Author Topic: Should we move?  (Read 5555 times)

Mrs. S

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Should we move?
« on: May 08, 2016, 12:26:43 PM »
Hey,
My husband was offered a job in another country where we would be saving 70% of our current savings on one person's salary. I do plan on working and even a entry level salary would get us at par with current scenario. If we do get equal pays (we do thee same work and have same amount of experience) it would probably pull back our FIRE from 10 years to 5 years. I have been dabbling with the idea of starting my own venture for sometime and hope to get it on in case i can't find a job I like.
We work for the same company here and they would be loosing 2 people around the same time and have been trying to get us to stay though the raised offered is not what we would have taken up instantly.
We are almost decided on moving but the doubts are still there. Any suggestions? Any more info needed to help you suggest better?

Rezdent

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2016, 01:41:46 PM »
How comfortable are you with the other country?  Will you have language or cultural barriers?
How much does family matter now, are you already far away from family or will you suddenly find yourself missing them too much?
Do you have children?  If so, what age?  Young children will have an easier time than older ones.

Dee18

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2016, 02:24:33 PM »
For me it would totally depend on whether I wanted to live in that country.

ender

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2016, 02:51:39 PM »
I would not make a decision like this based purely on a nominal salary increase.

Secretly Saving

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2016, 04:38:08 PM »
Have you ever been an expat before?
Do you and your spouse have a high tolerance for change?  And go with the flow personalities?
What country?  Have you ever been there?
Are you an independent couple in general?
Are you comfortable living somewhere where you might not speak the language?
Do you have family responsibilities in your current country that would require you to come back regularly or cause you stress?

I LOVE the expat lifestyle and enjoy change, so I would say go for it as long as all of the personal pieces and financial pieces line up. But there really is more to consider beyond just the pay!

lbmustache

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2016, 08:42:18 PM »
Sorry, but this is a really vague post ... how much help are you seeking? We can't tell if it's a good idea when we have no idea where you live nor where you are possibly going to.

U.S. moving to Canada? Sounds great, no hesitation. Canada moving to U.K.? Sounds great, no hesitation. U.S. moving to Rwanda? Hmm. Canada moving to Venezuela? Hmm.

forummm

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2016, 07:19:39 AM »
Country matters. And would you maybe have kids in that country? Or would shortening from 10 to 5 years let you FIRE before having kids?

Tanor85

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2016, 08:04:43 AM »
Do it.
YOLO.

Mrs. S

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2016, 12:48:02 AM »
Thanks, for all the questions and advice.
We are from India and enjoy a pretty privileged lifestyle of which travel is a big part. We enjoy new places and culture and are pretty open to new experiences. We are both Architects and have been working in a particular niche which requires us to move every few years. In fact we just moved to a new city few months back.
Country matters. And would you maybe have kids in that country? Or would shortening from 10 to 5 years let you FIRE before having kids?
The country in question is Qatar and we are quite skeptical, if it was a country where freedom was equal to what we have in India we would have had different questions. We plan on having kids in next 2 years which will be a strain on our FIRE time but we ave accounted for it in our calculations.
Right now we are negotiating with our company here. If our negotiations go through we will have better numbers here compared to one person's salary in Doha.
I would not make a decision like this based purely on a nominal salary increase.
This is one of our concerns. Though it looks like I will have no problem getting a job but it is not a given. I am in talks with a few prospective employers and if that comes through then one of us can actually not have a job when we come back in 2 years and comfortably raise a child.

Right now we are really confused and each of us comes up with a contradictory argument every few hours; so any help is appreciated.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2016, 05:20:49 AM »
I would be concerned at how you would be treated in Qatar, as my understanding is that the Gulf states hire lots of South Asians to do menial tasks and don't treat them well. I would talk to other people from India who have worked there as professionals like you and get an idea if they experienced discrimination.

BigBangWeary

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2016, 05:50:45 AM »
Having lived and worked in the GCC, I would second the importance of talking to professionals of Indian heritage living and working here. Unfortunately, there is a level of racism that permeates the region, especially towards 'subcontinent nationals', however, a lot of it is oriented to workers as opposed to working professionals.

Qatar is more conservative than the UAE and Bahrain, but these countries can be quite siloed for expats and you might find that you slot in nicely with a group of like-minded (economically and culturally speaking) people and have a wonderful time.

For us, the ability to save and travel always made some of the less-than-ideal aspects of living in the region much easier to tolerate. Spending 5 years and saving hard could truly change one's life. You need to look at the trade-offs though.

If I was of Indian heritage I would love to work in Oman (Muscat in particular). Beautiful country with a lot better attitude towards non-Arabs/Non-Europeans. Too bad the pay is so low ..

Mrs. S

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2016, 10:26:51 PM »
I would be concerned at how you would be treated in Qatar, as my understanding is that the Gulf states hire lots of South Asians to do menial tasks and don't treat them well. I would talk to other people from India who have worked there as professionals like you and get an idea if they experienced discrimination.

That has been one of our worries and talking to a few Indians in the country it seems that it should not be much of a problem. We are still skeptical though.

For us, the ability to save and travel always made some of the less-than-ideal aspects of living in the region much easier to tolerate. Spending 5 years and saving hard could truly change one's life. You need to look at the trade-offs though.

This is something that is the biggest attraction for both of us chance to save better and our first real experience as an expat. Travelling to GCC without earning big bucks is difficult from what I have found. they don't seem too keen on having few backpackers roam around.

Mrs. S

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2016, 01:54:30 AM »
Just got a mail from HR and they are ready to dish out 22% hike for both of us. though it does not achieve what we wanted exactly but it really gives a head start to our savings and ER.
This of course would be a negligible sum if i land the interview I gave on Sunday. The job offers a much better pay than what DH has and the total we earn here is less than half of what we can save there. If you consider taxes it would be a sorry sum.
We are currently really confused about what to do. It doesn't sit well to accept our company's offer and then put in papers a few days later. On the other hand we know the company like any other wouldn't care going back on their words if it was other way round.

DeltaBond

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2016, 10:02:01 AM »
My vote is no - Qatar is not worth it.

Mrs. S

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Re: Should we move?
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2016, 03:03:57 AM »
We decided to not move and the sweet raise form our current company would help us pull our retirement date earlier by at least a year or two. We are still looking for better opportunities and hope to land a great job at a place we don't have to think twice about.

 

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