DH offered a job in Miami- advice and help needed

[CatCuddler999]

There is a job in Miami available. He has a good chance of getting it. DD is 12. There would be the three of us plus our pets moving.

I am unaware of the following-

• how much health insurance would cost a year? Dd and I have health problems including asthma.
• whether the salary (equivalent to 60k in £) would be enough for us to live comfortably in a nice area?
• what’s the situation with bringing our pets?
• would me and DD be able to accompany DH or would it be tricky Visa-wise?

What else are the employers offering?

The first thing, before doing anything else, is to find out what package your employer is offering for relocation. What help will they give with temporary accommodation, immigration support (for your DH and you) accommodation search, schools search, relocation allowance, pre-move visits etc.

If they don't offer that then I wouldn't even be thinking about it.

60k wouldn’t go far in Miami. It’s very expensive. Yeah d expect a higher salary and for your OH’s employer to offer full Heath insurance for you all but deductibles are still expensive.

I would never move to the US regardless of package but that doesn’t sound like a good deal OP

How do you cope with your asthma on hot days / on holiday / in humid climates OP? Mine is bad on a hot day in London but not by the sea, so worth checking out air quality too (apologies if not relevant to your triggers)

Also Miami is a bit boring. Have you been there before?

Even if the company offers health insurance, check what the 'deductible' aka excess is on it. It can be thousands of dollars.

Surely the salary is just part of the package being offered?

£60k is very little to uproot 4 lives for.

DD should be able to go with you now but be careful once they reach 18 they might not be able to stay. All depends on visa - green cards situations.

Happened to a friend they all moved to the US, once the son reached 18 it was touch and go if he was allowed to stay even though both parents were very settled in the states

I agree with the others - you don't uproot your lives for £60,000 a year.

US salaries are in general higher than UK salaries, so I'm surprised they've offered you just 60k, which is, as others have pointed out, too little to live comfortably with a family in Miami. Tax is more complicated/more paperwork in the US but is lower than the UK.

I'm American and when I lived in the US not too long ago, my salary was $120k + a bonus (which was usually around 30k). I was a middle income earner and could not have bought a house in the city I lived in. In the UK I did a more complicated job managing more people for about 55k and thought that pay was fair for the UK market (and I could offer to buy a house).

Health insurance varies wildly. I've worked for companies that pay nearly all your costs, companies where they split the costs equally between employer and employee, and companies where they give you shoddy insurance and pay almost nothing. You would have to ask for details on packages for your exact circumstances from the company -- they should be able to give you exact costs.

Maybe the employer couldn't get a local in Florida to do the job on that money and they are thinking someone from the UK will be enough of a sap to do it at that salary.
Health Insurance - $$$$
Relocation costs- $$$
Moving pets - $$$
Sorting out visas, driving licenses - hassle
Selling your car/s in the UK and then buying/leasing new ones - hassle and potential to lose money
Do you work? Factor in losing your job
Living in a nice area/ good school zone/ house with room for visitors (lots of people will come out expecting a free holiday with you doing airport pickups/drop offs and running them around - $$$
The company should provide agents to help you find somewhere to live, sort out visas, importing and them exporting pets
Getting your house ready to rent out if you own, paying for an agent to manage things.
Also if things go wrong with the job there is less employment protection
less annual leave
Little niggles such as not being able to walk to places, poor public transport, people having guns

My Dsis used to live in Miami and it was VERY expensive. I have friends that make around that salary that live in Georgia which has a much cheaper cost of living and sometimes it's hard for them. So I would only go if they offered over 100K. She also said it wasn't a city that she would choose to raise a child in.

I also have asthma and FL gets very humid and hot which makes it miserable for me, I breathe better in cooler, drier air. Also some insurance is very expensive, with 2-5K deductibles before the insurance begins to cover anything. So to me that will make take home less if you have to meet that deductible every year.

He doesn't work for a marketing agency does he OP? I worked for one who offered me a job in Amsterdam for the same salary I was earning in a UK city (not London!) - where I was already underpaid. They said they'd pay my rent for the first month. I already had a mortgage. Bless them.

The average American citizen I have met when visiting the States is quite poor compared to the UK more than a few have worked 2 or 3 jobs to get by.

I am American and live as close to Florida as I want to. Great place to visit but ...
Your husband's employers should sort out and explain insurance and it will cover all of you.
What kind of pets? JRT will love the beach but a Husky will suffer in the heat and humidity. Depending on where you live, cats must be inside.
Public (state) schools in Florida are not the best. You will want her in a private (fee-paid) school. I would choose her school first and then find housing nearby, as public transport may not be available, reliable or safe.
FINALLY - do not move to Miami if you do not drive.

Echoing what everyone else has said. American salaries are higher than the equivalent in the UK. For a reason usually. The cost of living is high

I personally would want double that salary to live comfortably in an expensive area like Miami. My DH was paid around $130k plus bonus when we lived in the US and we were definitely comfortable but hardly rolling in it.

Also yes our family insurance (family of 4) was approx $600 per month cost to us out of his salary.

Deductible was $3k. So first 3k worth of medical costs per year you pay everything. A doctors visit was $200 for example. Then the insurance paid 20%. Also provided you were in network etc etc! Asthma preventer inhalers were approximately $100 each.

I wouldn't even consider it at that amount, even without pre-existing conditions.

I lived in US for 10 years, and moved there with work. Echoing if they don't offer relocation, don't do it.They should be sorting all your visas out, relocation costs (moving) etc

our health, dental and eye insurance on a mid tier cost but very good plan for 3 of us, was just under $1000 a month, with a $6000 excess a year

60K isn't enough to live on in a nice area with a good school, paying for health insurance for you all. Also be aware that you'll need a car to get around, and groceries and utility bills are overall much higher (petrol was cheaper, but its going high there too)

you lose all your credit history on moving unless you get an international bank account / credit card (which you usually need more than 60K base salary to qualify for) so need significant $$$ upfront to pay for rental deposits, buy a car etc

Find out how much holiday he’ll get too. I worked in Chicago for three years for a company where we had ‘unlimited’ holiday. People took about 7-10 days per year. It’s just not the culture to take it. There’s a million reasons I wouldn’t move back to the US, such as health insurance and how complicated and expensive it is (I had excellent coverage but still ended up paying about $6k to have a baby - totally boring pregnancy and delivery), very religious, a lot of obvious poverty with very few opportunities to get out of it, the fact that 75m people voted for Trump, hearing gunshots quite regularly, etc. I lived in downtown Chicago so saw quite a lot of things I wasn’t expecting, to put it lightly, so it’s probably v different in lots of other places. I imagine you’ll want to come home at least once a year to see family and friends, so factor in flight costs and holiday time into your decision. Hope that wasn’t too much of a downer but things to consider!

I'd almost rather slit my wrists than move to America. Apart from the fact his salary sounds paltry and far too low, they have no actual proper healthcare system in America, you have to pay just for a hospital stay. People in America go bankrupt every day due to medical bills. Yes, it's true, it's a thing. Look it up. One of the most common reasons for bankruptcy. And insurance rarely covers much. Then there is the gun culture and likelihood of a school shooting, or you just being shot in every day life. And Florida's conservative politics, they have some of the most restrictive anti women's reproductive rights/abortion laws next to Texas. So if you have a DD, consider that aspect too.

Seriously, I would never want to raise a child in America, and definitely not the redneck areas like Florida. I wouldn't move for that lousy shithouse level you stated, and I wouldn't move there even if I were offered 2 million. I would never choose to live or raise a child especially a daughter in America. NO amount of money would be worth it. You really don't realise how safe, lucky and good you have it in the UK.

Oh, OP I forgot, they have no maternity leave over there, no real annual leave over there or holiday pay or long service leave. They don't have a minimum wage even. All things to consider not just for you and your DH, but for the future for your daughter who will enter the workforce there. Then there is the cost of 'college' there. I don't know of one single good reason to move there, certainly not for the measly amount he will be getting, and then when you subtract lack of holiday/sick leave/long service leave - all things we take for granted in the UK that the US does not have. Subtract them all, you'd be at a deficit than what you are now in the UK.

Not a chance of living anywhere nice on 60k. You would be in a small apartment in a fairly crappy and potentially unsafe part of town. That's a dreadful package.

Using today's exchange rate its $70,000 that really is no a lot, its not just rent and healthcare that's expensive, food shopping is expensive too, especially some fresh fruits and vegetables.

Unless you can work out there, you'll struggle.