Antihero

HI Everyone ,

New to the forum and would like help on a possible opportunity to go to the USA - California Area (probably Ventura way)

My company wants me to go and would go on a L1 visa with my family , they have offered

$90 , 000 wage for a managerial role
$15 , 000 bonus
Full medical for me and family
Flight costs
Visa Costs/Legal expenses
Relocations costs up to $5000
Expense paid company car /petrol / Laptop / Phone

I have been out there and i like the area and scenery but i am not sure whats the good salary for that area , hopefully the wife can get some work in a while and my kids are still young at 3 and 6. Is this salary going to be enough to live comfortably ? if the wife works then it adds to the money.i know the cost of living is alot more and rent is not cheap !

Any help would be appreciated as i need to start making a decision
Thanks
R

GeneralPowerpoint

Without knowing what industry you're in, it's difficult to guage whether that's a reasonable salary for the position.

When I left the UK in 2017 the rule of thumb I was offered was that to maintain an equivalent standard of living, you'd want to take your UK salary, double the number and then stick a dollar sign in front of it.

$90k feels a little low for a family of four.

Hotscot

Housing is expensive around Ventura and not a lot of choice actually in the town. But you could of course commute within 30 mins..
Nice area though. Artsy, hippy, nice bars, restuarants etc.
Happy residents. Generally safe and nice location for the rest of CA.

Driving: (Avoiding rush hour, which is horrendous. could add 2 hours on each trip)
@ 1 hour to downtown Los Angeles
@ 1.5 hours to Laguna Beach and Dana Point
@ 2 hours to San Diego
@ 3-4 hours San Francisco
@ 3-4 hours Las Vegas

Also a British food shop
http://rosieleeimports.com/

Fantastic seafood restaurant.
https://www.lurefishhouse.com/

A single salary of $90,000 is not great. Ok, not great. Around $130000 - $150000 would be middle class comfortable.
But if the bonus is annual you could probably make it work and you'll feel like you're on holiday for a while.

What line of work?

New homes here...
https://www.newhomesource.com/commun...a-area/ventura

Can you establish in writing that they will go for Green Card?

Let me know if you come and I'll meet you for a pint...

SanDiegogirl

Full medical costs - most unusual to have this regarding health insurance.

The majority of people who have medical insurance coverage through their employer pay a percentage of the premium per month. You should check to see if this applies to you as you could be paying a few hundred dollars a month for 4 of you.

Also, there are always co-pays and/or deductibles to pay when getting treatment. Again, you should check on what there are.

As said in the LA area 90K for a family of 4 is just OK.

Giantaxe

I'd want to know what "full medical" actually means in reality (think out of pocket costs such as deductibles/copayments) and what the US tax liability is on that package.

Pulaski

[Superceded]

robtuck

The relocation package does seem quite low (have no experience of the location and not knowing your lifestyle in the UK cannot advise on whether it will be ok or not salary wise). All the little things plus furniture will add up, and quickly. I'd hazard a guess that we ended up about $20k out of pocket when everything was added up, with $5k of that on car deposits, so $5k, even with the car sorted would be very tight.

neill

$90K is not a lot (for where you are going and making presumptions about your seniority), and $5K relo is paltry for a family. By comparison I had a relo of $7.5K just for myself from Canada.

Pulaski

Reposting to correct errors in earlier pist, which is uneditwble:

g​​​​​​​For a couple of years it might be an interesting experience, but even with a maximum bonus you won't be saving anythingwhile living in California, and $5,000 is unlikely to cover the cost of relo, unless you confine your shipment to clothes, kitchen and tableware, and if you don't bring furniture, you could easily spend $10k+ on furniture unless you want to go the Ikea route for the entire home and look like you're students. Oh, and rented accommodation is rarely furnished in the US, and may not even have anything more than a basic cooker and fridge.

​​​​​​​As others have said, "full medical" might not mean what you think it means, and you could easily be expected to contribute several thousand dollars towards the insurance premiums, and quite possible point-of-use fees and deductibles (= UK "excess") amounting to hundreds of not thousands more, depending on usage.

SanDiegogirl

.... I got a 10k relocation package to California back in 2000..........

Antihero

Hi all ,

Thanks for the feedback and comments ,

Well some more information which might help ,

My current role is a quality and H&S manager but will be taking a role as a production manager for an agriculture business .Communication I have received is that medical will be at no cost to me so they will be covering all costs for me and family, not sure about Tax allowances etc . We are not taking anything with us with regards to relocation , no furniture etc so the 5k would be really for basic furniture . They will be covering baggage and a few boxes , this is mostly our decision as I don't want to ship everything over and the hassle.

Car will be fully costed , they will purchase a new one for me and cover all fuel under my expenses

They will cover all flights for family , legal costs , Visa etc, I will need to discuss adding in Green card costs potentially but I know they will cover this but better to get in writing.

Located in Oxnard but looking at commuting either from Ventura or possibly Camarillo which both not that far

Hope this helps and thanks everyone for your feedback

Antihero

Sorry forgot to mention that my wife is also looking to work on a L2 visa , so this will also add to the household income in the future

neill

If you want to ultimately pursue a Green Card, absolutely make sure you get it in writing with your contract.

Have you used a Salary comparison website? There are a few.

Pulaski

OK, so further to your update, one car won't cut it unless you live close enough to work to walk, or your spouse is prepared to be isolated at home all day, so you probably need to budget for another vehicle. Used vehicles in the US are remarkably pricey, with $5,000 representing roughly the cut-off between marginally acceptable run-about and worn-out death trap-on-wheels, with a large appetite for repairs.

Budget $250/person/month for food and household consumables, and it might be more than that if you aren't careful.

​​​​​​​A meal out for a family at popular chain restaurants (sit-down, not fast food), will likely run around $100 by the time you have included a couple of beers and a tip, so while eating out can be appealing you can blow a lot very quickly if you eat out.

Hotscot

If that's likely you'll be fine then.