the old salery question!

H · I'll Hang Around A Little Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 11

Hi Folks,
sorry if this has been discussed before, but its late and I'm tired and I need to have answers for partner in crime who is becoming increasingly alarmed.
We were (are!) hoping to make the move shortly, currently discussing a job offer which will give a min. salary of around $60,000pa. Until I can get work this will be the sole income for a family of six. Partner just found out that tax = 19% and there is no personal allowance like there is here (UK), so can someone tell me, out of the annual salary offered what is the TOTAL amount of stoppages taken out - exactly how many pennies will we be able to barter with at the end of each month- do you reckon we will have enough? or will I have to sell one or more children to make ends meet!
Also my field is ecology, (ha ha) I have a BSC (hons) degree in the aforsaid subject, but only 12 months work experience, so anyone any ideas what the job market is like out there? how likely am I to find work reasonable quickly, I would like to work in my field (no pun intended) but ain't fussy!
many thanks

kiwi · Valued Member Joined: 02 Apr 2004 Posts: 126

an article in the NZ Herald.

Current personal tax rates

* 19.5c per $1 on income up to $38,000

* 33c per $1 on income between $38,000 and $60,000

* 39c per $1 on income over $60,000

What we earn

Average individual wage earnings:

Full-time earner $39,627

Part-time earner $14,576

Average family gross income (including from benefits):

Couple with children $73,929

Couple with no children $62,390

Sole parent $24,163

Source: Budget 2003

Tax: who pays what

Individual taxable income (including super and other benefits) with the number of earners, and percentage of workforce in brackets

$0 - 170,000 (6%)

$1-$10,000 - 557,000 (19%)

$10-$20,000 - 869,000 (30%)

$20-$30,000 - 360,000 (12%)

$30-$40,000 - 341,000 (12%)

$40-$50,000 - 215,000 (7%)

$50-$60,000 - 130,000 (4%)

$60-$70,000 - 94,000 (3%)

$70-$100,000 - 109,000 (4%)

$100,000+ - 71,000 (2%)

Source: Budget 2003
_________________

to your other questions..about stoppages etc..dont know!!!

Nic

Tanya · Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 6:07 pm Post subject:

H

try this calculator to work out the tax you will pay on your income.
Hope it helps

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/money/calculators/calculator_nzperstax.cfm

Tanya

karltsmith · Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:04 pm Post subject:

On a salary of circa NZ$60K you will bring home approx NZ$3400 per month and salaries are usually paid fortnightly. This includes all stoppages. If you join a super-ann scheme more stoppages will need to be allowed for depending on your contribution.

Selling the kids for scientific experiments isn't a long term option....we looked into it!!! Laughing

There may be more allowances made because of the size of your family you won't find this info on the tax sites though! You need to check out NZ work and income and you will need to be a PR to qualify! Download the pdf file from this link. The assistance packege begins in October 2004 and is fully implemented by 2007!

http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/

I hope this helps......Karl Nice One

P.S. Couldn't find any websites for trading the kids but perhaps you could have them adopted for a few months until you both get jobs Laughing

H · I'll Hang Around A Little Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 11

Hi Again folks!

Just managed to turf kidlets off computer and logged in to find all these responses! - thanks!
I think it's the old story, when something's a dream everything is A - ok once it starts to become reality, doubts start creeping in! We can swing from 'It'll be fine, it'll be ok', to 'Oh Rats, we can't do it!' in the space of about 30 minutes!
Yesterday was a real humdinger! we even found another forum which happily informed us that crime rate in Auckland is as high as in the UK with theft, drugs and murders a plenty - that went down well I can tell you! The lower salary we expected to some extent, but the later was a bit of a shock - we are moving to get away from that!!

Anyway, once again, thanks, no doubt I will be plaguing you all with more questions as things progress!
Cheers - H

OneWayTraffic · Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:08 pm Post subject:

Salarys tend to be lower than overseas. Realtive to the cost of living though; I would say it evens out. One $60,000 a year you will get about $857 a week after tax. If you work say waiting on tables or flipping burgers you could add $100 a week to this part time. I did that regulary at university. If you can find a full time degree related job then I guess you'll make in the range of $30k initially which will add another $500 or so to your budget.

Robert · Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:11 pm Post subject:

$60K is not a lot for 6, especially if any are older.

To put it in context, you would probably just about miss out on a community services card which would allow you cheap prescriptions and doctors visits. These are given out to 'low income families'.

You will also be shocked at how much more expensive it is to live in a new country than it was in your old one.

In rough terms I find the dollar buys overall about what 50p buys in the UK so if you can manage on £30k without running up a debt in England then you should be fine here as long as you are not expecting luxury accommodation!

Timbo · Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject:

Robert. Do you calcs. take into account that a lot of people will have little or no mortgage when they convert ther sterling and relocate?
Tim Confused

OneWayTraffic · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:54 am Post subject:

60k is plenty in Gore or Westport, but doesn't go so far in Auckland or Wellington.

As was said above whether or not you'll have a mortgage is a real biggy. If you can buy a house outright then you could survive on rather little if you are a fan of websites like the dollar stretcher. If you want to pay for private schools and fund 4 uni degrees then you are going to be sucking air.

I would guess that you should figure on spending $25-35 per head for food every week for the basics if you buy bulk on special and don't eat out or buy lunch.

Power would cost maybe $200-$350 per month depending on a lot of things. Towards the higher end in winter or if you don't have any kind of non electric heating. It could cost more in a Southern winter.

Figure about $100 a month for the phone and more if you actually want to make calls or use the internet.

So much depends on you. Yes you can survive on $60k. Some survive on $30k they just make different lifestyle choices. My brother lives in Auckland with 3 children under 5 and he is able to support them on a $30k plus accommodation package and save several thousand a year to invest. Of course he likes to pinch his pennies.

Timbo · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:14 am Post subject:

I am trying to get in on the Long term business visa scheme, which is basically a work to res. As well as showing investment funds available, we also have to show that we have a "living fund" for the first 3 years. My agent has advised that in the region of $90,000 for my wife and I should do the trick.
Like you say, it really is down to personal lifestyle choices at the end of the day.
We dont have anything like £30k to play with in the u.k but still have a decent life.

Robert · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:50 pm Post subject:

I agree with the comments and should say my impression was based on assuming that there would be little mortgage involved and on a gross income of £30K.

I suggest that you consider your current accommodation costs as a percentage of your current income and then work out how much you can afford in NZ based on the same percentage of your NZ salary.

In my case, living in a large 3 bed semi house in Bolton, I was spending about 5% of my gross income on a mortgage. Here I could not reasonably find equivalent accommodation to rent for less than 15% and have ended up paying almost 25% to find something that is still less than ideal.

As I said, if your choices in the UK allow you to cope on 30K then you will be OK in NZ. If not, you may find it a struggle.

A few more relatively random musings follow - please feel free to ignore them!

Some things, such as accommodation and good quality food and fuel are cheaper but others such as clothing and white goods must be paid for at world price and the 'pacific peso' does not stretch so far then.

Sure, you can buy a house here in Christchurch outright for the equivalent of £80 000 in an ok area and if OK is fine then enjoy. If you wish however to live somewhere better, prices are of course higher and with interest rates 2% above the UK and rising, there is no such thing as a small mortgage!
Bear in mind that the housing stock quality (worst in Auckland on a recent survey) is generally not up to UK standards. Just as in the UK, there is usually a good reason if a house is cheap and it is not often to the benefit of the buyer.

Caveat emptor!

Timbo · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:10 pm Post subject:

Thanks Robert. I guess when it comes to living anywhere in the world, common sense plays a major part in all decisions.
From our point of view, we simply want a more relaxed and cleaner environment to live in. It is so crowded and dirty here in south east England now, certainly by comparison to say 10 years ago. It can only get worse as more and more people try to squeeze into less and less space.
Cant wait to get out there!!

John Miller · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject:

Power costs in detail here.

http://www.emigratenz.org/community/viewtopic.php?t=191

My experience is that, provided you can buy a house here with money brought from overseas a family of 4 can live carefully but certainly not poorly on $35k pa. Just depends on how many 'materialistic' purchases you need to make to feel that life is worth living. I find that blue skies, warm weather, beaches and the great outdoors don't cost much.

Timbo · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 8:20 pm Post subject:

OK OK dont rub it in John, we KNOW how good it is out there.

Robert · Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:25 pm Post subject:

Sorry Timbo - just want to be encouraging!

If that sort of thing is your sort of thing there is an endless supply here. Almost all our family outings are free after paying for fuel as the kids like the beach and woods. Seeing a kea trying to eat our car was the best thing ever (for them....)

How old are your kids? ours range from 9 down and all are very happy here.