Upfront Relocation Costs

[Clueless2727]

We are probably relocating to singapore in a few months, but am currently waiting for sign off. Until it is official, we have no idea of the package (have been told it's in hand when hubbie asked). Know that they don't pay school fees, rent directly but that it is reflected in salary. However, I am really worried about the relocation costs; flights out there, shipping, buying new things couldn't ship, upfront rent and deposit, plus school application fees and school fees upfront. I have calculated these total costs and it will be in excess of £30,000. We don't have that in savings. Do companies in your experience normally pay these costs and how does it work?

[englishinnj]

It does depend on what the company offers and you can always negotiate. Ours paid for shipping of all our household goods and furniture, storage in the UK, 100lbs worth of air freight, which was really handy until the rest of the house arrived. They also gave us a lump to purchase electricals here, as none of ours would work properly. With regard to rent etc, they should be paying the deposit, although you would be liable for damages at the end of the tenancy. Flight out should definately be paid for, and you should make sure that they pay for at least one flight a year back for you all. Will your house/flat be furnished ? and what will you do, while you wait for the stuff to arrive ? You can hire furniture etc, and you should check who will pay for it.

The package is really important, and in my experience everything costs more than you would expect, we thought we would save a fortune , but have ended up spending loads on travel and holidays which is fine, but you need to factor that in.

Also think about the situation when you come back, will they give you temporary accommodation when you return, lump sum for buying the goods back in UK, are you renting out your home here? , if so are they paying the management expenses for that ?

Our company did pay the school fees and all the deposits etc, so you need to see the package they offer, and go through it with a fine tooth comb before you commit.

Hope this helps a bit

[pupsiecola]

My DH's company don't pay anything towards our life here. But we did put EVERYTHING down on a spreadsheet and asked for enough salary to cover it AND be able to save some money and they agreed (we included things like a monthly holiday budget, mobile phones etc). They agreed to a joining bonus which was in lieu of relocation costs and we get a monthly bonus which is in lieu of school fees I guess. So really it's the same thing but just divvied up differently.

So you don't HAVE to have a typical ex-pat deal and lots of companies don't offer them anymore. Just make sure you include everything. There was a post on this a while back if you do a search. Lots of people added their own experiences.

The hardest thing for us was to pay the first term school fees (30k sgd/15k gbp) up front.

Just another view...

[kday]

Hi. There's no real "normal" here - you'll find plenty of people on this board who've moved to Singapore in all different circumstances - full expat package through to no package and totally self funded. I agree with englishinnj - you need to go through the package very carefully and even more so if big costs (rent, school fees) are simply going to be "reflected in the salary" rather than actually paid for by your DH's company. Just as an example, school fees are $25-30k per year per child ++ so you need a big salary uplift to compensate for that. Cars are really expensive here, too (much more than the UK). Rent... Utilities are outrageous... There is at least one recent thread about living costs in Singapore that you might like to search for to get an idea of the cost of living here - but in short, it's pretty expensive and you could find yourself going backwards financially is the package isn't right. Best of luck.

[kday]

Great minds, Pupsie!

[Clueless2727]

Thanks guys. Am hoping the salary is ok as his boss lives in a house in sentosa. Hubbie out there now and looking at condos and schools(sait). But hard when have no idea of salary But i don't think they've even thought of relocation costs even though people have moved before and yes the cost of everything in singapore seems so high. The salary would need to earn just to cover rent schooling, bills and healthcare is so much higher than what he earns here. Good point, we did a rough estimation of costs, but think i will take your advice and do a spreadsheet with all costs one-off and monthly and search on here for previous threads. Thanks again

[anonymosity]

Can you get included in your deal that if you have to return to the Uk they will cover your re-relocation costs up to a certain figure? I think that is key.
Also you should not be out of pocket taking this position in the first place - they do need to front weight your salary package to cover it - and also cover the tax hike that you'll face with that salary weight, as it were.