Pulaski

You just seem to have an axe to grind with anyone who earns more than you think they should. BE is a community focused around helping people with immigration issues and foreign relocations. If you want to bïtch and moan about people who earn more than you did then please take yourself somewhere else, .... at least as far as TIO, because you are not helping the OP or anyone else here!

johnwoo

The guy working in the kitchen, the guy mowing your lawn, the families working in the fields, the waiter you complain about on yelp. They don't work their asses off? Only those that went to a top school and got a degree in computer science deserve anything in good in life. Get over you're self. How BoBo of you. Under served (two words) or did you mean undeserved.

johnwoo

I am helping him/her understand that it is a good salary here. Who the hell do you think you are. Only you're opinions count. I thought this was a discussion forum. How exactly have you been helping him/her. I'm expressing my opinions I never made any personal remark until the hate stated coming in my direction. Mostly from you, not only in your public remarks and also privately.

petitefrancaise

The last time I came across this kind of utter bollocks was when I was living in Scotland. We'd moved there for my husband's job. ie. we had both relocated away from all that we had before. We bought a nice house. Then this idiot whose job was to clean our trash cans after the trash men had emptied it, decided to proceed to tell me that he had once worked in the company that my husband now worked in and that was why he didn't have a job there anymore.... the "English" had taken all the jobs. I told him that both me and my husband had worked hard at school, studied for years (with no money) at university, worked in 2 other countries and learned other languages and that it was because of people like my husband going all over the world, leaving his family to cope on their own that people like him ever had a hope of getting a job at all.

So, yes, in this brutal world of ours, it is precisely because of people like us who go without salaries and take on student debt instead that people like the waiters etc have jobs because we have money to spend, because we pay tax on what we earn so that everyone benefits.

For a CS major to come out of college, there will have been at least 8 years of solid hard work and sacrifice through high school and college earning little to no money and usually owing large amounts of money. Same for the doctors and dentists and lawyers and accountants and engineers.

Pulaski

The OP asked for two things: (i) whether the salary is fair for the job, and (ii) whether the salary would afford a reasonable atandard of living in Virginia.

Your response has been to imply that $93,000 is more than adequate for anyone, if not excessive, but make no comment about where $93,000 compared to the market level of pay for IT professionals.

And your stated that your "expertise" on the cost of living in Virginia was obtained via Google, which, considering the OP is an IT professional, I am going to hazard a wild guess that he has probably already done for himself.

Incidentally you reported that you live in SF on less than $93,000 and have a good life. That's great, but has zero relevance to the OP who is looking at moving to Richmond, VA, and in any case isn't you.

johnwoo

Since there doesn't appear to be anyone here that lives in Richmond, You being the closest. I guess you're the only one qualified to speak on the subject.
If you actually look at the OP's post there was no mention of whether the salary was commensurate with the job, but rather if it was adequate living wage. I my opinion it is, I mentioned my situation as a reference, indicating I manage quite well on less, in a more expensive area. In my opinion it is, maybe I'm not as wealthy as the rest of you, but I get by very well.

halfhalf1

I only graduated with an economics degree but a friend of a friend got me in at a helpdesk and then after a couple years to a sys admin position. I'm turning 30 this year and I never thought I would make this much money in my life. It's crazy that this money is average or even a bit below it

johnwoo

I don't say such people as doctors and whatever didn't deserve more money, you seem to be saying, if there are millions living in poverty, then that's too bad because you have student loans and they don't. BS to say only you are deserving because you work harder than anyone that didn't go to University.
Your sense of entitlement is unbelievabley arrogant.

Ozzidoc

I do not work as a doctor anymore. I am a full-time parent.

ETA: I'm reading the postings in reverse chronological order. I think you should take your negativity elsewhere. While BE can be a great place for virtual heated discussions, this thread or forum is not the right place for it.

OP: Elsewhere you will find some great tips on how to increase your starting salary at a new job, which may or may not be appropriate for your situation.

Rete

In response to comments regarding Johnwoo's posts, I don't see negativity in his postings or comments.

His mistake is in choosing a forum to support those in this country who don't earn 93K a year. Not everyone in this country has had the opportunity to attend and graduate from college. Not everyone can financially afford it or they have good grades and GPA's but not good enough to get them scholarships. Of course, there are student loans but even with SL's you still need money to live on after tutition, books and sundry fees are paid. Even harder if the college you want to attend is not in your home state where you can still live with Mommy and Daddy while continuing your education.

The majority of members of this forum are immigrants who have come here through work related visas, i.e. company transfers, H-1B. These are the people that are putting negative to Johnwoo's comments. Yes, you have it good. You have an education. You have good jobs. You have married well. You have the 3,000 square foot home and 1/2 or more acre of land, drive $48K cars but in relation to the rest of the US you are the smallest numeration of our population.

For the OP, her comments hit a nerve when she said that Richmond doesn't seem like a wealthy community and wonders if $93,000 will cover her cost of living. If the City of Richmond is so poor, then her 93K will take her far. How much money does a single person need to support themselves and live a life where you can save for vacations, drive a big expensive car and perhaps buy or rent a lovely 2 or 3 bedroom condo in Richmond? IMO, she would be earning enough to have all that and a few other perks as well. Damn well for someone with a business degree and only a few years of experience in a field she didn't pursue in college.

If the British think so unfavorably of the US and its citizens, why do you all want to come here to live? Is it because you can make more money and get more for the money you earn? Is it because you can all live in the sunny state of Florida or in La La Land?

I simply do not understand why everyone needs to gang up on a poster whose opinion differs from yours. Why does this forum have to be populated by people with one mentality only in order to be accepted. Over the last 18 years, I have seen so many lovely people, both Brits and USC's, leave BE because of the bully tactics shown when someone thinks differently.

Those people have become some of my true friends while I don't think I would like many here if we were to meet in person.

Soap Box put away.

Pulaski

I agree with what you said, this thread was just not the place for John's preaching.

Rete

Don't have a clue what your church is but he wasn't preaching. He was stating an opinion; one you don't want to hear. So place him on ignore and get on with your BE life.

Pulaski

"Moralizing" ..... But call it what you like, it doesn't belong in this thread, which is what I said yesterday.

sir_eccles

It's always fun to look at per capita and household median incomes. I think 93k will be quite adequate.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virg..._capita_income

petitefrancaise

I'm going to stop arguing with comrade woo.

To the OP, your salary sounds about right but you should bargain for slightly higher since it is probably expected that you would.
Try to find out which salary band your position falls in and what the salary range is for that band. If they say they are offering you near the top of that band, see if you can get them to put you in the next band up even if the salary is about the same. It can be harder to get into the next level once you've started and right now you are in a strong position and this is a fairly easy thing to negotiate which will help you in the near future. Talk to your manager or HR about this.

Getting into the next level up may also affect the generosity of your relocation package and getting a better deal here will at the very least, make your life easier and if you are lucky, save you quite a bit of money in your first few months. They don't have visa expenses for you so you could ask for the money somewhere else - maybe a housing allowance or car rental for 3 months?

If the company has handed you over to a mobility company then that company will have been given a budget to use. Ask what the different allowances are - they may well tell you. These would be the people to ask about the housing allowance etc. Some companies have discretion, some don't.

I had a good chat with the HR head of global mobility for a multi-national HQ'ed here. She said the biggest reason for paying a separate global mobility company is to avoid conflict with the future manager over the relocation budget.