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21-06-2007, 10:00 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 7
| |  Decent salary for a single bachelor?
What would you say is a decent salary for a single bachelor (or minimum) to have a decent life?
What sort of taxes would I be paying?
As an example figure, let’s use HKD50K per month as an example. What would the take home be on that? I know that would not provide an extravagant life style, but just trying to get an idea of a basis to use for negotiations.
Thanks. | |
21-06-2007, 10:13 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 6,384
| | | You'd be taking home 50K, but you'd have to save up for your tax bill which would be about $5-6K per month; MPF another 1K. So let's say $42K left. You can get a small but comfortable and centrally located place for say $12K. That leaves you $30K for beer, food, clothes, travel, etc.
The average income in HK is about $10K, and the average household in HK of about 4 people has income of $20K.
So you should do OK. | |
21-06-2007, 10:26 AM
|  | Resident Peacekeeper | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Pokfulam Age: 40
Posts: 10,757
| | | Single bachelor doing WHAT? Waiting on tables in a dai pai dong or say for example the head trader for a top notch US bank?
Don't plan your salary around your lifestyle .. plan it around your skillset and then see if you can afford to live in HK on that salary. | |
21-06-2007, 10:44 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Hong Kong, from UK Age: 32
Posts: 490
| | | The short answer is that yes, you can have a very decent life in HK as a bachelor for $50k per month.
As PDLM says, you'll be looking at about $6k a month for tax, and $1k for MPF (pension), so about $43k takehome. I'd be looking for something more than $12k for rent - maybe $15k to $17k, leaving you with over $25k a month for food/travel/luxuries. $25k a month isn't going to give you an absolute life of decadence, but as long as you're not going to the best restaurants in town every night of the week, you should be able to live a pretty nice life without worrying about money at all. Again, as PDLM says, that $50k would put you into a very small top percentile of wage-earners in HK as a whole, although it's not an outstanding salary for a high-flying expat.
To put it another way - it's a much much higher salary than the vast majority of the population of HK lives on, but you wouldn't be expecting to live the way the vast majority of the population lives. | |
21-06-2007, 11:05 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Sham Tseng
Posts: 952
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by KnowItAll  Don't plan your salary around your lifestyle .. plan it around your skillset and then see if you can afford to live in HK on that salary. | KIA - Golden Advice!  | |
21-06-2007, 07:21 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA/Discovery Bay Age: 22
Posts: 41
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by PDLM You'd be taking home 50K, but you'd have to save up for your tax bill which would be about $5-6K per month; MPF another 1K. So let's say $42K left. You can get a small but comfortable and centrally located place for say $12K. That leaves you $30K for beer, food, clothes, travel, etc.
The average income in HK is about $10K, and the average household in HK of about 4 people has income of $20K.
So you should do OK. | How can 20k per month be sufficient enough to provide for a family of four? That does not seem right.. nor does it make for a comfortable living situation I assume?
Cost of living in HK really isn't that high.. i think the worst problem is finding a job that will pay you your worth, IF you really are worth it. | |
22-06-2007, 12:41 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 6,384
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by ticket2ride How can 20k per month be sufficient enough to provide for a family of four? That does not seem right.. nor does it make for a comfortable living situation I assume? | I guess you'd need to ask some locals. But it is what the average household has as its income in Hong Kong. | |
22-06-2007, 12:51 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: currently in Hong Kong, native place - India Age: 26
Posts: 497
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by KnowItAll Single bachelor doing WHAT? Waiting on tables in a dai pai dong or say for example the head trader for a top notch US bank?
Don't plan your salary around your lifestyle .. plan it around your skillset and then see if you can afford to live in HK on that salary. | agree with knowitall. bcoz decent salary for a bachelor CEO will be different from a bachelor accountant..  | |
22-06-2007, 10:33 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Yuen Long
Posts: 978
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by PDLM I guess you'd need to ask some locals. But it is what the average household has as its income in Hong Kong. | A) Public Housing
B) Cook/Eat at home (Shop at Wellcome/Park and Shop for few things, more things at wet market)
C) Don't use AC
D) Don't travel as much around the country. Stay in their districts except for some special days.
E) Don't go to LKF all the time.
Living like that a family of 5-6 can live for maybe $10,000 or a little more a month. | |
22-06-2007, 11:14 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: currently in Hong Kong, native place - India Age: 26
Posts: 497
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by HKChigger Living like that a family of 5-6 can live for maybe $10,000 or a little more a month. |  10,000 for 5-6 people. i think they can barely manage accomodation and home-cooked food in this. nothing else for sure. | | Tools | Search | | | | | Rate This Thread | | | All times are GMT +8. The time now is 03:18 PM. | |
