[The Potters]

I have recently been given an offer of employment :yes. I feel like luck is on our side at last. I would just like some advice on, what is typical for holiday entitlement in NZ. As i have been offered 3 weeks in the contract and it does not seem that much to me?

Another little query i have is, if you earn say £30K in the UK, would $30K in NZ give me the same lifestyle. Roughly speaking???

Thanks in advance to any replies.

The Potters

[gil]

Hello The Potters and congratulations on your job offer! I heard on the radio yesterday that in 2007, all workers will be given 4 weeks annual leave, although I didn't hear exactly when this applies from. I'm sure there are people who have been here longer and can answer this more accurately.

As for $ for £ equivalence, I honestly can't say. I think it would depend on your lifestyle/location/family size and probably other factors I can't think of! Have you tried a search on here for that sort of info?

Anyway, good luck with it all, I can say that we are loving it here!

Gil

[TFR]

3 weeks is the norm changing to a statutory 4 weeks next year. There's more info on the government website here: www.dol.govt.nz.

Re the exchange, a rough guide I read was:

UK salary x NZ exchange rate divided by 1.45
so £25,000 x 2.6 / 1.45 = $44,800

(this is based on goods and services costing £1 in the UK would cost $1.45 in NZ

Hope this helps.

[neilw71]

To be brutely honest - if you are used to GBP30K then NZ$30K will be a massive step down. It depends on a lot of factors such as where the job is, but in the major centres you should be aiming for the same direct salary you were on in the UK. We both got higher levels by coming to Akl. The problem is a lot of the agencies tell people that formula and the aim is low. This just perpetuates a cycle of immigrants getting low salaries as that is all they expect. Aim high and don't sell yourself short - there are plenty of well paid jobs out there - you just have to look hard and be in the right place when they come up.

Neil

[incredible hulse]

Hi ThePotters
My own view is you need to earn approx. 1-75-double what your UK package (include pensions, bonuses, etc) here to have a similar standard of living. I'm currently on about 1.4 times and we are finding we have a lot less left per month than in the UK

[Soon2baKiwi]

Hi there. Everyone will be entitled to 4 weeks holiday from 1 April 2007. $30k is a pittance and if I were you and that's what I was being offered I'd say 'thanks but no thanks'. To be honest, if they're offering $30k and 3 weeks holiday you do NOT want to work for them!!! Like Neil says, there are lots of jobs out there that pay well. Do you need a job offer to get your PR? If not, wait until you're here - you'll be in a much stronger position.

[The Potters]

Thanks for the info people! Answering some of the questions, discussions.

It would help and speed things up if i take the Job offer as this is being requested by NZIS. As i am a skilled migrant.
The salary works out to more than was indicated it was just an example, but the feed back is all really great and reassuring.
As for the holidays 4 is better than 3, excellent news.

Thanks
The Potters

[TFR]

Hi ThePotters
My own view is you need to earn approx. 1-75-double what your UK package (include pensions, bonuses, etc) here to have a similar standard of living. I'm currently on about 1.4 times and we are finding we have a lot less left per month than in the UK

That's interesting, thank you. So what you're saying is that if you earned £30k in the UK you should be looking for a $50-60k job in NZ to ensure a similar lifestyle, roughly speaking? That seems to suggests that the little formula I posted above is kinda actually true?

[jo-and-jeff]

So what you're saying is that if you earned £30k in the UK you should be looking for a $50-60k job in NZ to ensure a similar lifestyle, roughly speaking? That seems to suggests that the little formula I posted above is kinda actually true?Based on comments by the UK emigrants and on our own experience vis-a-vis US dollars in relation to UK dollars, I would say that that formula is on the very low end.


It would help and speed things up if i take the Job offer as this is being requested by NZIS. As i am a skilled migrant.Just remember that you will have to keep this job for at least 3 months in order to validate your PR (they don't seem to look favorably on letting you stay if you try to switch to a different company during that period), so if the job is less than optimal in terms of salary or work environment, you would not want to accept a job on which you don't think you could manage for at least that long.

Congratulations!

[TFR]

Based on comments by the UK emigrants and on our own experience vis-a-vis US dollars in relation to UK dollars, I would say that that formula is on the very low end.


Ok, fair point...so what would you say then? By how much is it "low"? Cheers...

[jo-and-jeff]

My own view is you need to earn approx. 1-75-double what your UK package (include pensions, bonuses, etc) here to have a similar standard of living. I'm currently on about 1.4 times and we are finding we have a lot less left per month than in the UK
I'd say incredible hulse has it about right: at least 1¾ to 2 times your UK salary in $NZD; if you're earning £50,000 in the UK, you'll need at least $85,000 salary here for a comparable lifestyle. Of course, this will vary depending on the area in which you choose to settle. If you're going for Auckland or Wellington, I'd recommend 2x and up.

However, if you can come over with £150,000 - £250,000 and buy a house outright, eliminating mortgage payments, that will reduce the financial strain and the salary required for a comparable living standard.

Note that if you're able and willing to make significant economies from your UK standard of living and won't be in a large NZ metropolitan area, you can get by here with less salary than that formula would suggest.

Again, that's just based on my observations from our own experience (we live in inner Auckland), and on my perceptions from the comments of UK people in this forum.

Jo

:cheers

[incredible hulse]

That's interesting, thank you. So what you're saying is that if you earned £30k in the UK you should be looking for a $50-60k job in NZ to ensure a similar lifestyle, roughly speaking? That seems to suggests that the little formula I posted above is kinda actually true?
Hi - I would include pensions and bonuses as well though; so if you were on 40k base in UK + 5k bonus + 5k pension I would say a NZ salary of at least 90K would be needed. I haven't found a kiwi contract yet which provides a pension or any other benefits I was used to in the UK.
Cheers, Steve

[Trigirl]

surely its impossible to say what salary equates to what? by making such a massive move some things are bound to change. will you be commuting as much as before? or more? are you moving from a city to a small town or vice versa with the consequent change in housing costs? are you bring over much equity? if not then higher interest rates will have an effect.

so even with no change in standard of living (and thats a whole new discussion by itslef - what exactly constitutes no change in standard of living?) its impossible to say that $x salary = £y salary.

[jo-and-jeff]

its impossible to say that $x salary = £y salary.
Of course it is. The idea is merely to give people considering the move a starting point for their own financial investigations.

[TFR]

I'd say incredible hulse has it about right: at least 1¾ to 2 times your UK salary in $NZD; if you're earning £50,000 in the UK, you'll need at least $85,000 salary here for a comparable lifestyle. Of course, this will vary depending on the area in which you choose to settle. If you're going for Auckland or Wellington, I'd recommend 2x and up.
Jo


So £50,000 x 2.6 / 1.45 = $89,500

That formula is not too far off then, eh?

[wiki]

So £50,000 x 2.6 / 1.45 = $89,500

That formula is not too far off then, eh?

But isn't the exchange rate a bit closer to 2.75?

that would give

£50,000 x 2.7 /1.45 = 93,000

But, as others have said this is all very dependent on where you live and how you are getting to work. If you have kids, and if so what ages they are.

Housing and transport/car costs can vary a lot, so you need to be as flexible with your other expenses/expectations as you can.

Once you're settled - say after six months - you can always look for better paid work or living location.

[TFR]

But isn't the exchange rate a bit closer to 2.75?

that would give

£50,000 x 2.7 /1.45 = 93,000


It's just a guide! Just to give people an idea! As said above this is all a load of rubbish anyway as it depends on a zillion things but as a rough guide it may help some people?

Bored now - off to eat another mince pie :nice1

[Brijan]

Hi folks
My holiday goes up to 4 weeks from April 2007, as for comparing lifestyles and wages personaly i would think you need to earn $60k-$70k nz to equal GBP30k, that would put your earnings into the top income tax rate in NZ. although as loads have said before there are so many differant factors that can affect things, just keep asking questions and you'll gradually get a fuller picture
Brian and Jan

[Mr TW]

I can see where the confusion arises. Initially we were working on conversion rate so

£25,000 = $70,254

Then we were told that due to the cost of living, it would be more accurate to double the UK salary, thus giving

£25,000 = $50,000

finding equivalent NZ jobs, more often than not turned up salaries of around $44,000 - way short of the 50-70K target we had set ourselves.

Now it seems that using the formula £25,000 x 2.6 /1.45 gives $44,827
or using 1.75 x £25,000 gives $43,750

all of a sudden, if what you are saying is correct, that $44,000 salary +5% pension looks more accceptable.