plenty to buy good 2nd hand vehicles.

Re: the Rent, my contract says the company will provide 1-4 cheques up front. We also get 8 weeks short term accom upon arrival, so that is all fine.

We have cats to bring over which I am a bit concerned about (travel time - they are getting on!) , and maybe even a problem if we want to live in an apartment(?) although I have heard of people doing it. Dont particularly think we want to live in the "Hills" Villa style, but maybe.

My work would be near Downtown, so I think Jumeirah would be ok commute wise (???).

One plus is the annual leave which is close to 9 weeks - that is quite a step up from here.

So we continue to weigh the pro's and cons.

............

Just read the gratuity add on - I think the arrangement here is 1.5 months salary for every year after 5 years, so I guess it is equivalent to replacing my employer superannuation contributions - almost.


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

> Before comming back to the Middle East (Dubai) in the middle of last year, I was working in Dallas Texas but my home was still based in Brisbane Australia.


We have done that long distance stuff a few times too - and (for us) it sucks!

So for you, I guess being able to live together again would have been a very big incentive.


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## GlabrousD (Apr 21, 2010)

tsurte said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> One plus is the annual leave which is close to 9 weeks - that is quite a step up from here.


Hiya Tsurte,

the 9 weeks leave may well include weekends... ie. if you're away from Tuesday to Tuesday the next week you may lose seven days vacation rather than the 5 you expect... worth checking. This is because lower paid staff get 1 month every year with a flight home... their leave thus includes weekends and yours may be the same.

Otherwise Dubai's a cool place and there's quite a few of your fellow countrymen here 

Best of luck if you make the move. Cheers, GD.


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## Free_Spirit (Aug 30, 2009)

the salaries you mentioned are quite fine to have a good stabled life in Dubai

for 4,5 years i lived here i saw many people who had a good salary but they just did not adapt the lifestyle and i saw many others who love the place and accept to live here while their salary is just 1000$ per month

it's not only money that make it happen... calculate other factors too


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the replies.

The leave is expressed as "63 calendar days", and speaking with colleagues working there it is the full 9 weeks. Which is the most generous I have seen anywhere.


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## GlabrousD (Apr 21, 2010)

Go for it Tsurte! That much leave will allow you to take full advantage of cheap local travel to places too expensive to visit from Oz.

A couple of my Australian friends are about to leave Dubai and are spending several weeks visiting Jordan, Egypt & Oman. These trips would cost a fortune normally but from Dubai you can get really cheap flights and get to see some truly amazing and beautiful places.

As far as money goes; Ella_and_Yousef is right... you can live well on AED15,000 per month if you're not stupid or you can waste AED100,000 per month if you are... your call. 

Cheers GD.


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

tsurte said:


> We have done that long distance stuff a few times too - and (for us) it sucks!
> 
> So for you, I guess being able to live together again would have been a very big incentive.


Pity I wasn't able to get as good a package in the States as what I finished up with here _(everything taken into account - post tax equivalent)_ otherwise you wouldn't have been able to pri me out of there with a crow bar ...... lovely people, lovely area .... :eyebrows:


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

Just mulling my previous responses over ..... as may well have been intimated by others, its just as important to feel comfortable .... With the brief description you have given I believe you would be fine.

As anside we also have rentals at home, as you prospectively would. Best advice there would be to find a good estate agent, if you can they're worth there weight in gold. We get individual monthly reports via the net.

Personally, I have always found as an expat if you make a move and apply yourself to achieve a positive attitude ... new friends and make the best of the situation eyc, with only a little bit of positive thinking ... everything will come up roses ....

From my perspective ... Dubai is still worth the effort !


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## markuslives (Sep 15, 2008)

In short the answer is a big yes. There are people here earning a lot less than that and are doing ok or better. Much will depend on your current personal debts.

You might however want to find out from the Taxation office what it means to have an income generation stream in Australia through your property. The last thing you want is for the Australia Taxation office to consolidate your Dubai income with the property income.


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

markuslives said:


> You might however want to find out from the Taxation office what it means to have an income generation stream in Australia through your property. The last thing you want is for the Australia Taxation office to consolidate your Dubai income with the property income.


My understanding to date, is that as a non-resident, only that income derived from your Australian assets is taxable - after any deductions, for example in the case of property, agents fees, maintenance, rates, depreciation and of course interest are deducted. In many cases this can end up being a tax credit - which is held over until such time you return to Australia.


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

tsurte said:


> My understanding to date, is that as a non-resident, only that income derived from your Australian assets is taxable - after any deductions, for example in the case of property, agents fees, maintenance, rates, depreciation and of course interest are deducted. In many cases this can end up being a tax credit - which is held over until such time you return to Australia.


Hey tsurte .... yes it also goes without saying and as markuslive is suggesting, that you need to get good tax advice from professional people .... _please don't take offence when I say thats __not me, not this or any other forum as we can only guide you on our experiences_. 

The advice I have currently both professionally and from the ATO for my similar circumstances is pretty much the same as what you are expressing here. The most important thing is to make it abundantly clear to the authorities at home that you are a resident overseas. 

In itself its easy enough .... such things as filing documents with the Electoral Office to the effect that you are now a permanent overseas resident, closing down Australian memberships and the like etc etc. If you jump onto the ATO web site they have very good descriptors, case studies and examples as guidelines. Well worth taking the time to dot the "Is" and cross the "Tees" as you don,'t want to get bitten for bad advice ....

As an aside one of the best pieces of evidence you can present to the ATO eventually in this regards is your Residency Visa that will be affixed into your passport after you do the initial medical etc here


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## tsurte (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks - all good advice.


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## nzdiaspora (Apr 19, 2010)

Hi Tsurte,

You can live very comfortably on the salary they are offering (if you don’t have to support a mortgage back home), and the 9 weeks annual leave is very generous, if you come make sure you take full advantage of the 8 weeks free accommodation (that saves you $22000 AED).
Regarding your gratuity, you get 1.5 months after five years of working which is very good, but there should be an offer for working under five years (should be around 3 weeks).

I have found the cost of living to be cheaper than in NZ (i.e. Groceries, taxis, utilities) However I found the cost of eating out and alcohol are allot higher (if you want to go to the nicer non chain/mall restaurants). However as many people have mentioned it does depend on your lifestyle and Dubai tends to suck you into spending everything you earn. (although the flights to surrounding middle eastern countries are quite cheap, the cost of decent accommodation can be expensive).

We shifted here mainly for lifestyle reasons and it has so far been ok. One main thing I found is that it does get lonely and isolating for the non working partner, I had a social network here prior to arriving so was lucky, but still have found it to be quite depressing going from a full time job to being unemployed, (just something your wife and you need to consider as its not good for someone who will go stir crazy) 

The commute from JBR\Marina to Downtown will take you about 20-30 minutes each way, but the motorway is not for the faint hearted (you will be driving against the traffic). I live in Downtown Burj Khalifa and there are plenty of up market apartments in your price range, and its only a 5min $3 AUD taxi ride to downtown (most apartments only come with one car park so you may have to re think your two car household if you are living in an apartment), also (in my opinion) Downtown is closer to more facilities which is very important to consider during the summer months (especially for the unemployed partner)

Our intention is to save all my salary when I find a job and send it back home, after being here for four months I very much doubt this will happen as the Dubai lifestyle requires you to spend. (Trips away, eating out to build your social network, shopping trips to beat the housewife boredom all adds up). The result is we will not save as much as we had intended. 

So to answer your question, don't come to Dubai if you are coming purely for financial reasons, because Dubai is a completely different lifestyle and will require you to embrace it, if you don’t you will end up hating it here. 

Do come if you want to experience a culture like no other, if you enjoy a bit of controlled chaos, and if you would like to explore the middle east.


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