Dannyboy

Hey guys - I'm new to this forum and really benefiting from everyone's views already. I'm expecting to move to Sydney in a couple of months, (PB, I'm gonna do it even if you tell me it's a bad idea!) Here's a question on which you all may have an opinion: How many $A will my family need to earn in Sydney to equate to £70k per year in the London suburbs currently? I'm guessing around $120k?

susmac

Hi
Alan Colletts site www.gomatilda.com has a cost of living calculator that should help
Susan

Dannyboy

Thanks Susan. I've had a look at that, it says that the cost of living is about three quarters of that in UK. Is that your experience or are you an un-travelled pom like me?

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susmac

Hi Dannyboy
I"m actually a much travelled Scot! I haven't lived in the UK since 1985 but I go back frequently,I don't know about Sydney but Brisbane where we're going and where my in-laws are certainly has a much lower cost of living t . All of my husbands family including his parents who went when they retired enjoy a standard of living they couldn't have dreamt of in the UK
Susan

Devlin

I would say closer to $150k-180k in Sydney the reality is that with the higher income tax and cost of living in Sydney that exchange rate advantage had rapidly deteriated in the last few years.

Dannyboy

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Thanks Devlin, I need to make sure that I don't get stitched up - I'm being told that I'll have a job offer that will ensure a similar standard of living, which makes me think that I'll be told how cheap Sydney is to UK. I know many things are cheaper, but the stuff we spend most of our money on (housing & cars) seems to be pretty similar. And as you say the taxes are higher in Oz too - 40% on every doller earned or something?

Devlin

These are the current tax brackets in Australia and note they are NOT indexed each year so due to inflation, in real terms you are paying more each year.

$0 - $6000 .............. tax free
$6001 - $20000 ....... 17c for each $ over $6000
$20001 - $50000..... $2380 plus 30c for each $ over $20000
$50001 - $60000..... $11380 plus 42c for each $ over $50000
$60001 and over .... $15580 plus 47c for each $ over $60000

Above about $13000 is a Medicare levy of 1.5 cents of all taxable income.

Single taxpayers with taxable income over $50,000 and families with taxable income over $100,000 are required to pay the Medicare surcharge of 1% of taxable income if they do not have approved private Hospital Insurance. This essentially takes your medicare payment up to 2.5% of all taxable income which means every $ earned over 60k is taxed at 48.5%

The cost of living IS cheaper in Australia (even Sydney) than it is in London and the South-East, however don't be taken in by what employers say. When I was working in Melbourne, the company I worked for brought an English guy over from the London office permanently, he was on £50k in London and they only gave him AUD$60k, he has regretted the move ever since. He only came because he was told he'd get the same comparitive salary in Melbourne. From what I have seen I think you'd need to earn $90k in Melbourne to have the same standard of living as £50k in London.

Devlin

Also out of curiosity I have been comparing supermarket prices here in London with the supermarkets I used to shop at in Melbourne and have been staggered to find that over half the items I checked were actually cheaper in London on an exchange rate basis. e.g. equivalent loaf of bread is 60p in London and $2.40 in Melbourne! I think the introduction of the GST has a lot to do with this, although bread would be exempt it definitely accelerates inflation across the board.

ywoods

Devlin..

Yes that is the one thing I am going to miss about the UK. I also live in London til 14th Sept and moving to Melbourne. I have heard from my delightful hubby that they dont have the buy one get 100 free offers like we do here, which does reduce a shopping bill be in on the day (non stock items in the house) or over a period of time (for things like washing powder and such likes)

I know they have offers in Aus, but from what I can ascertain, the UK is pretty much a consumers paradise when it comes to shopping! PLEASE NOTE PRETTY MUCH !!!!

But I am sure I will get used to it, cant be anywhere near as bad as Munich.. leaves you in tears of frustration and also very much out of pocket

Yvonne

16 days til we leave, 18 til we arrive. WATCH OUT MELBOURNE

ywoods

The one thing that people seem to forget, is that tax on earnings is on a sliding scale. Scaring people in to thinking they are going to pay 40% tax on their earnings is quite funny... sorry.. but I used to be one of those people, then I became a sad bookkeeper and found out differently!

I am glad you posted those figures, I was not aware of the brackets and percentages. Seems like Aus does pay more tax though

Ah well

Yvonne

16 days til we leave, 18 til we arrive. WATCH OUT MELBOURNE