I’ve been offered a transfer from London to NYC, and have been offered a salary of $220k. My wife is going to take a year out of work to care for our infant daughter, so this money will be our full income as a family.
The American system confuses me hugely. Following most calculators, it sounds like we will have roughly $11k a month. If we assume $4k a month on rent somewhere roughly 45-60 mins from Broadway, is $6-7k enough for a family to live on, including stuff like healthcare for the entire family through work?
This might be a silly question, but will we have a comfortable/good time in NYC or NJ on this salary? Will my wife be able to afford to take my daughter out for stuff like swimming lessons and baby classes, and will we have enough to afford stuff like flights home to see family in the UK? I’ve spoke to a few people at work, and we’ve had ranges from “wtf half a mil is lots!” to “wtf you’ll be limited to NJ and won’t be able to take vacations”, so it would be good to get more perspectives.
The single biggest expense is going to be housing so if you’re smart with your choices and find something that both accommodates your family and your generous income, you should be fine. As with anything in life, you just have to manage the money and understand where to spend and we’re not to spend. Great thing about a place like New York City is that there a lot of things you can do for free with the little ones.
Totally get that, and from our side that’s at least somewhat clear - if somewhere costs $4k to rent we’ll be paying $4k a month with deposit, bills, etc (assume $5k). Where we’re a little lost is where the “hidden costs” might be. Will health insurance for three people be prohibitively expensive? How much should we budget for my wife and daughter to enjoy their time in NY?
Regarding health insurance, this will likely come from your employer and costs vary wildly. Ask to see the Healthcare plan costs (which you’ll pay per month just to have the insurance) and explanation of benefits. Most Healthcare plans have a deductible, and you’ll need to pay that entire amount out of pocket before the insurance pays anything. Then you’ll have a copay or coinsurance until you reach your maximum out of pocket. As a best practice, always assume that you’ll reach your maximum out of pocket amount each year when budgeting.
Health insurance largely goes through your employer, although you can self fund it. Be prepared for the Affordable Care Act to be eliminated sometime next year though and who knows what will happen then?
The affordable care act will absolutely not apply to a family with $220k of income.
No, but when it goes away, it’s going to turn the entire health care industry upside down.
By making it more expensive for people with pre existing conditions and people with chronic diseases. A healthy family would probably have their costs decrease comparatively since the risk pool wouldn’t include these high risk groups.
I’m not saying this a good thing. It’s just not a problem OP will have.