Author Topic: Moving to India  (Read 3754 times)

2Cent

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Moving to India
« on: June 01, 2016, 06:28:11 AM »
Due to situations I'm considering to move to India. I have relatives there and life should be much cheaper. It seems with an average salary for my job you can live like a king. And I could even semi retire and live on my current savings supplemented by some part-time job. But coming from Europe I worry about things like health care and education cost and quality. Does anyone here have experience moving to India?

lbmustache

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2016, 10:12:16 AM »
My parents moved to India in a seemingly similar sounding situation. My parents retired at about 50yrs old.

Health care: On par with the U.S., however there appears to be no real "insurance." The more money one has, the better care one can afford. My dad had bypass surgery last year. Cost in the U.S.: $15k-$35k. Cost in India: Less than $2000. Same amenities at a very nice hospital.

In contrast, before Obamacare, he was paying about $2000 a MONTH for health insurance for himself and my mom (he has had cancer twice).

Education: Any decent school will most likely be English-speaking. Is this for yourself or children? Indian schools are more rigorous than their American counterparts, IMO. Same as healthcare, the more money you have the better off you are.

Everything else: Assuming you are in a major metropolitan city, you should be able to find the same things you find here (for example, pasta, or pancakes). One thing my parents seem to have trouble finding are lamps (like, table lamps), which seem to be nonexistent in India. (Most lighting is hardwired into the wall or ceiling, for anyone curious).

Cost of living in India is significantly cheaper than the U.S. (duh). However, the system in place is one that the poor, or those that want to be "cheap," don't really thrive. If you have money and are willing to spend money, you should be fine.

SimplyMarvie

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2016, 10:32:13 AM »
"India" is a big place with a lot of differences based on geography -- where are you thinking about moving? We lived in the south for a brief period in 2012 as expats, and I'm not sure that we'd go back without the supports we received as expats as much as I loved our time there.

A lot of my advice would depend on your industry and family situation (kids? married?) and your status. I'm assuming that if you have relatives in India you're an NRI?

Mrs. S

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2016, 11:33:42 PM »
India is definitely cheaper than most places around the globe and I have it from quite a few expats that life can be really simple and full of comforts for far less money than their home town. We make around 1200$ a month each before tax which allows us to live comfortable in probably the most expensive city of the country. We eat out, travel and support one set of parents. This still leaves us with enough to cover our saving goals.
Education
India probably has one of the most through education system and also the most diverse education system as well unfortunately putting too much emphasis on learning. Though it can be hard to home school your child but if you can easily choose the kind of education you want with ample international, CBSE, ICSE and state board schools around. India provides a huge number of brain power around the world, believe me they are pretty well educated. That being said the education system is pretty different than most European and american systems so try to get your hands on the curriculum they are teaching in your kids class. My cousin's son came here from US and he was pretty happy with the school and his classmates.

Healthcare
This should not be a problem as healthcare is affordable and like everywhere else the better you pay better it gets. My dad had a respiratory issue which saw him spending a few days in ICU and around 10 days in the hospital altogether. the cost was some where around 2000-3000$ covered almost completely by his health insurance.  Another family member in a much smaller city had to spend over 3 weeks in the hospital and countless tests were done. It cost us almost the same amount but she did not have any health insurance.
Most corporates (if that is what your job is) provide health insurance for you, spouse and kids so you should be covered. If it still worries you get an additional cover. My employer's insurance provides for ~2,00,000 cover for each member of the family, and Mr. S has the same.

Food cost and quality
Expenses depend on how you want to live and spend. We live a pretty urban satisfied life which I call Royally Frugal (hence the title of our new blog). Over past few months we have been able to reduce our expenses drastically while maintaining the same lifestyle. You can hop on and look at our expenses. We pay a huge rent which is currently 3 times of our previous apartment in another major city. We still save 57% on our current salary and should be saving 65% in a  few months. This includes a generous amount of local as well as international cuisines and supplies both at home and when we go out.

General living scenario
Life in India can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. We used to live in a very comfortable and close to office 2bhk apartment for one third of the cost a lot of my colleagues were happy paying for a huge gated community with a big name. Still it was marginally more than what we pay here. Transport can be really cheap and there are ample number of Ola's and Uber's plying in most cities. If you want a car you should be able to get a good hatchback or sedan starting around 6-7 lac ($10K). Traffic is a nightmare in some parts and a lot of people do hire drivers or use carpooling and chartered bus services for their long commutes.
Another thing which does get said but warrants mention all the time is that it is too hot almost everywhere and if you are in northern India it can be too cold as well. If you like travel and it is an important thing for you then both india as well as it's location in SE Asia makes for awesome experiences.

Message me if you need any more info :D

Shane

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2016, 01:15:13 AM »
@Mrs. S, for some reason the link to your blog in your signature didn't work. I had to google the name to find it. Just wanted to let you know.

2Cent

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2016, 02:19:31 AM »
Thanks guys. This is really helpful.
@lbmustache & @SimplyMarvie: So you can live dirt cheap, but quality of life will cost. I have 2 young kids who need to go to school. We are all healthy.

@Mrs. S: Nice to see someone who made the move. I'll be following your Blog. How did you find jobs? Did you move and then start looking, or you got a job and then moved?
You should remove the curly braces in the link in your signature to fix it.

Mrs. S

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2016, 04:49:26 AM »
@Mrs. S: Nice to see someone who made the move. I'll be following your Blog. How did you find jobs? Did you move and then start looking, or you got a job and then moved?
You should remove the curly braces in the link in your signature to fix it.

Oh no! I never moved out permanently, we have always been here but have been earning from around the world. I have had a lot of relatives who have moved in and out though. My brother and a few others I know of were moved here by their companies. Though I don't know what you do but anyone who has experience outside India is highly valued here. You might end up with much higher salary then your local colleagues.

Before you plan to move get a hold on the omission/charges for getting your money to India. I haven't done it but my friend who did wasn't happy with the rate he got. In fact right now your $ would get you a good amount of INR. We also keep a track of this when reimbursing/encashing our freelance money from various portals.

If you can do a remote job for your current employer that might be better because the job culture is very different and it is something both my husband and I have experienced. It all depends on what you do and where you decide to settle. You might realize it is easier and possible for both of you to work since childcare costs though high are still around 10-20% of mid level salaries for most jobs.
In places like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad Pune or the likes you will probably face no issue with finding jobs good education and healthcare.

@Mrs. S, for some reason the link to your blog in your signature didn't work. I had to google the name to find it. Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks for the heads up... 2Cent's advice should work.

2Cent

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2016, 05:00:33 AM »
@Mrs. S: Thanks for the advice. Really nice to hear I may do better than the local average. I'm in software so no shortage of opportunities there.

By the way. You removed the braces from the title of the link instead of the link itself.

Mrs. S

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Re: Moving to India
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2016, 05:13:53 AM »
Glad to Help... thankfully it's now a usable link !!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!