The Secret to Moving

The biggest secret I have found to moving is to stay calm, my stomach always used to churn every time my husband would say: “Let’s look at moving to London, Perth, Colorado….” I would have this rush in the pit of my stomach and wonder how we were going to cope with the challenge.

 

Now, I take it one step at a time. What do we do first, what do we need to know before we make the decision, how does the family feel about a new culture, different schools, a new home and most importantly new friends.

 

So, where do we start? Usually with the most important questions, why are we moving and do we really want to change from our comfort zone, once you have been able to answer these questions and you have more positives about leaving than staying (and the answer to this could be as simple as being offered a job in a new country), then you need to start researching the place you are moving to.

 

Questions start surfacing such as will we fit in and be happy in a new country, what is the education like, medical facilities, culture, politics, housing, work conditions, transport and entertainment? How many expats like ourselves will be living there, will our life be normal or will we have to adjust too extremely, and are we happy to do this?

 

This is where I start searching the internet, www.wikipedia.com is a great site to get an overall overview on any country in the world and it will cover all the basic factual information for you, including geographical location, population, historical background, religion, culture, education, economic situation and political info.

 

On getting a basic understanding of a country, I would then start looking at government sites and gathering information about the ease of moving to this country. What is required from a governmental legal perspective, including visa’s, whether a spouse can work on entry, how long a spouse needs to wait before starting to work, what legal rights do you have in the country, can you take your pets with and how does this work, what furniture can you take with (some countries do not allow wooden furniture into a country if it has not been treated) these government sites will cover any and all questions of this nature for you.

 

Finally and probably more importantly are the forums and blogs you can find, where expats can inform you of what to expect and you can ask any question and expect an honest answer. These sites can come across with mixed emotions from people who are enjoying the move and loving the country to those who hate every minute of their stay. The relevant question to ask here is why….why are they enjoying or hating it and then make your own decision?

 

The above would be the questions that I would want answered, as the spouse that stays at home and cares for the children, however bread winner wants a different question answered. They want to know what they should be earning in the new country and this is where xpatulator.com can be relevant to you. Xpatulator gives you the answers you are looking for dependant on the questions you answer in the Cost of Living Calculator. It will determine what your salary in the new country should be to maintain your standard of living, and at the end of the day as the spouse that stays at home you need to know these answers as well.

 

Why, you may ask? Because $200 000 may sound like a fabulous salary, however if your cost of living in the country you are moving too is extremely high, it may not cover your costs on a monthly basis. With the calculator, you can determine whether or not you will be able to afford to live in the new country. The calculator will work out the salary you should be earning if you have to cover all costs, or if your company will cover some of those costs for you. They also cover the Negative Cost of Living and Negative Hardship. What are these you ask with horror? Negative Cost of Living refers to a location that has a lower cost of living than the country you are living in and selecting to use this will result in a proportional decrease in the salary required e.g. if you had to move from London to Zimbabwe you will find the cost of living will be lower (negative difference). Negative Hardship refers to less hardship in the new location e.g. if you had to move from Zimbabwe to London you will find that your quality of living will be easier (negative difference).

 

So before you disregard the importance of what you need to earn when moving to a new country, take all aspects into account. At the end of the day what you will earn, will determine the school, home, medical facilities and entertainment you will be able to afford. So the secret to moving from one country to another, may be your emotional stability and happiness in the new location, however this is often determined by how much money is sitting in your bank account.

Restaurants Meals Out and Hotel International Cost of Living Ranking 2010

This report provides you with the rank of Restaurants, Meals Out and Hotels cost of living indexes as at September 2010 for each of our 300 global locations. The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups). Our calculators make use of the cost of living indexes, based on your input and Xpatulator's data, to create reports online which you can save, e-mail or convert to a pdf file.

 

Restaurants, Meals Out and Hotel costs include business dinner, dinner at a restaurant (non fast food), hotel rates, take away drinks and snacks (fast food).

 

The September 2010 restaurants, meals out and hotel international cost of living top 100 rank is as follows:

 

September 2010 Rank Country, City

1 Venezuela, Caracas
2 United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
3 Greece, Athens
4 Qatar, Doha
5 Belgium, Brussels
6 USA, San Jose Calif
7 Norway, Oslo
8 Slovenia, Ljubljana
9 Brazil, Sao Paulo
10 Korea Republic of, Seoul
11 Iran, Tehran
12 United Arab Emirates, Dubai
13 Bahrain, Manama
14 USA, Anchorage AK
15 Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
16 Bhutan, Thimphu
17 Japan, Tokyo
18 Cyprus, Nicosia
19 France, Paris
20 Brazil, Brasilia
21 Israel, Jerusalem
22 United Kingdom, London
23 Switzerland, Geneva
24 Canada, Toronto
25 Switzerland, Zurich
26 Australia, Sydney
27 Oman, Muscat
28 Finland, Helsinki
29 Canada, Vancouver
30 Russia, Moscow
31 Angola, Luanda
32 Guernsey, St Peter Port
33 Denmark, Copenhagen
34 Monaco, Monaco
35 Azerbaijan, Baku
36 Canada, Calgary
37 Kazakhstan, Almaty
38 Maldives, Male
39 Singapore, Singapore
40 Equatorial Guinea, Malabo
41 United Kingdom, Glasgow
42 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
43 Iraq, Baghdad
44 Liechtenstein, Vaduz
45 Isle of Man, Douglas
46 Australia, Canberra
47 USA, Philadelphia Pa
48 Canada, Montreal
49 USA, New York NY
50 Spain, Madrid
51 Australia, Perth
52 Australia, Melbourne
53 Egypt, Cairo
54 United Kingdom, Birmingham
55 Senegal, Dakar
56 United Kingdom, Leeds
57 Austria, Vienna
58 Lebanon, Beirut
59 Iceland, Reykjavik
60 Italy, Milan
61 USA, Seattle Wash
62 Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain
63 USA, Cleveland Ohio
64 Jersey, Saint Helier
65 Sweden, Stockholm
66 United Kingdom, Belfast
67 Spain, Barcelona
68 France, Lyon
69 Gabon, Libreville
70 Vanuatu, Port Vila
71 Canada, Ottawa
72 Solomon Islands, Honiara
73 Falkland Islands, Stanley
74 Italy, Rome
75 Estonia, Tallinn
76 Australia, Brisbane
77 San Marino, San Marino
78 Ireland, Dublin
79 Russia, St. Petersburg
80 Palestinian Territories, West Bank
81 Congo, Brazzaville
82 Sudan, Khartoum
83 USA, Indianapolis Ind
84 Peru, Lima
85 Netherlands, Amsterdam
86 Turkey, Istanbul
87 USA, San Francisco Calif
88 Malawi, Lilongwe
89 Sao Tome and Principe, Sao Tome
90 France, Marseille
91 Japan, Osaka
92 Ukraine, Kiev
93 Slovakia, Bratislava
94 Libya, Tripoli
95 Andorra, Andorra la Vella
96 New Zealand, Auckland
97 Mauritania, Nouakchott
98 Vatican City, Vatican City
99 Samoa, Apia
100 Czech Republic, Prague

Recreation and Culture International Cost of Living Ranking 2010

This report provides you with the rank of Recreation and Culture cost of living indexes as at September 2010 for each of our 300 global locations. The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups). Our calculators make use of the cost of living indexes, based on your input and Xpatulator's data, to create reports online which you can save, e-mail or convert to a pdf file.

 

Recreation and Culture costs include books, camera film, cinema ticket, DVD and CDs, sports goods, and theatre tickets.

 

The September 2010 recreation and culture international cost of living top 100 rank is as follows:

 

September 2010 Rank Country, City

1 Venezuela, Caracas
2 Vanuatu, Port Vila
3 Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
4 Switzerland, Geneva
5 Switzerland, Zurich
6 Central African Republic, Bangui
7 Benin, Cotonou
8 Gabon, Libreville
9 Tajikistan, Dushanbe
10 Chad, NDjamena
11 Congo, Brazzaville
12 Qatar, Doha
13 Norway, Oslo
14 Guinea-Bissau, Bissau
15 Nigeria, Lagos
16 Niger, Niamey
17 Liechtenstein, Vaduz
18 Micronesia, Palikir
19 Djibouti, Djibouti
20 Canada, Toronto
21 Australia, Sydney
22 Malawi, Lilongwe
23 Australia, Canberra
24 Kuwait, Kuwait City
25 Canada, Vancouver
26 Senegal, Dakar
27 South Africa, Johannesburg
28 Canada, Calgary
29 Nauru, Yaren
30 Uruguay, Montevideo
31 Bahamas, Nassau
32 Namibia, Windhoek
33 Canada, Montreal
34 Australia, Melbourne
35 Turkey, Istanbul
36 Australia, Perth
37 Burundi, Bujumbura
38 Colombia, Bogota
39 Brazil, Sao Paulo
40 Latvia, Riga
41 Belgium, Brussels
42 Samoa, Apia
43 South Africa, Cape Town
44 South Africa, Pretoria
45 Jamaica, Kingston
46 Estonia, Tallinn
47 Cameroon, Douala
48 Togo, Lome
49 Cameroon, Yaounde
50 Japan, Tokyo
51 Zambia, Lusaka
52 New Caledonia, Noumea
53 Monaco, Monaco
54 Ghana, Accra
55 Finland, Helsinki
56 Malta, Velletta
57 Mauritania, Nouakchott
58 Cayman Islands, George Town
59 South Africa, Durban
60 Mexico, Mexico City
61 Slovakia, Bratislava
62 Barbados, Bridgetown
63 Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
64 France, Paris
65 Canada, Ottawa
66 Mali, Bamako
67 Turkey, Ankara
68 Bermuda, Hamilton
69 Austria, Vienna
70 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kingstown
71 Azerbaijan, Baku
72 Australia, Brisbane
73 Chile, Santiago
74 Dominica, Roseau
75 United Arab Emirates, Dubai
76 Kiribati, South Tarawa
77 Brazil, Brasilia
78 Rwanda, Kigali
79 Saint Lucia, Castries
80 Cote DIvoire, Abidjan
81 Guam, Hagatna
82 Australia, Adelaide
83 Spain, Madrid
84 Russia, Moscow
85 United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
86 Lesotho, Maseru
87 USA, Los Angeles Calif
88 Portugal, Lisbon
89 USA, San Francisco Calif
90 Egypt, Cairo
91 Tuvalu, Funafuti
92 Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou
93 Bahrain, Manama
94 Cape Verde, Praia
95 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
96 Spain, Barcelona
97 Haiti, Port-au-Prince
98 Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain
99 Saint Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre
100 Singapore, Singapore

Expatriate Pay Philosophy

Organisations spend insufficient time creating a well designed expatriate remuneration strategy and policy. This is dangerous given that the highest employee turnover is at the beginning and end of international assignments, indicating a lack of integration of expatriate pay philosophy with the broader organisational pay philosophy.

 

The remuneration of expatriates often tends to be a rushed last minute decision due to urgent operational requirements. The resulting implications often only arise after the expatriate arrives in the host country, and when the assignment comes to an end. For example, the post assignment position back in the home country pays less than the expatriate earned on assignment.

 

Inconsistent treatment of expatriates quickly leads to unhappy expatriates. Once an organisation has more than 1 or 2 expatriates in the field it becomes vital to have a defendable expatriate pay philosophy in place. This philosophy should clearly convey the organisation's remuneration principles regarding expatriate assignments. An expatriate assignment pay philosophy is intended to provide guidance in the consistent and equitable treatment of all expatriates and forms the basis of the organisation's expatriate pay policy.

 

Most large global organisations have over time established a clear policy for remunerating expatriates. This is often a legacy policy, where past practice has become policy. However expatriate pay is a complex area of remuneration with complex issues such as volatile exchange rates, weak and strong currencies, constantly changing differences in cost of living between countries, different tax regimes, as well as the reality that there are attractive and not so attractive countries to work and live in. This is an area where a clear philosophy and an aligned practical policy are required to ensure attraction, fairness, equity, motivation and retention.

 

Firstly let's deal with what makes an employee an expatriate. In my view an expatriate is a person working in a foreign country, where they are not permanently resident, on an assignment of typically not more than 3-5 years but is a citizen from another country. There are as many different expatriate pay practices as there are organisations employing expatriates. However we can identify at least four broad approaches to expatriate pay that has emerged as the dominant philosophies underlying expatriate pay.

 

Salary Build-Up (SBU)

The Salary Build-Up approach uses the current market related home salary as the base for calculating the expatriate package. Home in this case is the country where the employee permanently resides or is a citizen. The purpose of the build-up approach is to maintain internal equity between countries and to equalise the impact of differences between country tax rates. This ensures that expatriates neither lose nor gain as a result of tax treatment in the host country.

 

The Salary Build-Up approach typically involves deducting hypothetical tax in the home country, and builds on top of the home salary with an international premium (to compensate for hardship experienced), cost living index and the exchange rate to calculate a total net (i.e. after tax) assignment package.

 

The net assignment package is then "grossed up" in the host country for local tax and other statutory and non-statutory deductions to ensure the net pay assignment package is paid to the expatriate.

 

Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP)

The Salary Purchasing Power Parity approach uses the principle of putting all expatriates within the organisation on an equal footing regardless of nationality and geographical location. The purpose of the SPPP approach is to ensure parity in the level of the purchasing power of the salary of expatriates doing the same job at the same level in different parts of the world, taking hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differences into account.

 

This approach is typically used by global organisations that have a large number of expatriates, who move from one international assignment to another and compete globally for skills. Organisations using the SPPP approach typically establish a single global pay scale which is often by default that of the global headquarters country. The expatriate's salary is calculated by adding calculated additional amounts for the hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differential between the global headquarters (home) and the host country.

 

The assignment package is then taxed in the host country and other statutory and non-statutory deductions made to arrive at the net pay assignment package paid to the expatriate.

 

Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)

The Cost of Living Allowance approach uses the principle of retaining the expatriate's home salary and paying an additional separate allowance, primarily for cost of living, but also for hardship based on the differences between the home location and the host location. The purpose of the COLA is to ensure parity in the level of the purchasing power of expatriates doing the same job at the same level in different parts of the world, taking hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differences into account by paying a cost of allowance to compensate for the differences. At the end of the assignment the COLA falls away.

 

This approach is typically used by global international organisations that have a large number of expatriates, who move from one international assignment to another and compete globally for skills. Organisations using the COLA approach typically have country level pay scales. The expatriate's COLA is calculated by adding calculated additional amounts for the hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differential between the home country and the host country.

 

The assignment package is then taxed in the host country and other statutory and non-statutory deductions made to arrive at the net pay assignment package paid to the expatriate.

 

Local Market (LM)

The Local Market approach uses the principle of applying the local (i.e. host country) expatriate market pay rates. In many organisations the policy is to use the better of the Build-Up or the Local Market approaches, to ensure that the assignment package is equitable and competitive in the host market.

 

Due to the need for market data, the Local Market approach is typically only used where a strong local and / or expatriate market exists in the host country, and reliable salary surveys exist that accurately report the level of market salary for different positions. For example, take an organisation sending an expatriate from an economically poor, relatively low salary market country, to a city such as New York. It is likely that having used the home base salary as the basis of the calculation, that the resulting total assignment package will be significantly lower than the New York Salary Market. This would occur even after adding an international premium (to compensate for hardship experienced), and a cost living amount (to compensate for the higher cost of living in New York) as well as applying the exchange rate. The reason is that the market level of home base salary in an economically poor country is so much lower than the equivalent market salary in New York.

 

The Local Market approach is typically used in high economic growth and high cost of living countries where demand for skills is high and there are a large number of expatriates comprising many nationalities such as the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong or Singapore.

 

In conclusion it is important to ask questions about your current expatriate pay philosophy. Does your current expatriate pay philosophy drive the desired behaviour? Is the current policy and practice aligned to organisational objectives? Does the current policy work for or against the organisation achieving its global objectives?

 

We recommend a regular review of organisational expatriate pay philosophy in light of what the organisation seeks to achieve and where it operates geographically, whilst ensuring integration with the other pay related strategies of the organisation.

Personal Care International Cost of Living Ranking 2010

This report provides you with the rank of Personal Care cost of living indexes as at September 2010 for each of our 300 global locations. The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups). Our calculators make use of the cost of living indexes, based on your input and Xpatulator's data, to create reports online which you can save, e-mail or convert to a pdf file.

 

Personal Care costs include personal care products and services such as cosmetics, hair care, moisturizer / sun block, nappies, pain relief tablets, toilet paper, toothpaste, and soap / shampoo / conditioner.

 

The September 2010 personal care international cost of living top 100 rank is as follows:

 

September 2010 Rank Country, City

1 Kiribati, South Tarawa
2 Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek
3 Iran, Tehran
4 Algeria, Algiers
5 Turkmenistan, Ashgabat
6 Brazil, Sao Paulo
7 Slovakia, Bratislava
8 Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
9 Brazil, Brasilia
10 Australia, Sydney
11 Gambia, Banjul
12 Burundi, Bujumbura
13 USA, San Francisco Calif
14 Australia, Canberra
15 Rwanda, Kigali
16 Sudan, Khartoum
17 Australia, Melbourne
18 Russia, Moscow
19 Chad, NDjamena
20 Myanmar, Yangon
21 Congo, Brazzaville
22 USA, San Antonio Tex
23 Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou
24 USA, Philadelphia Pa
25 USA, Los Angeles Calif
26 Australia, Perth
27 Venezuela, Caracas
28 Angola, Luanda
29 Bahamas, Nassau
30 Ghana, Accra
31 USA, New York NY
32 Samoa, Apia
33 Bermuda, Hamilton
34 Australia, Brisbane
35 Solomon Islands, Honiara
36 New Zealand, Auckland
37 USA, Washington DC
38 China, Macao
39 Cote DIvoire, Abidjan
40 Nigeria, Lagos
41 Kazakhstan, Almaty
42 Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
43 Australia, Adelaide
44 Mauritius, Port Louis
45 Japan, Tokyo
46 Germany, Munich
47 Russia, St. Petersburg
48 United Kingdom, London
49 Congo Democratic Rep, Kinshasa
50 Germany, Frankfurt
51 Liechtenstein, Vaduz
52 Ireland, Dublin
53 USA, Miami Fla
54 Libya, Tripoli
55 Germany, Cologne
56 Germany, Berlin
57 USA, Atlanta GA
58 Switzerland, Geneva
59 Germany, Bonn
60 Austria, Vienna
61 Jersey, Saint Helier
62 Germany, Hamburg
63 Switzerland, Zurich
64 Isle of Man, Douglas
65 Italy, Milan
66 Sao Tome and Principe, Sao Tome
67 USA, Detroit Mich
68 Micronesia, Palikir
69 USA, Baltimore Md
70 Cayman Islands, George Town
71 USA, Jacksonville Fla
72 United Kingdom, Glasgow
73 Italy, Rome
74 USA, Phoenix Ariz
75 Croatia, Zagreb
76 Afghanistan, Kabul
77 Israel, Jerusalem
78 Cape Verde, Praia
79 United Kingdom, Birmingham
80 Indonesia, Jakarta
81 United Kingdom, Leeds
82 Zambia, Lusaka
83 USA, Portland Ore
84 Guernsey, St Peter Port
85 Iraq, Baghdad
86 Falkland Islands, Stanley
87 Uruguay, Montevideo
88 United Kingdom, Belfast
89 USA, Seattle Wash
90 USA, Fort Worth Tex
91 Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
92 Liberia, Monrovia
93 San Marino, San Marino
94 Djibouti, Djibouti
95 Niger, Niamey
96 USA, Anchorage AK
97 Somalia, Mogadishu
98 Laos, Vientiane
99 Vatican City, Vatican City
100 Namibia, Windhoek