# Salary and Standard of Living



## amdavies207 (Sep 23, 2014)

Hi,

My girlfriend and I have been offered a secondment in Hong Kong and would appreciate some honest advice as to the quality of life we can expect from our offered salary.

We have been offered HKD$550,000 Gross each and we wish to continue our savings plan of £500 or approx HKD 6,410 a month and plan to return to the UK two times a year (not covered elsewhere in our secondment package).

So, I guess after these requirements, what kind of standard of living can we expect? i.e. what quality of apartment, would we have remaining monies to be able to visit surrounding areas / countries etc?
If it helps, we are both late 20's, no kids and ideally want to rent a two bedroom apartment.

We have had some advice from our company but basically want to make sure that it is correct.

Thanks in advance,


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

May I suggest that you use the search facility and look at previous answers re accomodation and what you can expect.

There is plenty of information on accommodation and suggested place to look for hte cost of rentals. 

Income tax rates in Hong Kong are much lower than the UK. 

Rental costs are high.


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## redex (Jun 12, 2012)

amdavies207 said:


> Hi,
> 
> My girlfriend and I have been offered a secondment in Hong Kong
> 
> ...


I am just curious do you both speak mandarin or cantonese?


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## amdavies207 (Sep 23, 2014)

Hi Redex,

We do not speak Mandarin or Cantonese no.

May I ask why you asked that question?

Regards,


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## redex (Jun 12, 2012)

I have heard from a recruiter that it is near impossible to find a job in HK without knowing mandarin or cantonese. He said most companies want both plus english! I do wonder how much he is exaggerating


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

redex said:


> I have heard from a recruiter that it is near impossible to find a job in HK without knowing mandarin or cantonese. He said most companies want both plus english! I do wonder how much he is exaggerating


as the OP is going out on secondment that should not be an issue for him.
As far as standard of living on the salaries offered, no problem. When I lived in HK we visited China,Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Australia (6 times) Malaysia Japan and Hawaii


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## Campervan (Oct 16, 2014)

For just two adults that's quite a good standard u would expect. Tax is low so even better. Flying home twice a year shouldn't be a problem. You could easily afford something nice up in the midlevels with swimming and gym for around 30-40k. Enjoy the time though coz like us once we have kids that figure suddenly seems really really low.


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