mrken30

$75k can still be a struggle in some places, but you can certainly afford to live, just cut down on some luxuries.

AndyMan74

My advice would be just do the math and research everything from income tax, sales tax, health care costs etc Some posters on here are under the deep illusion that its cheap to live in the UK...ERRRRR NOPE! Follow your dream but do it in a well planned manner. Also take a large lump of cash just in case and have a plan B.

Good luck to you.

Twinkle0927

I've never lived in Ohio so I don't know anything about the cost of living there. And of course it will vary from city to city within the state. But there are websites that provide such data. But yo put it into perspective...$75,000 is very close to my salary. The Husband also works but on not much more than minimum wage and he makes $32,000 a year. Together we have just over $100,000 a year combined. We live in a state with no state income tax. We have no children. We run 2 cars, have all the usual things that cost money every month (mobile phones, cable TV, internet, insurance, etc) and we are comfortable but not rich. If we had three children to support as well on that money it would be a struggle. Maybe not quite poverty, but I don't think it'll be the life people dream of and think we all have here.

Pulaski

I don't think anyone is saying that the UK is cheap, well apart from the Healthcare , but more that we're countering the myth that the US is disproportionately cheap. People seem to think that because you can buy petrol for 30p/litre, pig out at a buffet for £10, and buy a four-bed home for £80k, that America is a low cost place to live. Just because some families in the US do live on $30,000 or less, doesn't mean that you should attempt to emulate them, because at that level of income, if you don't get help with your housing (and even with a family there is no right to housing or help with your rent - the reality is that you might be on a waiting list for years), then the quality of housing you can afford may be appallingly poor quality, and in a very rough neighbourhood.

People also need to bear in mind that they won't have any family or even long-term friends to help out when their child is sick or their car breaks down. Many employers have limited tolerance for employees who need to take time off for family illness, and at best you may end up with a day without pay, at worst a child sick for a week might lead to you losing your job.

Then there is the matter that the low cost homes you see are often in a part of town where you really don't want to live, because in cities and towns across America, even small towns in rural areas, have a drug, gun and gang violence problem that you really don't want to have to deal with, and especially when you have children. Not to mention that the drug, gun, and gang violence invariably spills over into the school system. ..... In the Charlotte area, for example, the school system confiscated a knife or gun in a school on average nearly once a day in 2016!

BenK91

I was going to say, $75,000 isn't even that great for a family of 5. Assuming you'll be unable to get a mortgage due to a lack of credit history you'll be paying rent which is obviously more than a mortgage in most places.

Here in the Denver-Metro area, $75,000 for a family of 5 wouldn't be considered a good wage at all. I earn near to that here and it's just me and my wife and like someone said above, sure we're comfortable but we're certainly not rich and we don't enjoy a lot of luxuries.

Assuming you want healthcare for your family, a rather sizable chunk of that $75,000 is going to disappear each month to cover health insurance.

mrken30

Here is a summary of typical expenses where I live, it may be quite different in Ohio.

$18k for 3 bed apartment/flat (cheap)
$18k for healthcare insurance
$12k for food (family of 4)
$2k for utilities
$24k income tax(state,local,SS,unemployment, medicare)

$74k total before paying for a car, cable tv, mobile phone,healthcare deductibles or saving for retirement. Healthcare insurance costs may be subsidized by your employer.

Pulaski

And by the government through the Affordable Care Act. .... So I think your number of $18k insurance for a family of four on $75k is misleading, or just plain wrong.

BenK91

I pay $7200 a year after my employer has subsidized some of the cost and that's for me and my wife, that's also not for particularly great coverage.

mrken30

Here it is about $1500 per month for a family of 4 or around $500-$600 per month for an individual. Not sure how much it is where you live.

This is from the State of Ohio in 2013, I don't think my numbers are too far out, unless there has been a big change by the Republicans that I missed.

A total of 14 companies filed proposed rates for 214 different plans to the Department. Projected costs from the companies for providing coverage for the required essential health benefits ranged from $282.51 to $577.40 for individual health insurance plans.
http://insurance.ohio.gov/Newsroom/P...osedRates.aspx

I did forget the extra dependent deduction for taxes, I think that is about $4k a year.

Twinkle0927

This!!! Sums up exactly what I was thinking. Yes, you can buy mobile homes on parks on very bad neighbourhoods for $30k, or rent them for a couple of hundred a month, and many people in this country do live like that. But that's because they have no choice! Why anyone would want that standard of lifestyle out of choice is beyond me. And to bring children from somewhere like the U.K. with its NHS and various other things that help children and families (tax credits? I think they are called?) to a life of struggle here with no family support and no access to public funds (if I recall, this job is only for 18 months so they won't be LPRs or ever become USCs through it) is probably the biggest madness of all.

And the comments about cheap petrol and buffets are spot on. But that's what the average Florida visitor from the U.K. thinks life in the USA is all about.

vikingsail

I don't think those healthcare figures are that far off, especially if you include the likely mandatory deductibles which are probably between 2-4K.

Unless your military, a government worker - think state, county, or higher education. I think in the private world costs get hideously expensive fast.

My friend in the midwest a family of 3 pays $1000 per month for full coverage +3K deductible so thats $15k, and don't forget that's not including the everyday meds you normally get which have to be purchased here.

I find it quite sad when I hear them tell me that they plan their healthcare around using the deductible up before they get treatment. They always sound excited about this time of year because they have paid their $3k and can now
go get treatment without worrying about paying for the deductible.

Bottom line for me at least. When considering moving here with a family of 5 you need to be very certain about your healthcare coverage - it is more than likely going to be your biggest and most worrisome expense.

Pulaski

But you pay less if you have low income! I am not saying health insurance is cheap, but a family of four won't pay $18k for ACADEMIC coverage if household income is $75k. ..... IIRC for a family of four anything less than $90k counts as low income, with larger subsidies the lower your income. You can also get help with deductibles if you're on low income.

vikingsail

vikingsail

I'll just say this for me knowing what I know now after 25 + years I would not move to the US - the support systems in place in the UK, evaporate here in the US.

To those who say what you doing here - I'm marking time. Even the prospect of a far left Labour govt will not prevent me from pressing the eject button when it is time.

scrubbedexpat099

Hilarious how these posts denigrate and how many people posting here do not live in the real world, most normal people I know would be very happy if they were on 75k a year.