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.
Comments are wild. $220k is a sizable salary in the US, entry level working professionals usually start pushing 80k nationally, ~$140k in larger cities like NY and San fran. Realistically you need to ask some questions:
Are you paying double income tax? It’s safe to assume 25-40% of your income will be going towards taxes for EACH government if you retain citizenship.
Do you need to live in New York for your visa? You mentioned new jersey, but Connecticut ect, also has reasonable public transportation to the city.
Are you expecting major expenses like a car, medical, credit card bills or student loans? Are you paying relocation fees? US typically requires first and last month payment. And new york real estate is brutal. Do you have a nest egg if something falls through? Do you need to pay for a lawyer to process your travel visas?
That is not how international taxes work. If he doesn’t maintain two addresses and treat the UK one as his “domicile”, he will only owe taxes in the US. There are also bilateral treaties that cover this and, for example, retirement accounts.
What is a travel visa? Presumably OP has a UK passport and would have a US work visa, which is attached to an employer. He also doesn’t need any visa to enter with a UK passport-- just needs to fill out the ESTA application.
Do you mean a work visa? Generally companies that pay you a quarter million dollars per year will cover the $10k of relocation fees and the filing fee is trivial compared to the mood. However, OP, any relocation cash you get from the company is considered taxable income (thanks, Trump). He also doesn’t need a lawyer unless something goes terribly wrong.
Either way, I would definitely get a tax accountant, OP. In general, the US system is incredibly complicated and the accountant will almost certainly know of deductions that I do not know of and more than pay for his or her fee.
This commenter has no idea what they’re talking about, OP-- literally everything statement they made was false.
And the answer to this commenter’s question about needing to live in NY is a solid “no”, but I suspect someone who makes $220k doesn’t want to spend 3 hours commuting every day when they could very easily afford to live wherever the fuck they want.