Kali-forniarrr

We all know its much more hip to use "Frisco" to fit in.....

Now where's my flower...

Michael

I agree that SF as well as the coastal cities never overheat. But SF (especially) and the coastal cities are much too cold for me even during the summer and temperatures are very unpredictiable.

On the few days that the south bay overheats, I've seen San Jose at 100 degrees, SF in the high 50s socked in with fog, Walnut Creek at 95, Monterey clear at 65, Morgan Hill at 110, and Pleasanton at 120.

Kali-forniarrr

As per Mr Twain, The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco...

That said, it can be quite nice to escape the extreme heat of the inland areas in summer on the coast. And that explains the housing costs and desirability factor generally all down Ca.

Bob

Can't say about utilities out there, though at a guess, AC would be the big cost if your a bit further inland...

Insurance, expensive because you won't have any US credit history, but it's down to what you drive that'll help...as for no credit history, that could hurt with utilities too because you might have to put down a deposit on them.

Medical insurance could be one of the highest spendings if your employer doesn't pay it all, and it's rare that they do these days, so how much you pay per month depends on level of cover, group rates offered, if your young and have kids or not, but between $200-800 a month won't be a bad number for a family, but then you've got to figure in co-pays, deductibles and what's actually covered, prescriptions, emergency care, ambulance etc.

Michael

The worst thing about the weather in Northern California this year has been the forest fires that have brought a large amount of smoke to the bay area (real ugly where it has reduced visibility at times from 30 miles or more to a couple thousand feet). This is by far the worst it has ever been and the major fire season still has not started. The number and severity of the fires have been so great that the state called in the National Guard to fight the fires (highly unusual). Also fire fighters from other states as well Canada, Mexico, Austrailia, and New Zealand are fighting the fires.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents.php

http://www.oes.ca.gov/WebPage/oesweb...veMap?readForm

md95065

I think that with $100,000 gross, married with 2 young children you are probably looking at just under $75,000 take home pay after Federal, State, Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Your employer should definitely be providing a medical insurance plan or plans that will cover both you and your dependents, but there will be some additional cost to you and how much that cost is can vary quite widely. I have a very good medical plan at work but still have to pay about $540 per year for each person covered under it. This money is deducted pre-tax so it won't reduce your take home pay by quite as much, but you do need to figure out how much. I also can't stress enough that many medical plans could cost a *lot* more to cover dependents.

Assuming that you get the medical figured out and it doesn't cost too much then in round numbers you are going to end up with about $3,000 per month for housing expenses (rent, electricity and gas, garbage) and about $3,000 per month for everything else (food, clothing, car insurance, car payments, etc).

If you were single that would probably be OK, but it sounds a bit tight for a family of 4.

Also, don't underestimate the costs of moving to a new place - no matter what you thing it is going to cost, it will actually be at least double that amount. Even if you have stuff shipped out from the UK (paid for by your employer, of course) you will still find yourself spending (or, at least, wanting to spend) thousands of dollars within the first few weeks on furniture, a TV, cooking utensils and dozens of other things that you will have forgotten about. Since you won't have a US credit history some utilities will want you to pay a cash deposit before they will give you service - it's usually only a few hundred dollars, but when you have to give a few hundred dollars to 4 or 5 different companies it starts to add up.

Then you will probably want to buy a car - if you can, your best and easiest bet will be to buy one for cash since it will be hard (although not impossible) for you to get a car loan.

At a guess I would expect that you could easily end up $10,000 or more in one-time move related expenses.

Bob

which, at the end of the year, if you've done it right, you can claim a lot back from taxes...but moving does cost a lot more than expected, it's all those little things that add up, mostly stupid stuff too like stocking up the pantry adds up quick when you've got other things to spend the money on.

Heroes

We were thinking if its best to start off with only myself working. This is to make it easier for all of us, particularly the kids, to have a smooth transition when we migrate. If 100,000 isn't enough (in NorCal area) I suppose my other half has to work as well.

md95065

While you can deduct some of the expenses related to moving you cannot generally deduct the cost of actual physical items that you had to purchase as a result of moving. So, things like shipping costs and possibly some living expenses while house hunting etc may be deductible, but your new TV, furniture and pots and pans will not. In fact most of the things that would be deductible if you had to pay for them yourself are the kinds of thing that if you are lucky your employer would be paying for as part of the relocation package.

md95065

You mentioned elsewhere that you were thinking of an EB-3 visa.

This is well outside my area of knowledge, but it looks to me as if this could take a very long time - so much so that I am not sure exactly how anyone gets a prospective employer to start the process for someone who may not be able to actually work in the US for another 5 or more years ...

veryfunny

It will be a bit tight but if your watch your out and in goings you should be okay.

Bob

yeah, but by the time the OP gets there?

Kali-forniarrr

Well I can report that I had lunch out today in the city and it was a nice day.

The Bay was a bit hazy from the fires but then again the four seasons of California are earthquake, mudslide, drought and fire.

So by the time you get here anything may have happened. But that's California.

Bob

aye, by the time the OP gets there, there might not be a north cali

Heroes

I don't think we'll ever tolerate extreme heat and humidity. Anything above 32C might be too much for us.

Many thanks on your input.