SMCR

Hi all,

Long time lurker first time poster. Have found this forum really helpful.

Our story so far:

Family of 4 - 2 Adults 2 children
My husband works for large multinational In April of this year his boss offered him a promotion but would have to be based in US. L1A visa going to Green card as soon as possible.
We have had a relocation visit and everyone is happy with location and we have girls sorted into schools of our choice. We were Visa approved last Thursday just awaiting return of our passports. The relocation package seems very fair with a decent bonus when we arrive.

My question really is re salary $152,000 per annum Is this a good enough salary for family 4 (I won't be working am stay at home parent as I gave up my job 4 years ago due to amount of travel my husband had to do). We plan to sell our home and will hopefully only need mortgage under 100K for a decent home.

Any thoughts on salary with usual outgoings 2 cars, mortgage , 2 teens.
If anyone is familiar with the Boise area any advice would be greatly appreciated. All getting really close now just waiting to book flights and organise rental.
Many thanks

Guindalf

Looking at city-data.com, it seems like you'd be very comfortable in Boise. The salary without bonus is about three times the average for the area and with median house prices at around $220k, you would easily be able to find (or even build) a very nice home.

Hope you like potatoes and football (American, of course)!!!

SMCR

Guindalf

Thanks so much for reply. Never been to a American Football game but looking forward to attending.

Guindalf

Don't make your first experience a Boise State (college) game, though. They play on a BLUE field!!!

Devakiri

I am from Boise and in the process of moving back with my British husband. All my kids, grands and greats are in that area so looking forward to going "home".

Guindalf is right about the housing and the salary. There are lots of fun things to do in the area, floating the Boise River, hike or bike in the foothills, 30 plus miles of Boise Greenbelt along the river to walk, lots of parks, balloon fest every year, Bogus Basin Ski Resort in winter, Fast Lane Indoor Kart Racing, Roaring Springs Water Park, Wahooz family fun zone and pinz bowling, lots of wonderful restaurants, great fishing if you like that sort of thing.....I could go on but you get the picture. Boise State University does play on the blue but love those Broncos!!!! Stay in touch if you like and if you have any questions send me a pm and I will find the answer for ya.....take care and good luck on your move....maybe we will be able to meet up one day....who knows!!!!

SMCR

Thanks so much Devakiri will definitely be asking you more questions. We loved it for the week we were there. I think my husband was starting to worry about money as with ordering cars, schools, new home and all the household stuff we will have to replace he has been lying awake worrying we will be no better off (considering we need to do some serious saving for college).

lansbury

I was going to suggest that is where she goes. The Smurfs are quite a good team and often get ranked in the top 25.

lansbury

Tell him to stop worrying. We live in Oregon and our income is on a par with your husbands prospective one (without the bonuses). We are much better off then we were back in London, but our kids are grown up with their own families now. Once you get over the start up costs of moving countries you return to the more daily living costs which he should be much less worried about.

He is right to think about college costs, we save to eventually pay for our grand kids to go. You also need to make sure his medical insurance package is a good one with low deductibles and co-pays.

SMCR

Thanks Lansbury,

Hopefully all will work out. Husband to have meeting with HR with fine details like medical but from talking to colleagues at same level think good coverage for us. He is also due to meet with tax person as part of relocation pack as we unsure of net income per month.

Psyman

I just moved from Boise after living there 12 years. If I had been on that salary, I would have lived like a king! Boise is cheap. You could buy a nice house for just $250k that would fit you and 2 kids no problem. Actually, you could buy a nice house for even less than that. I'm guessing you're used to a certain standard though if that's your normal salary, so you wont have a problem finding more expensive houses. Depends how carried away you want to get. Eating out is cheap. Utilities are cheap.

Boise is a nice town. Pretty main stream (in a very conservative state), nice downtown, greenbelt, foothills etc, close to the mountains and high desert. Easy to get around. I rarely met any other Brits. Which was fine - I didn't move to the US to hang out with other Brits. Boise is a bit isolated though. 10 hour drive to the coast, 8 hours to Seattle (closest City with multiple major league sports teams). Not too many great bands come through there, although it is improving. I hear the schools are good - at least in Boise. Outlying towns maybe not so much. Its really hot there in the summer. I think its been up to about 110F lately, which is one of the reasons I wanted to leave. June/July/August it will be 90F or more mostly, and wont rain. Forest fires bring smoke into the town in the summer. Inversions in the winter mean its freezing cold and bad air quality in the winter (again - escape to the mountains for blue sky and fresh air).

Its generally a good place to raise a family. Very little crime. Watch out for the cops though - its one of the places they like to shoot people or their dogs without much provoking. Get into college football and hunting, as they are the main topics of conversation.

Hope you enjoy your time there.

SMCR

Psyman

Thanks so much all information. We hope to buy house in Eagle = looking at 279K for 4 bed so hope small mortgage. Scary about police and guns but to date (in 40s now) never had as much as a speeding ticket. Driving is my main worry. Going to take some driving lessons, my husband always drove when we in US or Portugal (our favourite holiday destination) Thanks again, all information gratefully received.

SMCR

Another quick question.

Any idea of net monthly pay from 152K per annum. Husband is to have meeting with tax consultant but I am wondering if anyone has rough idea? Thanks so much again

Pulaski

It depends on several things, including what sort of health insurance you choose (I recommend you at least consider high deductible insurance, which isn't as scary as it sounds if you don't have chronic health issues, and then set up a linked tax-deductible Health Savings Account), and how much your husband's employer subsidizes it, how much your mortgage is because mortgage interest is still tax deductible here, and how much he puts into his 401k (personal pension).

That said, I would guess that take-home pay is going to be around 70% of gross, so just under $9,000, based on $152k pa.

BTW Have you heard about International Autosource?

SMCR

Hi Pulaski

Thanks so much for speedy reply. Will show this to husband.
We just ordered 2 new cars from IA - husband found them great so far
Ford Fiesta for me and Ford Edge for himself

Pulaski

Hmmm!

A Fiesta isn't much car for a city that far north AND in the Rockies. You will be driving surrounded by big SUVs and pick-ups. If I might be so bold, I would suggest that you take the Edge (4x4, I hope), and you swap the Fiesta for an Explorer for your husband.

From a British perspective an Explorer might look "huge", but it really isn't - my pick-up is five feet longer, and in any case you're going to need a 4x4 unless you're planning to spend most of November to March at home.