jamesanding

Hi All - I'm in the proces of going through a company transfer to NY from London. My company has offered me a 95k salary.
Is that enough money to support a family (non working wife and 2 kids aged 5 and 3) living in somewhere like Brooklyn or Queens?
The tax system seems pretty complicated also so it's difficult to work out what my take home pay would be. Has anyone got any idea of that?
Thanks!
James

ian-mstm

Yes. How well that supports will be a matter of speculation... since we have no idea whether you prefer a simple or extravagant lifestyle... or something in between.


Generally, you can expect to take home about 65% of your gross salary.

Ian

Rete

After taxes, SS and Medicare, you won't have enough to rent an apartment in Brookly for a family of 2. You are looking at least a 2 bedroom apartment and that would cost you $2,500 and upwards (figure about $4,000 a month) in a good neighborhood.

Go with a deduction of 35% across board and then deduct the cost of your healthcare.

Bomjeito

Whew, $95k gross will be a tight fit for NYC area, with a non-working wife and 2 kids.

Oh - is this 95k GBP or 95k USD?

It is not possible, IMHO, if you have to as well furnish a place to live, buy a car, and who knows what other things besides the basics of living on $95k USD. I think you could do it on 95K GBP.

You may need to live farther out (will the work be in Manhattan?) and take public transport. And your children's schools will be determined by the property tax base, so cheap for you may be unsafe in neighborhoods or lacking in schools.

I have a friend in Brooklyn with a 2 bedroom townhouse for $3200, not including utilities.

Staten Island is sometimes reasonable.

As an American, from NY originally, I'd accept that for Albany, NY with a family, but not the greater NYC area. As a single person, I would.


Just an opinion....

You also haven't stated if the $95k ..do you have to purchase 100% your own health care or what other perks/options they provide for you?

Untitled 3

If that's $ then it will be tight for a family of 4. You're going to what to be in a the zone for a good elementary school which will mean high rent. You may have to look much further out.

jamesanding

Thanks for all the replies.
So it seems 95k will be a bit tight...
To answer some of your questions - yes it is USD and my company will pay for my shipping costs, visa and an accountant for the first year. My medical will come out of my paycheck automatically every month and I'm told that would cost up to $500 per month for full cover for the whole family.

The offer of 95k is their first conversation with me in regards to salary so there should be room for negotiating but the question is how much more would I need to support my family?
When you say I'll hae to move further out, do you mean somewhere like in NJ?

jamesanding

Oh yes and my work is in Manhattan, Avenue of the Americas.
We wouldn't be expecting an extravagant lifestyle but at the same time we don't want to struggle every month to pay the bills!

Untitled 3

The general rule of thumb is that your salary should be at least x40 your monthly rent. Which means you should be budgeting for $2,375 max in rent. That's not very much for a reasonable 2 bed in NYC.

Now I'm assuming you will be sending your kids to public school (state school). I also arrived here with 2 kids of a similar age and in my experience NYC public schools can be amazing or shockingly bad. At the elementary school level this means ensuring that your apartment is zoned for the right school. This will severely limit where you can live.

I don't know what your expectations are in term of accommodation but if your coming from London don't expect an increase in your standard of living. Where do you currently live in London? Are you looking for a similar place in NYC?

In terms of salary, I'd say that to live comfortably in NYC with two kids you'd need a joint salary of around $140k. That's not to say that you couldn't survive on a lot less but to do so in NYC wouldn't be much fun. You would definitely have to think about moving out to Long Island or the NJ suburbs. Then it's a case of how much a commute you can bear.

jamesanding

We live in South London at the moment in a 2 bed flat so I would be expecting to get similar or hopefully better accomodation in NY. If this means moving out to NJ then that's what we'll do.
The last thing we want to do is move out to the US and struggle financially so we'd need to make sure our rent isn't eating away too much of my salary. All signs seem to be pointing to moving a bit further out of NYC but I'm hoping to not commute much more than an hour each way a day. Does that sound reasonable or would I need to travel for longer?

CTland

$500/month for health insurance also sounds too low- suspect this figure should be $900 to $1,100/month and you should expect co-pays of around $30-50 each doc visit and even $500 for an emergency room visit...be real careful with this part of your offer. What seems like a good health plan to a US worker might not be the same thing to someone who is used to the NHS
Good luck

Untitled 3

Your commute is more likely to be 1.5 hrs or more given you budget. However, to minimize your commute you should look to reduce the number of connections. So if you're a few mins walk from home to train station then from train station to your office you could save a large amount of time.

Where on 6th Avenue (i.e. what cross street) is your office? If it's in the 40s/50s then it may well be better to live in Long Island as this will mean a train straight to Grand Central. If the 20s/30s then NJ trains to Penn Station.

You might also want to check out a neighborhood called Riverdale which is in the Bronx or Forest Hills which is in Queens. Both are still in the city but a little further out. Have good schools and are nice places. You might find something within your budget there.

Will your company pay for accommodation for the first 1 or 2 months you're here? That will give you more time to explore a few areas and find the right place for you. We were recommended many different places which I thought we awful when I visited. We personally couldn't stand the thought of moving to the suburbs so we compromised on space and stayed in Manhattan.

jamesanding

Forest Hills was actually one of the places we have been looking at, it seems fairly affordable and the reviews look good.
My company have told me that Penn station is the closest to my building.

So 95k is my starting point for negotiating as this is what they have come in with first it is probably the bottom end of what they will pay. If I get the salary up to 110 or 115 would that make life a bit more affordable/comfortable?

penguinbar

Rents in NYC have come down quite a bit and are definately negotiable. My friend got a 3 bedroom on the Upper East Side for $2400 last May. I have another friend living in Woodside Queens in a 2 bedroom that she got not long ago for $1500.My Boss lives in a 2 bedroom in Ft. Greene Brooklyn for $1700 a month. Have a look on Craigslist for no fee apartments. Commuting from New Jersey or Long Island will be several hundred dollars in train fair as well. There are familys of four in New York living on much less believe it or not. Rents in New Jersey and Long Island are not necesarily cheap either! You also would have the extra expense of needing a car.

You need to find out how much your insurance will be as well. In Manhattan there are limited decent public schools. The decent ones are in the expensive areas. Private schools are about 30K per year.
I've lived and worked in Manhattan for over 20 years. Feel free to PM me for any info.

penguinbar

My cousin lives in Forest Hills and commutes to midtown Manhattan. Let me know if you have any questions about that area and I can ask her. Also check out Fort Greene and Carrol Gardens in Brooklyn. They are very family oriented neighborhoods.

Rete

Also a lovely place on the Island is Queens Village. If you want suburbs and can afford the $2500 a month, I would suggest places such as Sleepy Hallow, Tarrytown, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry. My daughter lives in SH and pays $1100 a month for a 2 bedroom but that is in a rent stabilized apartment complex. Lovely townhouses in the area going for $2500 and up for rent. Commute on Metro-North's Hudson line would run you about $240 a month. Note that with the commute from either Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut or New Jersey INTO Manhattan you can take advantage of the transit costs being paid from your salary before taxes which is a definite plus. This goes for the rental of a parking space at the train station.