jjmb

I agree with you. Even people who have been to University live in poverty due to many reasons, loans, bad marriages, divorce, medical expenses. mental health issues etc. Life can be tough for some people however much they try. Unfortunately, its seems like once you have a good income, people become blind to the misfortunes of others. I have never forgiven the UK government for their abandonment of free university education when they were the beneficiaries of such measures. Seems to be going the same way for all other services in the UK.
this is a quote from another thread here - Dual UKC/USC Looking to move to FT Lauderdale FL

I prefer this attitude to life than the ones that seems to prevailing in this thread which seems damn right snobbish in some posts.

$93,000 seem like a very good income for a single person. My daughter lives on a much lower income and has a child in daycare with all the attendant costs of being a single working parent.

md95065

... but given that this is a forum specifically intended for British expats why is it surprising that the people that come here are mostly from that very specific minority.

Long time US residents, whether born here or not, should not take offense when things are discussed from the point of view of a British expat. The OP was looking for specific advice to help them to decide whether it was worth their while to move half way around the world to take a particular job and most of the replies were trying to provide him with information to help him to make that decision.

petitefrancaise

petitefrancaise

She'd probably be better off in France. Daycare is so cheap it's practically free, once she is in the system (ie got a job) her tax level would be very low, you get loads of benefits for being a single parent too - help with school uniforms, cheaper school lunches. Healthcare costs would be almost zero but of excellent quality.

Her employment would be protected and if she became unemployed then she'd get really good unemployment benefit.

Of course, she'd have to upsticks and move half way across the world and be prepared to learn a new language.

ahhhh. That'll be why we all expect to be well paid. Not just ordinary hard workers but also because of the sacrifices made and the risks taken.

johnwoo

My first answer above. The attacks started from there.

So this kind of response makes me the bad guy.
Check the Op, he never asked if it was a good salary for the job, but he said "I'm curious to how far my money will actually go"
On that basis it is a good salary. From there it all went down hill.

jjmb

Yes, I am sure she would be better off in France or the UK but she is here. Also she can't just dally off to a foreign country as she has an American child with an American Dad. She does get very good daycare as she works for the state and it is run by UT.
My point to the OP, is that she is a single parent who earns a lot less than the amount he is being offered and still lives a comfortable life in an expensive US city. He is probably being underpaid in the UK if he can get so much more over here. I know salaries for IT are good here but 2-3 times more than a UK salary seems a lot.
No sure I like the last comment either, seems to imply that if you just move to other countries you should automatically be entitled to more. Not all jobs are transportable and not everyone wants to uproot their families around the globe just to be upwardly mobile.

katzgar

My son is a SA in Baton Rouge and makes $91,000 which is high for his field.

Bermudashorts

If the offer is $93k which is about £64k and if this is 2-3 times higher than your current London salary, well then perhaps the offer looks so good because you have been on a surprisingly low salary (£20-30k?) for an IT professional in London. Anyway, seems like it will do you well to make the move.

petitefrancaise

You're right. Most people can't just upsticks and move to another country for whatever their motivations are. BE is full of posters who would love to move to the USA and often not for the money but they can't. If we moved here it was because the skills that at least one of the family had were needed and desirable - that usually goes hand in hand with being well paid.

Why did you move to the USA? Surely the salary had something to do with it? Or was better opportunities? Maybe you moved and didn't expect to be better off? You've written before about the difficulties your children faced when you moved here, I hope it was worth it.

I've enjoyed giving my kids different life experiences, they have flourished with the challenges they've faced. And me? Not without challenges, especially recently but I think that I'm lucky to be in the USA with all the opportunities around me.

katzgar

also use linkedin for your type work

halfhalf1

I'm a guy! This thread has spiraled a bit downhill. Honestly, I think any kind of response helps me give a representation of the struggles or perks of living in America. After doing some of my own research (which I had done before I posted this question, just wanted to hear what other people had to say ) I have come to the conclusion that Tech workers in America just get paid more. I don't care to the reason why but in the long run it benefits me and that is all I really care about as selfish as it is. I have come to the conclusion that I will probably have a bit of an above average lifestyle and that is all I wanted. Most of my tech friends in London have about he same salary as me, so I think people here are really over valuing London salaries or devaluing American ones.

Regardless, thank you everybody for your comment. I have spoken with the HR today and I have even negotiated a higher salary! I will be making the move to the USA in 2 weeks, and I hope I can continue posting on this forum!

petitefrancaise

Wintersong

Congrats! Hope your move goes smoothly

Bermudashorts

You don't think that lecturers worked for free back in the day do you? That buildings and utilities were all free to universities? It all had to be paid for by the tax payer. A lot more people go to university these days than in the past, so funding had to change.

Personally I cannot think of any reason why somebody who spends a life working on the checkout should pay for the tertiary education of other people. Who, assuming they don't do a Mickey Mouse degree, will have a better earning potential.

Student loans came in during my second year of university. It was an absolute godsend for somebody like me that came from a poor background. I probably would have had to leave university had the loans not come in. I paid back my loan once I started work and it is a distant memory now twenty four years later.

Even if I had tuition fees to pay, I cannot help that they were not around in my day, I would still have had the foresight to see it as an investment in my future.

jjmb

Bemundashorts- I was one of those students who benefited from no tuition fees and students grants, as was my husband. Both of us were the first in our families to go to university and both of us came from working class families. Without grants I would never gone to college and I think the thought of a loan would have put me off as even an overdraft was unthinkable to me. Before we left the UK, we payed the upper tax and were grateful to do so, as we had prospered because we had degrees. I feel guilty that generation of students has let down the generations that came after them. Also at the time, apprenticeships readily available, so if you weren't academically inclined you could trained for a trade.
PF, we were accidental expats as we came here on a temporary assignment. At the end of that assignment, the fab that was meant to open was mothballed (DH was working on technology to be transferred), the fab DH worked in was going to closed and it didn't look good for the other plant. So it seemed like a good idea to stay put in the US as at least he had a job but if we had a looking glass into the future years, we might have made a different decision.
The kids got an excellent education in Scotland and all of their friends have done as well if not better than them over the years. We don't have the same negative impressions of Scotland as you. The education they got here was definitely not as good. My daughter did biology at uni and her best friend in Scotland also did biology. Her friends course was much more rigorous without having to do all required crap credit courses such as US history, art history etc.
Also at the time, DH was earning about the same as here but without the cost of private insurance. He also had a car allowance at the time. So financially we were no better off and certainly by the time we had paid all the college fees here, we definitely worse off.
I don't regret moving over here but it has definitely had its downside. Personally, I wouldn't advise anyone with teenage kids to move over here after our experience but I can see why its attractive and it certainly builds up character, they either survive or they don't. Fortunately mine survived but not without some trauma along the way.
Now my youngest daughter and son are considering giving Europe a try for a couple of years. Having US citizenship is definitely a benefit in that respect as they at least don't have to worry about visas (unless the UK leaves, of course), so make sure your DS gets his citizenship before he departs for Germany. He may hate Germany.
To the OP congratulations, now you just need to get the visa sorted out.