Expat Community > England

NYC20
Joined 2008
Posts: 1

Please review this expat package!

16 years ago

Please review my expat package and provide advice on the following situation&

Thank you in advance for helping me with all of this. My wife and I live in NYC and we are moving right a long with an offer from my company to relocate us to London. First, here are the details of our potential move:

My current US compensation is roughly 150k US with upside potential to about 175k. We live in Manhattan and have a very comfortable lifestyle (i.e a large 1BR apt, visit the beach all summer, and vacation often). They have offered me:
-165k US with upside potential to about 200k but I will be paid in GBP
-3k US a month in COLA
-Will pay to move us and provide us a trip there for a week (about a month before we move) to find a place to live
-Temp housing if we dont have a place yet, etc.
-Private health insurance for me and the wife
-Provide tax prep services for the UK & US
-Working Visas for me and the wife (whatever this means)

On another topic, my wife works in finance (Wall Street firm) and should have visas provided by my company to work in the UK. How will she be received in London? Does she need to make most of her connections in NYC before we move? The reaction by other posts have been mixed. She makes about 150k US with a few years of experience and a solid degree. How does she find a job and what is the market like there?

OK now on to the living situation, etc. We currently live in midtown Manhattan in a large 1BR. We pay about 2,600 US a month. If given the chance we would have preferred to live on the Upper West Side or downtown, except for the fact that my wife runs in Central Park almost every day, so we chose to live right near it. I know that we cant live in a place as big or that cheap in London, but what will 3, 4 (or even 5k) US a month get you in London (anything?). How about the where do we live? My office will be near the Farringdon tube stop I think. What part of town is that in? Is that anywhere near the financial district where my wife may end up working? Could we live in that area? Would we want to? Where could we live that would provide us with a great neighborhood, 30-45 minute commute at the most (less is better of course), near a place for my wife to run/exercise, and live affordably as possible in such an expensive place like London?

Coming from NYC should help us as far as understanding the expense of things, but we also know there are a ton of differences and we know that the adjustment can be significant. We want to make sure we get the most out of our experience, travel a lot throughout Europe, as well as do our best to be diligent and save money (where possible). Thank you all in advance for helping us look at this situation and helping us to keep our eyes wide open.

We would appreciate your feedback on any or all of this& cheers.

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