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Job offer and reality check questions

Job offer and reality check questions

Old Feb 25th 2017, 12:16 pm
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Default Job offer and reality check questions

Hi,
I have a job offer in Palmerston North at the University paying about $105k.
We are a family of 4, kids are 15 and 12.
We will have about £15k of savings and will look to sell our house in the UK as to bring it up to a rentable state seems expensive and a hassle. We'll use the equity to buy in NZ once we have had a chance to find out where we would like to live.... or move to somewhere else in the UK if it all goes pear-shaped.

So questions....
1) The first is the biggest question, my 15 year old is 1 year away from her GCSEs (summer 2018). She is 3 years away from potential university entrance. UK and NZ seem to have a 3 year residency requirement to access domestic fees and student loans.
Has anyone been in this situation and what did you do?
I thought applying from the Skilled Migrant Visa (yes, all conditions work) would be the best route so we get residency and hopefully in 2 years PR. Does anyone know if the 3 years under this would qualify for domestic fees and loans.

2) NZ$105,000 seems like a good salary and based on our UK expenditure plus a larger mortgage / higher cost of food, we would be about the same level, ie hoping for a few savings, plus if my wife works we should hopefully be pretty good.
What am I missing in this list?:
Income after tax: $6280pm
Rent/Eventual mortgage: $2000-$2500pm
Food: $1500pm
Utilities/insurances/Expenses: $700pm (based on what we pay in UK)
So, what have I missed, school costs? / transport? (it looks like I could get around on my bicycle for my work... so only need 1 car).

3) I have seen other comments, but £15k would seem to cover 20ft shipping (we don't have much), flights, initial accommodation and initial rent+bond. We have a friend who will loan us a car to start off. So am I underestimating the moving costs?

4) Probably not last, but has anyone moved to Palmerston North and can give some sensible opinions..... my Kiwi friends cringe whenever I mention the name of the town.... is this true?

Thank you for reading. The main question is whether I am about to mess up my 15yo future. I guess if we go we have to stay for 3 years to make sure they can get domestic fees and loans at NZ Uni as they'll miss the window on the UK domestic fees.

Thanks.
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Old Feb 25th 2017, 3:35 pm
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

Hey,


(1) To be eligible to pay domestic fees your daughter would simply have to hold a residency class visa - so either RV or PR.
As for eligibility for a student allowance she'd have to be ordinarily resident here in NZ and have held RV or PR continuously for minimum 3 years.


(2) Your approx. monthly income on this salary at this financial years rates would give you around $6150 per month take home. Note: Pay is usually fortnightly across NZ so this would equate to $2840 per fortnight. What you are missing from your calculation is Kiwisaver contributions which is usually 4% of income although you can opt for 3% or 8% also. I've calculated your pay with 4% contributions. You may also be missing ACC contributions.
Rent is usually paid weekly in advance and if you count on paying $500 a week so $2170 per calendar month you'll not be far off.
Food bill around the right weekly amount $350.
Electricity will cost you maybe $250 a month, house contents maybe $60 a month, buildings insurance if you have your own home around $70 per month, car insurance is around half the UK cost per month as there is no cover for personal accident as this is financed and managed through ACC which every income tax payer contributes to out of salary.
Yes so you are missing water if on a meter, refuse collection, sky tv, broadband, phone line, mobile phones, school compulsory fees, school voluntary fees, school trips, GP visits, dentist visits, vehicle costs for annual license and WOF plus maintenance.


(3) Yes I think you're pretty much on the ball with £15k. 20Ft container may get to £5k with insurance cover, then maybe £750 each flights, furnished rental may be $120 per night if you are going the motel route or higher for a bach. Your initial rent & bond will be a total of 6 weeks rent with one + 15% GST as a letting fee and then you'll pay the rent again on the day you move in to maintain weekly in advance.


(4) Palmy does have a bit of a stigma attached to it. Quite like it myself. The town centre is pretty nice. Lots of shops, cafes, restaurants and fairly cosmopolitan. It is renowned as a student city as there's the big university there, which you obviously know all about with the job offer. It is also renowned for being very windy. In my opinion it may have the stigma as a dead end town/city because it's just slap bang in the middle of the country so it's a drive to anywhere else and the coast. There's not many jobs......or should I say there's not as many jobs as Wellington or Auckland as there's no real industry or company head offices there. The cost of living is lower and the cost of accommodation/property is much lower as it's a less desirable or there is less demand for people to live there. For me, I've never had reason to go and visit. I've only ever been in Palmy when I've been on the way to somewhere else as it's a decent place to stop for food/drink - i.e. on the way to Wellington from the North or on the way to the North from Wellington.
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Old Feb 25th 2017, 7:32 pm
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

Originally Posted by imcaufieldholt
What am I missing in this list?:
You're indicative take home of approx $75k pa. is close to what we spent last year for two us without any kids. In cold light of day there are always 'unexpected' things to pay for which don't instantly come to mind in the planning stage.

Don't underestimate the basic maintenance of yourself and family; health, holidays, haircuts, clothes, family birthdays, gifts and replacement of home appliances and other stuff can chew threw a big chunk.

Here's an analysis of where our money went:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z.../#post12146632
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Old Feb 25th 2017, 9:31 pm
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

Originally Posted by escapedtonz
Hey,


(1) To be eligible to pay domestic fees your daughter would simply have to hold a residency class visa - so either RV or PR.
As for eligibility for a student allowance she'd have to be ordinarily resident here in NZ and have held RV or PR continuously for minimum 3 years.


(2) Your approx. monthly income on this salary at this financial years rates would give you around $6150 per month take home. Note: Pay is usually fortnightly across NZ so this would equate to $2840 per fortnight. What you are missing from your calculation is Kiwisaver contributions which is usually 4% of income although you can opt for 3% or 8% also. I've calculated your pay with 4% contributions. You may also be missing ACC contributions.
Rent is usually paid weekly in advance and if you count on paying $500 a week so $2170 per calendar month you'll not be far off.
Food bill around the right weekly amount $350.
Electricity will cost you maybe $250 a month, house contents maybe $60 a month, buildings insurance if you have your own home around $70 per month, car insurance is around half the UK cost per month as there is no cover for personal accident as this is financed and managed through ACC which every income tax payer contributes to out of salary.
Yes so you are missing water if on a meter, refuse collection, sky tv, broadband, phone line, mobile phones, school compulsory fees, school voluntary fees, school trips, GP visits, dentist visits, vehicle costs for annual license and WOF plus maintenance.


(3) Yes I think you're pretty much on the ball with £15k. 20Ft container may get to £5k with insurance cover, then maybe £750 each flights, furnished rental may be $120 per night if you are going the motel route or higher for a bach. Your initial rent & bond will be a total of 6 weeks rent with one + 15% GST as a letting fee and then you'll pay the rent again on the day you move in to maintain weekly in advance.


(4) Palmy does have a bit of a stigma attached to it. Quite like it myself. The town centre is pretty nice. Lots of shops, cafes, restaurants and fairly cosmopolitan. It is renowned as a student city as there's the big university there, which you obviously know all about with the job offer. It is also renowned for being very windy. In my opinion it may have the stigma as a dead end town/city because it's just slap bang in the middle of the country so it's a drive to anywhere else and the coast. There's not many jobs......or should I say there's not as many jobs as Wellington or Auckland as there's no real industry or company head offices there. The cost of living is lower and the cost of accommodation/property is much lower as it's a less desirable or there is less demand for people to live there. For me, I've never had reason to go and visit. I've only ever been in Palmy when I've been on the way to somewhere else as it's a decent place to stop for food/drink - i.e. on the way to Wellington from the North or on the way to the North from Wellington.
Re article 4. I live in palmy, have done for 12 years, like you we did not choose it, a job that was offered to my ex wife was what bought us here. The comments in article four are bang on I would say. Palmy (along with Hamilton) do get lambasted for being VERY boring and dull allegedly. But seriously, it is a cool place to live for manifold reasons.

So, to put a subjective spin on it I have found Palmy a wonderful place to live. Not the most attractive of towns. But it has a cool, modern mall and more eateries (per capita) than anywhere else in the nation!!

It has a world class library and swimming pool complex, with 3, YES 3 outdoor pools, open Nov-April. Try to find an open air pool in the UK which is 28 degrees!! It also has a lovely, huge square. Some amazing Indian restaurants too. Which is nice.

It has a big river flowing through it and is flanked by attractive ranges. Good tramping is local, skiiing 1.5 hours away, a nice beach 45 mins (Foxton) away.

Lots of cool pubs, with a huge, brand new craft beer one opening soon that will brew its own beer on site! The University has two campus sites. One is okay (Hokowhitu) and the other is frankly stunning! The site on Tennant Drive. A bit 70s in its architecture but nevertheless very appealing, set in huge grounds to die for.

The town has endless parks and reserves, the best being The Esplanade which again is really amazingly beautiful.

There is not much I don't know about Palmy so please ask away, PM me if you like and ask as many questions as you like.

I have an english mate who lectures politics at Massey, he seems to be quite happy. You have a cool Chancellor (is that the name for the boss?) too, called Steve Mehari (sp). Meet him once when he was a minister. Lovely chap.

Good luck.
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Old Feb 26th 2017, 3:39 am
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

We moved here after my daughter had just finished her GCSE's. We had no choice about coming sooner - which I definitely would have done. We were on a LTBV for 18 months so that slowed down the 3 years needed. So, no she doesn't qualify for a student loan and bank of Mummy has had to pay for everything, saying that it's probably cheaper than the UK. The High School she went to wasn't interested in her 13 GCSE's, and she had to sit the NCEA Level 1 Maths in order to carry on with her studies. Not a problem really, she just did it alongside other subjects. She did very well and even got a small scholarship in PE. She's now in her final year at Otago Uni.
But that brings me on to money. We have a $220k mortgage, I earn $73k pa and partner is on $40k pa. We run 2 cars, have one child at home, dog, cat, eat out and live well AND put daughter through Uni at a cost of $18k pa. So of course it can be done you live to your means wherever you live...just glad we're not in Auckland!
My cousins live in Palmy and are very happy there, it's got a good hospital too :-)
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Old Feb 26th 2017, 4:31 am
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

imcaufieldholt, I think your circumstances largely work. It's not an easy move (they never are!) but yours seems to be squaring up nicely.

My questions would be, what are your partner's plans for work? Palmerston North can have a high quality of life, as others have pointed out . . . but your partner probably needs to have a job, or find one pretty quickly.

If you are up for a drive every now and then, Napier, Wellington, and the Kapiti Coast are all only about 90 minutes to 2 hours away, and Rotorua only about 4.

As a university town, many things are geared towards students (who don't have much disposable income) and so you should find it far more affordable than, say, Auckland.

If your daughter misses domestic fees by a year, she could just get a year of work experience and then enter uni, or depending on what international fees are, perhaps a year of that won't be a deal-breaker for your finances.
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Old Feb 26th 2017, 5:07 am
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

Originally Posted by j19fmm
We moved here after my daughter had just finished her GCSE's. We had no choice about coming sooner - which I definitely would have done. We were on a LTBV for 18 months so that slowed down the 3 years needed. So, no she doesn't qualify for a student loan and bank of Mummy has had to pay for everything, saying that it's probably cheaper than the UK. The High School she went to wasn't interested in her 13 GCSE's, and she had to sit the NCEA Level 1 Maths in order to carry on with her studies. Not a problem really, she just did it alongside other subjects. She did very well and even got a small scholarship in PE. She's now in her final year at Otago Uni.
But that brings me on to money. We have a $220k mortgage, I earn $73k pa and partner is on $40k pa. We run 2 cars, have one child at home, dog, cat, eat out and live well AND put daughter through Uni at a cost of $18k pa. So of course it can be done you live to your means wherever you live...just glad we're not in Auckland!
My cousins live in Palmy and are very happy there, it's got a good hospital too :-)
The hospital. In the UK when I went to the hospital I normally waited 5 hours to get my appt. I.e appt at 10am, get seen at 3pm or thereabouts. In Palmy, appt at 10am, get seen at about 10.20am! At the latest. It is a very good hospital.

Not the place to be a single bloke (I am now!), but for families it is great. However, I have lovely, empty roads to ride my cycle and my motor bike and even though I am no longer a 'family man' I still love it here very much and have no plans to move elsewhere....EVEN if I could afford to! Which I can't!
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Old Feb 26th 2017, 7:41 am
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Default Re: Job offer and reality check questions

Dear All,
Thank you for your responses.

@j19fmm, that sounds similar to how we would end up, similar mortgage and probably with similar income.

I'm actually not too hung up on the town, after all I live in one now that is often derided, but I really like (my wife doesn't, but then she is from deepest darkest Devon).
Again, wife was a nurse, for the last 6 years has run her own gardening business, but says she would go back to caring rather than general nursing when we have settled a bit.

Here is one wish you'll probably all laugh at...... I wish we could go for a visit beforehand. Our knowledge comes from, 3 months working in Wellington 20 years ago, a holiday in Auckland 10 years ago, buying into the expat advertising and reading a lot of forums.

I am in some salary negotiation... and what they have offered is not an instant "no-brainer", it's a good offer, but I've not jumped down their throat wanting to sign on the dotted line. I could walk away...... though they seem quite keen for me to go. Not looking to be rich, just not step back...well too much.

Thanks.
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