How much do you need to be paid in NY....

[Panicmode1]

To find a decent house and educate four children? DH works for a 'British Institution' which is unlikely to pay for private schooling in e UK for our children (yr-y5) so we would need to think about the schools in NY....and I'm worried that although on paper the money may look ok, I would want it to be a place we could afford to have fun, and not just be living to work IYSWIM! We are currently in the SE of England on a (just) into 6 figure salary and it's not that lavish given the number of children we have and our mortgage. We don't drive expensive cars or do big holidays.....so I appreciate that our idea of living may be different to others, but is there a sort of ballpark figure that you can help me with?!

What kind of commute would your dh be willing to do? 90 minute commutes into NY are fairly common. Have a look on this thread - lots of useful information about costs of various suburban options, and it sounds as if the OP is looking at roughly the same ballpark salary as you.

You would probably struggle to find affordable accommodation in NYC so you probably need to look at the good suburban school districts of New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. Great Schools Website is a useful reference.

People obviously live happily in the tristate area on all sorts of incomes, but it is an expensive area so you will have to make some compromises.

Thanks so much, will have a look. I am very torn by the whole thing.....heart says yes with bells on, head says really not sure!

Oh and he's commuting over 2 hours twice a day, so 90 mins is doable!

Sorry - are you looking to privately educate the kids? If so, count on at least $25k per kid per year, after tax... So you need a lot of money.

If not and just want good schools, and as you said are willing to commute, then look out to Westchester/Connecticut and some areas of New Jersey. That would also be the only locations you would get a house big enough for 6 without paying a fortune.

Assuming he will be paying tax, then I think around $250k would be fine if you live outside NY. Difficult if you're in town.

(FWIW I'm on c$180k tax free with two kids, not quite in Manhattan, and am just about keeping our heads above water. With one expensive kids hobby.)

It's a great place though, now the sun is finally here...

Thank you v much for your help; having talked round and round the pros and cons, I think we are probably in the 'no' camp at the moment. I don't think we'd get $250k, and we'd be taxed under the US system as he'd be employed by the US office.

I would hate to think we'd put someone off and to lose out on an opportunity...!

Definitely you couldn't do private schooling, but depending on where he works, then Darien (CT), Rye & Larchmont (Westchester) etc all have great schools and you could definitely get a good 3-4 bed for around $4-5k a month and it's 1 hour or less to Grand Central.

I don't have a link at the moment but there are some 'apps' that let you estimate your net salary etc based on where you live/family status. That might allow you to do a proper budget and see.

Good luck!

I think what's putting us off is that it's a permanent move, not a mid length contract....I think if it was a 3-5 year deal we may have been more positive about the idea. How do you find the schools - we have amazing grammar and comps literally on our doorstep and so I think we are a bit nervous about losing that and jumping into the unknown, educationally speaking....eldest due to take his 11+ this Sept so it's a fairly crucial moment, but equally could be a great time to move.

Keep oscillating by thinking it's a great opportunity, but I am about to get my life back a bit (youngest starts school in Sept) so I probably wouldn't be able to return to work as planned.....but we'd be able to travel a bit, ski more easily etc.....

Look for schools here www.greatschools.org/ You need to live in catchment to attend the school over here.

This one is also useful:

www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

You can search in the areas you are looking at and see how where the school comes in the State and the country as a whole. As noted above, you need to live in the catchment area.

If it's a potential permanent move then in a few years you could sell the house in UK if you're happy and that also increases your options/potentially reduces some costs depending on how big a deposit it will give you. Bear in mind CT taxes are much lower than NY and NJ.

If you go to a website like Halstead.com you can estimate total monthly costs including mortgage and monthly taxes.

Thank you both, I will have a look at those.

Take a look at Weehawken. The public school are great and your DH can take the bus into Manhattan which takes all of 15-20mins to midtown. $200k/year would easily work in that town. Lots of expats are there and the school system is small so able to accomodate differences.

Jumping in here to encourage a little faith in good US public schools. The good ones are really good. If you have children who are right and willing to work they will do well.

Right now, if you look at the websites of high schools in areas you are interested in, you will most likely be able to find their rolls of students who have graduated at the top of their class and sometimes see where they are going to university.

You have a little time before high school so you would be very smart to rent first in an area with good elementary schools and do a lot of research when you are on the ground. Catchments are rigorously enforced in the US so be careful where you live, even down to what side of a street you move into..

children who are bright, not right...