poppy913

I have read that you would need a salary 2.5x of what you earn in the UK to achieve similar standard of living in Australia. My husband currently earns GBP600/day as a business analyst in London. This means that to achieve the same, he would need $1500/day in Oz for us to have the same lifestyle?

According to this salary index, business analyst contractors can expect a max of $850/day. That is considerably lower than $1500! Am I missing something? Thoughts anyone?

http://www.peoplebank.com.au/knowled...tober-2012.pdf

bcworld

Well let's say your husband works 46 weeks a year that's nearly GBP140k per year. Those are very high earnings. And yes it's considerably more than $850 per day in equivalent terms. To be honest I don't see many BA roles going as high as $850/day either...$600-700 is more common.

Bermudashorts

I guess there are different levels of BA? The ones I have worked with in Sydney have been quite young and would have been on far less than $850 a day I would think.

The other thing is that just because 2.5x is estimated to provide a similar standard of living, it does not mean that every occupation will provide a salary of that multiple. As I say though I expect that it is just to do with level more than anything.

old.sparkles

The cost of living / standards vary from person to person. I moved from Slough to Adelaide - no where near 2.5 for me. Some people recommend this site - http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/calculator.jsp - or you can try looking at costs of housing, shopping online at Coles etc and make your own decisions.

poppy913

Thanks for the reply folks.

Old sparkles, I tried comparing London and Melbourne in the Numbeo link you provided below. I used 80000 as disposable income (I assume disposable income means after tax) and it returns the following:

"$80,000.00 in London, United Kingdom in average has same local purchasing power as $71,267.92 in Melbourne, Australia."

Doesn't look right does it? That's not 2.5 times. Did I do something wrong?

bcworld

Well I think the missing link is it's comparing $'s for $'s. Not GBPs for AUDs which is what some say the BE 2.5 does.

Seems to me it's suggesting the COL in Melbourne is 90% of that in London. On that basis I'd say financially you're far better off on the London rate.

old.sparkles

Probably not - they don't always work so well. Comparing Adelaide with London tells me I would need more money in London than here, which I would probably agree with, but not sure on Melbourne.

Beoz

It's regarded as a high salary and the high salary ceiling is a lot lower in Australia than it is in London.

big_matt

Depends what the OP's BA skills are. Does he have specialist skills in specialist applications or does he do standard BA work? I've seen plenty roles at $650 but I've been offered over $1000 still for specialist stuff.

The 2.5x thing doesn't make sense to me. The respective locations/companies/job/exchange rate etc etc etc will all play a part.

Personally if I got 2.5 times my current salary to live in Australia I would be living like a king over there (despite how expensive it now is).

Bermudashorts

Never seen that Numbeo thing before but it didn't make sense to me either. Obviously it is not showing a 2.5 multiple as it seems to have already converted into the same currency, which begs the question at what rate, it would be better if it left the UK number in GBP.

poppy913

Big Matt, you give me some hope and thanks for qualifying the numbers. I would like to be realistic and appreciate everyone's input but it's distressing to think that we are so far off the mark from the 2.5x. We're already living in a small flat in London, to think that we will afford much lesser in Melbourne makes my head spin.

My hubby had always been hired to provide expertise in the credit risk area in both the financial and resource industries. He is currently the BA Lead in a large european bank also in the credit risk area. Would that sort of expertise help command a higher salary in Melbourne?

Bermudashorts

Here are some to look through.

http://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-melbo...ne&searchType=

Not many with rates attached but the few that do are around 600-850, there is one full time role of $150-200k which is also nothing like equivalent to what he is currently on.

old.sparkles

I would try not to worry about the 2.5 mark, but look at what you can get for your money. Numbeo is saying Melbourne is cheaper than London, and I can't comment. In the UK, my outgoings were around £1800 - £2000 per month. In Adelaide I'm spending around $2000 - $2500 per month, but I have a quiet life style. Work out where you send your money now, and what it would cost in Australia to do the same things, and make a decision from there and if it's not 2.5 times why worry if you can still do the things that make you happy.

big_matt

Can't speak for that industry specifically, but a lead BA would tend to be hired at significantly more than the standard BA $650 or whatever, and financial services tend to pay well on top of that. The issue will be finding a role that specialised over there without previous Australia experience but it can be done for sure.

I don't know your personal circumstances but your husband is extremely well paid here (must be £130 grand a year?) so the reason you are in a small flat may be due to the location you want to live in etc. Standard of living is a personal thing, but even if you earned 1.5 times that in oz ($200k) you would be living very well, never mind 2.5 times.

Good luck.

TakenThePlunge

I specialise in risk management for financial services on the development side, rather than BA, but $1000 a day is about what you can expect with good skills, slightly lower in Melbourne. As far as COL living comparisons - I was on 600-700 a day in the UK, and I'm on 1000-1100 a day here and my standard of living is almost exactly the same. You will get slightly less in Melbourne than in Sydney though, and the financial services sector is more limited than in Sydney, so may be a bit harder to find something.