Coming to Wellington Soon - Need Urgent Help

[dilip_d21]

Hi Guys,

I am working as a Software Engg in India (Chennai) with well paid salary in India . I consider moving to wellington very soon . I got a Job offer from a NZ firm with a base salary of 90K annually with 10% Super and it seems i have 4% as my kiwisaver .

I will be accompanied by my wife and 4 month Son. My wife will be a full time Home maker .

I dont have any contact or any information about New Zealand , if somebody help me with the below question that will be really really great .

We are not extravagant and we like to live a very Normal Life . I don’t mind 40 minutes travel to reach office so accomdation in Sub urban area doesn’t matter for us

1) Is 90K is a comfortable salary for 2 adults and a Kid ??
2) What will be my monthly take home salary ?? i am not to find the exact tax code for me please help
3) What will be a montly Expenditure for a family for 3 (like rent,Groceries,water,electricity,transport,mobile, insurance, Sky etc) ??
4) what will be my 4 months son's medical expense for a month ??
5) what will be my son's genral expense for a month (like nappies) ??
6) Will i have any disposable income every month ??
7) When can i apply for PR in NZ and how long will it take to get PR ??
8) Can i apply PR for my Wife , son and parents when i am in NZ and others are in INDIA ??
9) What is that 10% Super means ??
10) when can i claim the Kiwisaver ??
11) How safe is Wellington ??
12) As i am the only Breadwinner in my family will i get any tax Exemption or kind of tax refund at the end of the year after we file the tax ??
13) is 90 K a Sufficient salary if my mom and dad joins us in Future ???

Please help and sorry for asking too much question . As i dont know any one in New Zeland i surely relay on the replies . Really Appreciate your time and Patience ..

Thanks
Dilip

[A.C. Slater]

I'm probably not the most qualified person to answer these questions, because I don't live in NZ yet, but we've been planning our move to Wellington for the last six months based on my job offer of $85K, so we've done a lot of research.

1) You'll be comfortable at $90K, probably putting a little money away here and there, but not living in excess by any means.

2) Use this: http://www.salaries.co.nz/a/salary-tax-calculator/

3) I would plan on $500/pw for rent. We've been looking for months and haven't seen anything decent come up for under $450/pw. Certainly not for a family of three. Most people say $200 - $300 per week for groceries. The other categories I do not know for sure.

4) If you have a work visa for 24 months or more, you will all be entitled to public health care. Children under six years old receive all health care services for free. If you are not entitled to public health care, insurance is very reasonably priced. You could insure your whole family for about $100 NZD per month.

5) Not sure

6) On average, kiwis spend 29% of their disposable income on rent, which leaves little left for other things, but if you get a good price on a housing rental and are smart about buying groceries, my guess is you will have some money left over every week.

7) It depends what kind of visa you apply for. If you apply for the Long Term Shortage Work to Residence visa, you will be able to apply for PR immediately following your 24th month of work in New Zealand. If not, it's a completely separate process. There's also an exception made for migrant workers who make $90,000 or more per year. See "Permanent Residence Visas" on this page: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra.../residence.htm

8) No. Permanent residency, as I understand it, is based strongly on your presence in New Zealand during a given period of time.

9) I don't know. But please let me know when you find out!

10) I don't know.

11) The crime rate in Wellington is low compared to the rest of the world, which is one of the reasons Wellington is considered one of the most livable cities in the world. (#13 in 2012). That said, it may seem higher than you'd expect. The good news is most crime is victimless and minor -- drug and alcohol offenses, and a lot of burglary. The homicide rate is about 1/100,000, which is about 10 times less than the USA, but then again, that's not saying much. More info here: http://www.nationmaster.com/country/...land/cri-crime. Again, I don't live there, but this is the research I've done in the last six months preparing for my move.

12) Unlikely at your income level. Those credits drop off around $75K.

13) If you mean that you'll be supporting two more family members, I would say that would be a stretch, but again, it's all about how you build your life. If you're frugal, then it's certainly conceivable.

[nativecolo]

Welcome. I have worked in Chennai and Bangalore and currently here - came on a 5 year work visa and then got residency.
Your parents may not get residency if they have serious medical conditions else all good. Certainly a very good place to live. I have relocated 17 times with my family incl kids so I have a good comparison.
Hope that helps.

[babsnaik]

AC Slater has answered most of your Questions very correctly - let me add where I can
1) Is 90K is a comfortable salary for 2 adults and a Kid ??
- YES
2) What will be my monthly take home salary ?? i am not to find the exact tax code for me please help
- AC Slater - u GET PAID FORTNIGHTLY
3) What will be a montly Expenditure for a family for 3 (like rent,Groceries,water,electricity,transport,mobile, insurance, Sky etc) ??
- RENT - 300~500 - DEPENDING ON SUBURBS
4) what will be my 4 months son's medical expense for a month ??
- NONE
5) what will be my son's genral expense for a month (like nappies) ??
- I buy DRYUPS from http://www.babyonline.co.nz/
6) Will i have any disposable income every month ??
YES
7) When can i apply for PR in NZ and how long will it take to get PR ??
8) Can i apply PR for my Wife , son and parents when i am in NZ and others are in INDIA ??
9) What is that 10% Super means ??
10) when can i claim the Kiwisaver ??
- After retirement - like Pension -Helps U buy your house though
11) How safe is Wellington ??
- VERY SAFE - CLIMATE OPP. OF MADRAS
12) As i am the only Breadwinner in my family will i get any tax Exemption or kind of tax refund at the end of the year after we file the tax ??
13) is 90 K a Sufficient salary if my mom and dad joins us in Future ???
YES IF u SAVE

[babsnaik]

3) What will be a montly Expenditure for a family for 3 (like rent,Groceries,water,electricity,transport,mobile, insurance, Sky etc) ??
- GROCERY ~ 200 PER MONTH
- WATER FREE
- POWER ~ 100
- TRANSPORT ~ 50 DOLLARS
- MOBILE - 30 dOLLARS
- INTERNET - 100 DOLLARS
- SKY - 50 dOLLARS
- EATING OUT, DINING, ACTIVITES, ETC - ??? YOUR CALL

[Karen Phillips]

One other piece of information on top of the excellent answers you have already received is that if in future when you are a resident you want to sponsor your parents, to reach Tier 1 parent application you need a base salary of $60,000 so if you are on the same salary or higher this will be more than enough. They will obviously have to meet the other criteria. Kind regards. Karen

[dilip_d21]

Thanks Slater for the great and timely Answers

[dilip_d21]

Thanks babsnaik , bit confussed about the GROCERY ~ 200 PER MONTH , i see people say 200 to 250 $ per week , can you please clarify on this ??
and trasport i see as 140 $ per person as a monthly pass ?? please correct me if i am wrong . Thanks

[dilip_d21]

Thanks karen .

[dilip_d21]

Guys i need some more information as well can you please guide me as well please . for your information i will be coming to NZ via work to residence visa by an Accredited Employers and i belong to long term skill shortage Category ( i am offerd as Senior Database administrator )

1)dose this make sense (rent = 1600 $ , grocery 500 $ , power 100 $, transport 200 $ (for 3 people) , mobile 60 $ (for 2 people) , unlimited download internet 100 $, sky 50 $ , misc 200 $ == Which in total is 2810 $ for a family of 3 per month ??? please correct me if i am wrong
2) i read from some thread that i can apply for PR as soon as i land in NZ is that true ??
3) if yes can i come alone to NZ on work to residence visa and apply for PR for myself , my wife , son and parents where others are still in India ??
4) My Employer says he will pay 10% of super apart from my base salary of 90 K , is Super is mandatory in NZ ?? or can i Negotiate with my employer to add that 10% to my base salary ?? if it mandatory will that help me before Retirement ??
5) is paying kiwisaver is mandatory or is it flexiable to skip ??

Thanks
Dilip