Singapore move? What is a good expat package?! Help.

[SweetieBumMum]

Hi, my DH has been offered a job in Singapore, just today so it's early days, but I'm well into panic mode. If anyone has any experiences to share or can offer advice then I'd be hugely grateful.

It's an internal job thing so there was no salary advertised, but we would go from the uk and be put on a local contract. They make sure they have the right person for the job and then the negotiation begins.

We live a comfortable life in the uk. We have four children, a six bed house, two cars, etc.

The eldest two will be at grammar school from Sept (yr7&9), no3 will be year 6 and hopefully following them in a year and no4 will start reception.

So I'm not overly motivated to move from that perspective as life is good. We have however done a 3 year stint in Europe before when we just had 3 children and loved it. And the thought of exploring a new country again sounds tempting.

So for me that boils down to the right package. I realise it can be as long as a piece of string but I'd like to lead a decent expat life style and education is expensive!

Is there anything that's a must to have in a package?
Is there a ball park figure that you personally would say, no, it isn't worth it?
What's your experience of monthly outgoing for a large family?
Some posts I've read suggest it's v expensive and not needed - others that a car is a must?
Do people really have a live in help? Would I be odd if I didn't?

This is probably a long and slightly rambling post but I appreciate you taking the time to read it

Thank you KeyserSophie, Wow, someone else told me it was particularly bad the last couple of years too. Do the fires happen because it's hot and they're spontaneous? Do the expats just leave Singapore for Europe anyway during the long summer holidays anyway and miss it?
We'd be on a local package with (I'd hope an impressive) uplift to account for education and additional cost of living expenses.

No- they're set deliberately to clear land for cultivating palm and pulpwood. It doesn't happen over the summer (its during the dry season) so if you want to skip out to avoid it you need to take your children out of school.

I'm in sg. Many people I know are leaving because the oil and gas industry isn't in a great way.
Rents are more negotiable.
It's really expensive here, we have two small kids and the food bill is quite high. Stuff like shampoo is expensive and if you don't have a car (they are sooo expensive here) then be prepared to spend a lot on taxis. They are cheap but they add up.
It will be hard to live here if you do not have school fees and comprehensive medical cover for the whole family so I would push for these if I were you.

Thanks Waitingforsomething, great advice. A few people have suggested that car may be best as there are 6 of us so even though it's expensive, plus what you've said, it might be the best option.
We lived in Zurich for three years - at that stage we had three children. We supposedly had an uplift to compensate for the extra expense of living there, but in reality it was nowhere near. Children's shoes, followon milk and in particular - nappies (diapers)!!! Nearly bankrupted us with at one stage all three children were in them!

Buy a car. We bought 2 (a Fiat 500 and a VW Golf), they were very expensive but the loans were cheap as chips and depreciation is controlled so in the end the overall spend was relatively low (much cheaper than relying on taxis or renting). We have friends whose car actually appreciated in value while they were in Singapore and sold for a profit (COE increased in price over the 3 years they were there).

And the year we left (2013), the haze reached a peak (400+) during June. It's not always during the school holidays so you can't always leave and my kids went to school wearing masks and complaining about sore throats and headaches. All countries have down sides - this happens to be Singapore's. I'd rather have the haze than guns in Texas (current location) but that's a whole other thread!

Oh also OP, a friend of mine, her husband has car rental as part of their package. Car rental might be something you could negotiate as part of yours especially with a large family? I wish we had, it's the convenience I miss most, I am very jealous of said friend! Taxis are reliable but as a family of 6 you're always going to have to get the big ones

Thank you both for your info, I'm filing every scrap away so I'm very grateful. It sounds like I need to look at cars more closely. I had assumed that we would lease but will now have a look at purchase (and or work car package) possibilities.
Myfriendscallmeoh, from your experience is there a good used a car market over there do you know? (Texas must be quite a change btw!)
We're nearly two weeks after the job offer I had thought we'd be a lot further on than this. They haven't come back with a first draft yet!
I wish they'd get on with it do we can see whether it's a goer or just continue with life!

There is a great used car market in Singapore. Look at SG car mart which lists all vehicles for sale on the island.

Hi, I am doing the same kind of calculations and it sounds as if we are after similar sorts of things out of life in Singapore. I only have two kids to school but was a bit blown away by your figure of over $500,000 - I thought I was overestimating but didn't get anywhere near that. Now I am worrying I have missed loads of things out and we are going to find ourselves in Singapore with a much lower standard of living than here in London and unable to get out and about and explore life there. Can ypu break down your cist scedule a little for me - I see you've done this before so your experience would really help. Thanks

LAD1 I'd assume it's the school fees. As the OP has 4 children, that's 4 lots of ruinously expensive fees. As other people say, it's very difficult to get expat kids into local schools (not impossible, but certainly difficult to get them into schools of choice) even if you would want to. Schooling here is a racket - remember that we have had decades of expats on full packages, where the company pays direct for everything, including schools. This has played a part in inflating the price and now true expat packages are becoming much rarer and more of us are on local contracts. The schooling market has yet to catch up, although the rental market is starting to adjust for that and the other reasons PPs have mentioned.

We pay the equivalent of about 18K GPB for one child in a fairly cheap primary school - the schools with better facilities can be double that and secondary is even more. Multiply that by 4 children and it's astonishing.

Then there is the need for a bigger property, probably a house by that size, plus 1-2 cars, plus extra food and living costs. I can well believe that the OP gets to that amount, which doesn't imply you will! We live extraordinarily well: 2 children, no car, in the sort of amazing condo I never dreamed we'd ever have, with a full time helper and 4-5 holidays a year, plus we are saving a significant amount of money, all on a total income of less than that quoted.

Thanks, that is really helpful. We are assuming 2 kids at an international school (although DS is only in nursery) would cost approx. $5,000pcm and rental at about $7,000 which would be total half our monthly net income of $24,000. Does this sound doable? And would we be able to live comfortably with holidays and a good social life?

Thanks to all who keep these threads so useful.

I'd be a little wary of the "moving you onto a local contract" thing unless they baked a few things in. One critical thing being continuity of service (COS) - will they include a COS clause? If they don't, you might find financial services treat you as less desirable for things like credit cards, loans etc, because a job is considered as "new" rather than continuous with a change of location.

They also should have a clause in saying what happens in the event of the job is SG ceasing to exist, or termination of contract. Relocating back to the UK can be bloody expensive if you're doing it in a hurry.

DH works in HR and often deals with ex-pat packages inc to Asia. School fees, differential cost of living, rent, annual flights home and (often for families) a car are as standard for Singapore. He would be wary of a local contract.

We are in Singapore, moved here from Jersey (not cheap either) in July.
We have 3 children in an international school. The fees are higher the higher up the school you go. I would want your school fees covered as these will bankrupt you....the tuition fees, registration fees, building fund fees, school lunches etc. etc.
You want your healthcare covered too - if you have any previous medical issues/operations etc. be prepared to have a medical and have that excluded or be turned down (our 4 year old was denied cover entirely for a persistent cough he had in Feb!)
Rent is the least of your worries...there are so many options and rents are so negotiable these days - landed house (like you'd live in at home) a cluster house (bunch of houses together with shared facilities such as pools, gyms, play areas - get for families and instant friends for the children) condos (apartment blocks again with shared facilities).

I have heaps I could share because we have just done it all fresh so please feel free to send me a direct message on here and I'll fill you in on the good, bad and ugly!

Hi we are moving from Sydney in July. We have 2 middle school kids. How much would be a decent amount net for 2 school fees and all other living expenses and some savings please?

From what I've seen most international schools are around $30k with the exception of the French school, which is subsidised by the French government and is half the price.

Could be a curveball!

Just wanted to add flights to and fro to your sums, assuming you have family and friends back here and want to visit reasonably often.

Sanj007 you might want to start your own thread to get more replies. This thread is old.

If you're looking at staying in the Australian school system, AIS is really your only choice and it's one of the most expensive. All the international schools list their fees on their websites.

How much you need is really a how long is a piece of string question. Some people manage to live very frugally, others have said they couldn't get by here on less than $40K per month. So you'll get a range of answers to that question. So you really need to start doing a bit of research and give a bit more information about your situation (what's included in the package, are you both working, what kind of housing you want, where you think you might live) etc. before people can give you guidance tailored to your circumstances.