I may be offered a all inclusive package of US$150k (including bonus) plus medical and dental as early as next week.
I have a wife (who plans to not work) and two school going kids. We are from Canada.
1. Is this a good package? This is a finance position in an investment bank.
2. Is this kind of reasonable for such a position?
I am concerned specifically about rent, utilities and school fees.
Which are good schools? Also, people with experience (directly or through friends) in Indian curriculum schools compared to British curriculum please provide you comments.
Any input will be appreciated.
I was thinking the budget (per annum) to be :
1. Rent US$40K
2. Util - US$5000 (hydro and water)
3. Tel - US$3,000
4. Groceries - US$5,000
5. Househelp - US$4,500
6. Car loan and maintenance- US$ 8,000
7. School fees - US$6,000

Hi Mebound,

Welcome to the board
Have you tried the search option yet? There are a lot of people who have asked similar questions recently, so maybe you can already pick up some info from that.

You need to elaborate...

A finance position in a bank ?

Car loan/maintenance - you putting deposit down or all on never-never?

Househelp - what you sort of expectations?

School fees - what sort of school, how old are kids?

Rent - Again, depends on where you want to live, where you work, and size of house. I would guess $40,000 would get you 3-4 bedroom place in Springs or Ranches..however this changes by the month.


I would say it all depends on what sort of lifestlye you are looking for. You say package includes bonus - I would say take bonus out and then work from your basic. Bonus is exactly what it means. If you start to budget using your bonus and miss target, you'll end up doing what a large proportion of expats here seem to do and rack up debt.

Hi
Thanks for your enquiring questions. The responses are:
- senior financeposition (Head)
- for car I was more thinking of monthly loan installment plus maintenance for a new 4x4
- househelp could be 6 hours a day 5-6 days a week
- i am thinking of British school (don't know which are good); kids are in KG and Grade 4
- don't know at this point where I will look for a house. Workplace will be DIFC school depends so somewhere in between.
Thanks

US$40K is actually only AED 147K at today's exchange rate... so that'll *just* about get you a 3-bed place in the Springs, although you'll need a fair bit of luck to find one at that price; more than a few 3-beds in the Springs are now going for 165K and up, and the demand is strong - most property agents seem to have waiting lists for Springs villas. That is known to translate to people offering to pay a higher rent than the people above them on the waiting list just to secure a villa.

If you want 4 beds in the "New Dubai" area, then you really need to be coughing up 200K-plus, possibly as much as 250K.

I stand corrected - not looked at prices for 3-4 months now, and got a nasty shock when looking in Gulf News.

175K for a three bed/study/maids quarters in Springs :scared:

As others have said your rent estimate is low if you expect to live in a house rather than an apartment. The last 3 years we have seen market rents increase 25-30% per annum. If you start out tight for money, you'll be in a real bind after a year. Right now for existing tenants rent increases are capped at 15%, but we don't know yet if this will be continued next year.

Utilities sound roughly OK, but there is a "housing fee" (tax) collected monthly on your utility bill equal to 5% of your rent.

Phones - enough if you can find a way to use internet telephony. Calls to Canada are 58cents per min peak, 38cents offpeak. Broadband is a minimum of $38 per month. Satellite TV $35++ per month depending on your channel options.

Groceries - at least double this amount for a family of 4, probably more if they are teenagers.

Househelp is about right for a live-in maid, but there is also the cost of sponsorship to add as an upfront cost (about $1,500 ?)

Cars are about the same price as Canada. Not sure about interest rates. Gas definitely a lot cheaper, maintenance a bit cheaper.

Two schools most like those you'd find in Canada (in terms of quality & curriculum) are American School of Dubai and Dubai American Academy. Fees for grades 1-12 are almost $13,000 per child. You can get a lot cheaper, particularly if you go into the Indian curriculum schools but I'm afraid I have no information on them.

Personally, if this is a senior position within the bank, I think you should be asking for more.

Thanks everyone for the valuable guidance. I too personally feel that I should ask for more. The recruiter keeps harping on what I get here and the "jump" in net take home. I keep reminding him that it is irrelevant since I have to compare what I get to what my expenses are.
Thanks again.
Cheers

One last thing, although I'm sure as a banker you probably know this, you will need to become non-resident for tax purposes in Canada in order to avoid paying Canadian tax.

Pet hate...wife working, kids at school....

house help??

W10 - it's one of those special and magical moments when we both agree! Is this the only place in the world that this arrangement seems normal and almost expected?

"I have a wife (who plans to NOT work) and two school going kids"

I thinks it's worse than you first thought!

What EXACTLY is the problem with this guy having house help, irrespective of whether or not his wife works?

Or are you just jealous that he's getting such a good package?

You earn your money ... i think you can spend it in what you want. Househelp, driver, hols ... Afterall you come to Dubai to living a better standard than your home isn't it?

I assure you it is absolutely normal for us folks. By 'Not working' , mebound meant 'stay at home mum' So don't make a big issue of it!

I had a cook, maid and a driver when I had taken a career break when my daughter was born and was a 'stay at home mum'. So did my mom and her mom .

PS: mebound have replied to your PM