ghost2006

Hi,

We might be moving from Canada to Spain. Can someone tell me, is 50,000 euros enough to live comfortable in the Madrid area for two adults and a young child?

I mean not just get by, but be able to save to go on a holiday to look at other parts of Europe once a year, go to dinner , museum, movie, etc, once in a while?

Any additional comments on living in Spain would be great. The taxes do seem very high, especially compared to Canada and Australia (I'm actually an Aussie).

Many Thanks.

bfg69bug

if you mean 50k a year.. you´ll live like a KING. thats around 6 times the average wage in spain.

Gray C

Curious to know, why do you want to move from Canada, or not live in Australia? We are on our way over to Canada (too old for Australia now {me anyway}) later this year, hopefully.

It seems that most Brits that do not choose Spain would give their high teeth to get into Oz or Canada.

With saying that I do think Spain is a great place to live if you find the right place and have the income to enjoy it.

50,000 Euros should be enough, but would go a lot further if you decided to live outside Madrid.

Mitzyboy

It does sound like a lot of money .... but the only thing to remember is that the cost of living in Madrid from what I have seen on these forums is much higher than in rural areas. So if you are including a mortgage in all that then, yes, you should have a comfortable living but maybe not quite live like a king. I know to my cost, kids are expensive

I'm not sure about Canadian taxation, but I've roughly calculated that I will be slightly worse off than under the UK system unless of course I can find myself a very clever gestoria. The specialist gestorias know the Spanish tax system inside out, and its worthwhile spending the money!
As you probably know there is also a wealth tax which is levied on Spanish residents worldwide wealth / assets. This, I believe, is currently 0.5%, but there are some allowances.

I saw an Aussie commenting on how high their taxes were compared to the UK, so that may give you a comparison (if it were true).

If you were unlucky enough to die over in Spain then inheritence tax is a real bummer. In the UK we are allowed £260 ish thousand tax free, but in Spain the allowance is very small and you have to pay it BEFORE you are allowed to take over the assets. Its important for you to make a Spanish will outside your current one as your assets in Spain are treated separately - consult an Abogado (solicitor).

As for generalities, I can't really comment on Madrid because I would have never considered living in a city. A more rural life suits me.

Good luck!

BritBull

That depends if it's after tax...

I earn very close to this before tax and I live nothing like a king after Mr Taxman takes his wedge.

Mitzyboy

Yes, thats my point, and cost of living in the city is higher, mortgage, maybe private school for the kids, best to indicate exactly what the 50k has to cover.

bfg69bug

please god, tell me you are joking ? :scared: i live with my parents, and our COMBINED income is UNDER 15,000€ a year.. and we survive.

on 50,000€ a year i´d be LAUGHING!!!!!

Mitzyboy

The more you earn, the more you are taxed. With allowances you should get taxed hardly anything. Also the addition of a child to support and school(not sure if you have one) and also a major factor is living in Madrid.

Ignoring allowances, as they differ for everyone, your income tax would be based on 28%, but a its split between you maybe only 15%. A man earning 50k will be paying based on 45%!

And of course he didn't just want to "survive"

BritBull

Errr £50K GBP.

BritBull

Exaclty.
I don't know why I post, I should just leave it in your capable hands bud

jdr

50,000 Euros and he doesn`t say if its earnings or just pocket money to spend.

BritBull

If it's poket money then I wish to announce my new freindship with Mr Ghost.
This is a non refundable freindship in which you are required to buy all the beers

jdr

Me too

Mitzyboy

I haven't know the guy long but he's such a nice bloke

ghost2006

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments. The 50k euros would be my yearly salary, before tax, and it would have to cover everything. Your comnments seem to vary quite a bit. bfg69bug says we would live like kings but BritBull disagrees. Obviously circumstances such as where one lives, spending habits, etc make a big difference. However, in general it seems most of you think we will survive ok, which is good news.

Why do we want to move to Spain instead of staying canada or Aus? Well Aus is great and we eventually want to move back there and live for good. However, the problem with Aus is that its small population combined with isolation from anywhere means that for some professions (like mine) there are not many chances for emplyoment growth. Beside, when I go back to Aus I will have to start paying my student loans.

As for Canada, the one major negative factor about Canada is the weather. We grew up in a warm climate and Canada is just too cold for us. Its ok for a few years but eventually the long long winters get to you (to us anyway). Don't get me wrong Canadians are great. It is very hard to dislike Canadians, unless your American. However, Canada in many ways is too similar to the U.S. (we have also lived in California). This forum is probably not the right forum to go into detail about what I mean by my previous sentence.

Anyway, as for Spain the weather is more to our liking, job prospects are good for my profession within the EU, and we would like the chance to look around Europe.

We haven't made our mind up yet. I can stay where I am or there are other opportunities for me in north america. But this forum was very helpful when we were first thinking about moving from Aus to L.A. so I want to get feedback again before our next big decision to move or not.