[HK_or_not?]

My husband is a head teacher with 10 years experience, and has been offered a curriculum coordinator job at an HK school. We are very keen on the job but worried about the package. Can you experienced HK people comment for us?

• The salary is just over HK 55000 a month. They say this higher than other schools in HK, which leads to the following low allowances.
• Rental assistance is just $4000 a month, which seems laughable to us.
• Flight reimbursement covers one-way flights but not return. There is no annual passage back (we had this in a previous international school contract).
• There is no relocation allowance. This is the part that worries us the most. When we relocated from Singapore back to Sydney 4 years ago it cost AUD$5000. I don't know what the cost would be now for Sydney-HK, but expect it would be higher than AUD$5000. This is a lot of money for a young family with 2 kids under 2 (hence, non-working wife) to come up with up front.
• They pay for children's schooling but only at their schools, and our children will be too young to take advantage of this.
• Medical insurance is included.
• 2 weeks in a hotel upon arrival while we look for a flat.

Is it a reasonable alternative to not ship furniture etc and buy that there? We have small children and will need cots etc...it seems a lot of stuff to buy again.

What other expenses should we expect up front in HK? I understand 3 months rent is required upfront as bond + first month rental. What other bonds are needed (electricity etc) and roughly how much should we expect?

We are wondering whether all these expenses and the cost of living will make it hardly worth relocating. The salary is more than he gets here and tax is lower, but if we are up for major $$$ relocating we need to know and make an informed decision about whether to go ahead.

Any advice warmly received!

[PDLM]

I can't comment on the package, but remember that it is the norm here to get a full-time helper (all-in cost ~HK$5-6K/month) which would enable you to get a job if you so desire (if you can get one then you might expect to earn at least $20K and perhaps a lot more depending on what you do).

[HK_or_not?]

Originally Posted by PDLM

I can't comment on the package, but remember that it is the norm here to get a full-time helper (all-in cost ~HK$5-6K/month) which would enable you to get a job if you so desire (if you can get one then you might expect to earn at least $20K and perhaps a lot more depending on what you do).

Thanks, I know that is the norm but my baby will be only 2 months when we move and I will be breastfeeding and don't want to work for the first year. After that I might work part time, but I want to be mostly home and taking primary responsibility for my kids for their early years.

[PC_Man]

Wouldn't be happy with the rent allowance - don't know about other packages but you're not going to get anything for a family (of 4??) at that price.

Don't know enough about teacher contracts otherwise to make much other comments.

[jmme_thompson]

Housing allowance for teachers on the NET scheme is 12,900 mth.

[minhk]

But the salary of a NET with 10 years experience is not $55 000... depending on whether it's a primary NET or a secondary NET it could be between HK$27, 000 - HK$34,000? I know a NET who's teaching at an ESF with a high salary but low housing allowance. It's common practice to provide a higher salary but lower housing allowance. So if you took away the difference in housing allowance of a NET and consider the salary offered at an International school, you are still better off.

FYI:
- We're a family of 3 moved our belongings from Sydney to Hong Kong and it cost us AUD$4500.
- We paid only one month's deposit (like in Oz) for our apartment. And where we live, there is a "teacher's rate".
- If you don't need to go to Montessori for your kid's playgroup, there are other playgroups that do not charge an arm and leg.
-Find out who's the insurance provider as not all insurance packages are as comprehensive as private insurance in Australia.
-As your husband has dependents, there will be virtually any tax, if any, it's A LOT lower than Oz!

[HK_or_not?]

Thanks minhk, that is very helpful info. It is very reassuring to hear the shipping cost, as we were getting really worried about that. $4500ish is not as bad as we feared.

What other upfront costs such as bonds should we expect? For electricity, gas, phone etc?

We have crunched some numbers tonight and are feeling a bit better about the whole thing! This kind of info is really, really valuable, thanks so much everyone.

[sunniefaith]

Originally Posted by HK_or_not?

Thanks minhk, that is very helpful info. It is very reassuring to hear the shipping cost, as we were getting really worried about that. $4500ish is not as bad as we feared.

What other upfront costs such as bonds should we expect? For electricity, gas, phone etc?

We have crunched some numbers tonight and are feeling a bit better about the whole thing! This kind of info is really, really valuable, thanks so much everyone.

If I remember correctly, the bonds for all the utilities, are about HKD2500. Around there. That's water, gas and power.

[HK_or_not?]

Thanks sunniefaith!