I moved to the UK from the US a few weeks ago on a tier2 intracompany transfer visa with a 70,000GBP offer (this figure includes monthly fixed payments and a car allowance). I am in my late 20s and single. The company provided me with the following:
*10 day expenses paid trip to UK before decision
*Visa application fee
*500lb sea and 20ft container sea shipment
*One-way flight to UK
*1 month temp housing
*2 days w/relocation agent (they also changed my name w/utils and negotiated with estate agent and reviewed contracts)
*5,000GBP relocation allowance included in 1st paycheck
*Tax consultation meeting (no tax preparation offered)
*45GBP per month mobile allowance
*Free private health-care
*Free coffee, tea, soda everyday and free lunch on fridays
There is no tax equalization, no repatriation considerations (as of yet), no free trips back home (I plan on probably taking two of these a year, likely at at least $1,000/each for airfare + expenses).
My current monthly expenses are as follows:
Take home - 4440 (this value seems to be fluctuating a bit since my 1st paycheck...probably because i dont have a national insurance number yet and my tax code might be wrong)
Flat (1 bedroom flat in central london) - 1350
Council tax - 85
Water - 16
TV License - 12
Gym Membership - 40
Std lns - 350 (about 33K GBP total to pay off at rates between 2.6-3%, I could pay the debt off but I dont want to deplete my emergency fund).
Food - 350 to 400 maybe?
Transpo - 15 (I walk to work and might take the bus/tube a few times a week)
Broadband - 23 (still deciding on this but O2 w/top up seems like the best deal for the bandwidth you get)
Electric - not sure about this since I havent gotten a bill from NPower yet
Gas - not sure about this since I havent gotten a bill from NPower yet
Entertainment - 100
Miscellaneous - 100
I was making $73,000 in the US but I got a 15,000 bonus this year. I'm in a bonus scheme in the UK as well, but who knows how much that will be. If I don't stay at least a year in the UK I have to pay the relo expenses back. Based on the info I provided above, should I be pushing for a better deal after a year or now pushing for a larger bonus due to the exhorbitant costs to live here. I just read that VAT is going up to 20% next year too...omg.
*10 day expenses paid trip to UK before decision
*Visa application fee
*500lb sea and 20ft container sea shipment
*One-way flight to UK
*1 month temp housing
*2 days w/relocation agent (they also changed my name w/utils and negotiated with estate agent and reviewed contracts)
*5,000GBP relocation allowance included in 1st paycheck
*Tax consultation meeting (no tax preparation offered)
*45GBP per month mobile allowance
*Free private health-care
*Free coffee, tea, soda everyday and free lunch on fridays
There is no tax equalization, no repatriation considerations (as of yet), no free trips back home (I plan on probably taking two of these a year, likely at at least $1,000/each for airfare + expenses).
My current monthly expenses are as follows:
Take home - 4440 (this value seems to be fluctuating a bit since my 1st paycheck...probably because i dont have a national insurance number yet and my tax code might be wrong)
Flat (1 bedroom flat in central london) - 1350
Council tax - 85
Water - 16
TV License - 12
Gym Membership - 40
Std lns - 350 (about 33K GBP total to pay off at rates between 2.6-3%, I could pay the debt off but I dont want to deplete my emergency fund).
Food - 350 to 400 maybe?
Transpo - 15 (I walk to work and might take the bus/tube a few times a week)
Broadband - 23 (still deciding on this but O2 w/top up seems like the best deal for the bandwidth you get)
Electric - not sure about this since I havent gotten a bill from NPower yet
Gas - not sure about this since I havent gotten a bill from NPower yet
Entertainment - 100
Miscellaneous - 100
I was making $73,000 in the US but I got a 15,000 bonus this year. I'm in a bonus scheme in the UK as well, but who knows how much that will be. If I don't stay at least a year in the UK I have to pay the relo expenses back. Based on the info I provided above, should I be pushing for a better deal after a year or now pushing for a larger bonus due to the exhorbitant costs to live here. I just read that VAT is going up to 20% next year too...omg.
