EyeResign

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and am looking for broad ranging advice! I have a job offer in Auckland for around April/May next year, however my wife and I have a second child on the way due a few months before we would be looking to move and already have an 18 month old. We're in mid/late 30s and we don't know anyone particularly over in NZ, a few friends of friends and not really local. I've been looking for a job overseas for a while as we wanted to try something different and have an adventure as a family and figured it would probably be nowish or never. I would be the sole earner for at least a year ($110k). We've kept an even keel financially on a single salary (£47k) in South East England and I'd hope we'd be able to manage the same in Auckland with the pay boost, although rent seems like it will be a big hit. We'd clearly be biting a fair bit of at once with this move with a baby and a toddler with no support network and I'm interested to hear experiences from anyone that might have done a similar move? I'm concerned about the lonliness and settling in and whether it's easy enough to find sociable groups and make friends - I've read Kiwi's can be quite distant, but I'm not sure if I believe that from those I know here in the UK. Kids tend to be a good way to make connections.

We're going to aim to keep our house in the UK and rent it out, initially at least, as a safety net and try and make sure we retain enough cash to be able to bug out if we really needed to. I would be getting 5 weeks of leave, so we're excited to be able to spend some time together as a family exploring the country.

So I guess that's it - I'd be really interested to know if anyone thinks we're making the worst / best decision of our lives, or anywhere in between!
Many thanks in advance!

Justcol

I'd advise anyone to give migrating a go but do your research first.

$110k doesn't sound a lot for Auckland considering the rents especially with a couple of ankle biters. Doubling the £ salary doesn't work here as there are so many other variable to take into account.

If it was me I'd consider leaving it until the kids are school age, at least that way there's more of a chance for two salaries.

MrsFychan

your take home pay on $110k would be $1,562.00 per week without Kiwi Saver.
You then have to factor in rent, insurance, food, transport, communications, Doctors fees, cost of water, fuel, utilities, social, refuse collection, stuff for the kids, nappies, milk, clothing etc, then saving of you want to take Tiki Tours or holidays.

Bo-Jangles

What pay boost? Please crunch some cost of living scenarios as NZ $110k certainly does not in anyway equate to what your calculator may be telling you. $110k will feel more like GBP 35 k

EyeResign

Thanks for the comments. This has worried me a bit:
Excluding rent and groceries I was broadly expecting other costs to be similar to where we are now or at least even out - I knew I shouldn't put much faith in online cost of living comparisons!
Until recently we were paying 40% of take home on our mortgage, so that would translate to around $620 a week for rent if we were to go with a similar percentage - seems like there's some decent places on trademe for that level. Were there other costs that particularly stick out as being more expensive than the UK? I'll do a more detailed comparison. We're happy to live frugally for a while as it's only temporary whilst my wife is not working, as long as we're not dipping in to savings every month. We'd only expect to do holidays in the car around NZ, so would not expect this to be too costly. Childcare seems to be less than half what we'd pay here which is a pretty good positive.

Justcol- in an ideal world we'd delay for a bit, but I work in a bit of a niche industry and this is probably only opportunity we'd get to go to NZ.

Turbulence1981

That's a bit concerning. I have a job offer with a salary of $176,000 and due to start next april. We are in a similar position (family size) but ours are a little older. The online calculators dont really give you much detail and it's difficult to know how far the money will go...

Timmy Chch

I think you'll be fine on that amount, you won't be needing the food bank anytime soon. Yes things are way more expensive, especially Auckland but other things not and you'll learn to live frugal and when to treat yourselves. The key thing which you have realised that your Mrs will have to work and that the point when things will definitely be manageable for you guys, hang in there till that point.

SanDiegogirl

Rather a depressing thought - your Mrs will HAVE to work.

'Stuff' happens in life - what happens if Mrs cannot work/find a job. The OP will have a 2 year old and an infant when they anticipate moving - hardly the most opportune time for Mrs to HAVE to find a job.

Talk about pressure.....

Timmy Chch

To live comfortably, which is what's he's asking what everyone's opinion is, I stand by what I said, she probably will have to work for them to live comfortably. He does mention that she will be working in the future. In the meantime they can get by frugally, I bet loads of Auckland households earn less than 110k a year.

BEVS

$110K is going to be rather tight in the Auckland area. I would agree that a 2nd income will be needed for there to be a cushion.

c $176k should be OK.

The NZ Immy website has a calculator that may be helpful.

Turbulence1981

Apologies for jumping in on this thread, but we're in a similar position.

I currently work and my wife stays at home to look after our children (A full time job in itself). With an offer of $176,000 i would have hoped that this would have been sufficient to continue in our current setup, and it may well be.
Most mention a move to NZ is for a better lifestyle, and if it meant that my wife would 'HAVE' to work then i would be concerned.

Bo-Jangles

$110k and $176k may seem like a lot of money to some but really it's all about what you expect to be able to do / or afford in terms of where you are and what you do with whatever funds you have just now. Mostly will depend on what you expect of a house and living arrangement, how much deposit and mortgage you have should you want to purchase etc.. We all can get a bit goggle eyed looking at homes on the internet and they all seem stunning from a distance but close up when you have to view them in the flesh you will quickly find that the real life verson doesn't quite match the real estate agents photos. Rental housing can be a big disappointment and you will inevitably end up spending more on rent than you might first expect because you'll probably be wanting an upgrade once you see some.

The old $100k recommendation for Auckland has been bandied about for years, at least as far back as when I first came to NZ 15 years ago everyone spoke of needing at least $100k as a minimum livable income to live in Auckland.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/11023...make-ends-meet

Moses2013

I'm not in NZ myself now but the same things will always come up and for Brits NZ, Australia, Canada and maybe even France & Spain will always offer a better lifestyle
The truth is that life is life and everywhere can be expensive and it's the location that counts. It's strange that a Brit living in Britain will look at each region/each town and would understand that every part of the country will offer a complete different life, but when it comes to NZ every person seems to live in a hobbit house and the whole country climbs up a mountain every day (better lifestyle). The reality is that it just depends how you live now and what kind of life you expect. It's no different in the UK and in my case Ireland. I could get a better paid job in Dublin but would have to accept that instead of a house, I'd be paying 3 x more for an apartment, we probably couldn't afford 2 cars and would have less outdoor opportunities on our doorstep. But if I want to live in the capital, I am willing to give up certain things and in return might have more coffee shops on the doorstep etc. You also have to consider housing market and might have 50 people interested in one apartment, so often tougher to get the property you actually like.

EyeResign

Actually, I think it could be quite a useful point of comparison for both of us and others thinking of the move! I've doing a deep dive on cost of living, (eg: equivalent weekly shop at Countdown) and will share my findings after work and checked the numbers over.

Pom_Chch

Sometimes though Moses it's not so much about a "better" life, it's about a different life. A sense of adventure, trying something completely new. A lot of those feelings can't be achieved by moving to a different area within the same country. For some people maybe but others not so much.

It depends on what lifestyle you are wanting on $110k in Auckland. I've never lived there so can't comment. I know in Canterbury it's entirely achievable and certainly people live on a lot less.