london lou

Hi everyone. Apologies for the long post. My partner is in the early stages of a potential transfer from London to NYC. We have heaps of questions and lots of assumptions. Looking at previous threads, you all seem to be really knowledgeable and helpful so I’m hoping I can set out where we are and get some feedback on anything we’ve got wrong and what we haven’t thought about. Here goes...

Background - my partner (we’re not married but have been engaged for years and would get married very soon if the move goes ahead) would be taking a promotion and moving to the NYC office of the company he already works for. We assume this means he’d be on an L1 visa and me and our daughter will be on L2s.

I guess two key areas we want to have more knowledge of are potential areas to live and living costs, which are obviously interlinked.



Areas to live

My partner will be working in the financial district and would like a quick, straightforward commute. A big attraction of the move is experiencing life in another major city so we don’t want to be in suburbia. But our daughter would be starting reception in Sept 2021, so we’d like to be near good schools. And I won’t be working for the first year or so, so we need a place with plenty to do. We don’t want to have a car, so good public transport links are a must. And ideally plenty of green space. (hopefully that's not a fantastical wish list!)

We’ve been looking at apartments online. 2 areas that appeal so far are Park Slope, Brooklyn for the green space, and Hoboken, NJ for the views and apartment buildings with plenty of amenities.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated though.

I’ve heard that your taxes are considerably lower if you live in NJ. Is that correct/significant?



Living costs

No remuneration/benefits package has been tabled yet, but we want to know what we need to live on so we can make a decision/negotiate quickly if/when there is an offer. But we’re not sure what we need to budget for as everything is so different there. Here’s our starting point. What seems unnecessary? What’s unrealistic? What’s missing?



Monthly costs:

• Rent - $5,000 (2/3 bed reasonably spacious apartment)
• Utilities (electricity, gas, water) - $150
• Renters insurance - $15
• Health insurance - $1500 (we're assuming at least part of this will be covered by the company)
• Transport - $300
• Food - $1500
• Clothes - $400
• TV & internet - $50
• Daycare (2 days p/w) - $600

Total: $9,515

Taxes - 30% of gross income? (are all taxes deducted at source? Is there a council tax equivalent?)
Pension contributions?

(we’ll also budget for return flights to the UK, holidays & leisure).



Other finance-related questions:

• Is renters insurance the same as contents insurance? Do you need any other kind of insurance?
• We’ll be renting out our UK property. Unlikely to make a profit (in fact we’ll have to make up the shortfall) but will we have to pay tax on any income in the UK, US, both?
• We understand there’s some agreement whereby UK National Insurance is paid for people working in the US - is that correct?

Moving costs

• Removals/shipping
• Apartment deposit (how much?)
• Visas (although assume these will be covered by the company)
• replacement of electrical appliances?
• Anything else?

Any input appreciated!

scrubbedexpat099

I know NY has a progressive tax system and so is the Feds system.

TV and internet look very low.

No mobile?

Relocation deal is very important.

Olly_

If you work in NY but live in NJ you still pay NY state income tax on your earnings but you do avoid paying NY city income tax. Income tax is kind of deducted at source, you have to decide how much you want to withhold and then file a tax return every year so it's more complex than PAYE in the UK.

$50 for TV and internet is too low, at least double that. Decent cell phone service is expensive too and you haven't included that.

Council tax here is called property tax but the property owner pays so if you're renting you don't pay it directly (although it obviously drives the cost of rent). Incidentally NJ has very high property taxes, my property tax bill is over $20k a year.

Renters insurance is indeed like contents insurance.

Nutmegger

In the tri-state area, I pay almost $200 for TV, internet, cell phone, without premium channels.

Jerseygirl

we used to pay around the same for TV/internet/landline incl some premium channels. Cell phones were extra.

Nutmegger

Actually, I realized that I mis-posted — that does indeed include our landline. We pay another $100 for the cells.

retzie

By all means have a crack at Park Slope. Bay Ridge is the somewhat more affordable option, although you lose out on being handy to Prospect Park.

This is low. You will need both heating and cooling in NYC or surrounds. Most of the older buildings have radiators and as renters your heating/hot water will be included in rent; however, air conditioning will bring big electricity bills in the summer. Sorry, I can't give you a number, since I haven't lived in a place that big for ages. I'm guessing whether the apartment has central A/C vs window units would also be a big factor. The good news is water will likely be included in the rent.

That amount will only cover two unlimited Metrocards per month. You will almost certainly be taking ride shares in addition to that, especially with a kid. In fact, you you will probably end up investing in something like Zipcar/car2go for local runabouts and/or car rental to get out of the city.

I have never considered getting cable at all -- get a decent internet connection and stream from there. However, just internet will run you more than that. As others have said, mobile phones will not be cheap. You may be able to package everything together, but frankly I despise those deals, because you inevitably get trapped into at least one substandard service just in the name of convenience.

Expect to pay a premium for any kind of phone contract, as you won't have a credit history. Also look out for term-length, if this will only be a temporary relocation.

Per month?? You might not need financial input from me at all...

london lou

Thanks for the input everyone, this is really helpful. Can't believe I left out cell phones! We'll up the budget to $300 for TV, internet & cell phones. I can't imagine we'll have a 'premium' TV package, but we'll no doubt keep our Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions.

london lou

This is really good to know. I've never done a tax return, that fills me with dread

Thank you!

london lou

Thank you! I haven't looked at Bay Ridge, we'll check it out. A quick glance at the map suggests it's near a golf course which will go down well with OH.

Thanks, this is really helpful. I did wonder if some things are included in rent. I'll up the budget to factor in air con though.

Good call, thanks.

Thanks. I'm expecting life admin to be particularly tedious and stressful for the first few months / year!

Haha. Our spend (on adult clothes at least) is zero right now, but we're hoping that might change! $400 is probably optimistic though, especially now I've factored in everything I'd missed out of my first attempt at a budget.

Nutmegger

As to apartment deposit, in your price range you will probably be looking at paying three month's rent up front -- the norm is first and last month, plus one month for actual deposit that will be returned if you haven't trashed the place!

sherbert

Don't bother with a TV (cable) subscription unless you are partial to Jerry Springer type shows and films that take 5 hours because of the constant (every 3 minute) adverts. Get a decent internet connection and you'll be fine with Amazon Prime and Netflix. Some people buy a Britbox subscription, some pay for VPN services so they can watch iPlayer/Channel 4 etc. I've got a Sling TV account that is mostly deactivated (you can go month to month, and I only activate when I want to watch the world cup or Euro cup games). I've never had a landline either: you won't need one. Just use your mobile and use Skype/Whatsapp to call home.

london lou

Thank you, that's really helpful.

This may seem like a stupid question, but how do actually find a place to rent over there? Here I'd look on websites, visit some estate agents on the high street. Is it a similar kind of process? I'm aware that the buying process is very different in the US.

london lou

Thanks for the tips

Pulaski

There's a good chance that your health insurance figure is waaay over budgeted. Please think very carefully about the coverage level as it is very tempting to pay for an "all you can eat" policy, which has minimal additional payments if you use a medical service, as that would be closest to mimicking the NHS, however many Americans are discovering the benefits of having "high deductible" insurance, which means you typically pay the first $3,000 per person yourself (there is also likely a family cap too, ours is $3k/person, $8k for the family), but then get full coverage for larger bills.

The premiums are very considerably lower for high deductible insurance - we were paying about $1,000/ mth in 2007, but that went down to about $140/mth for high deductible insurance, but that has since risen to about $200. From these figures you can see that the savings on premiums are about the same as the deductibles, so if you make lots of claims you will be in about the same position whichever policy you have, and if you need few medical services you will be financially ahead. .... You would also be well advised if you take high deductible insurance, to open a health savings account (HSA) which is like an ISA for medical expenses - you can put in about $3,500 per person (adult) tax free then use the funds for medical expenses including prescription.