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30,000 HKD enough to live on?

10K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  siobhanwf 
#1 ·
I'm single American that has job offer to work in Hong Kong with $30,000HKD per month. There's no housing allowance, but I know I can find apartments between $10,000HKD and 15,000 that would be fine. Will I be able to survive in Hong Kong with basically 15,000 HKD per month for spending money?

Thank you so much in advanced!
 
#2 ·
Well you can survive with HK$30k per month.

Housing cost is very high in Hong Kong, but if you are willing to share a flat with someone, it can be cheaper.

In Hong Kong, you will need to a personage of your wages into the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), see link below -

GovHK: Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System

You should also be aware that all Hong Kong wages are paid gross of income tax. You will need to save up to pay the taxman at the end of the financial year.

Another point, if you are taking up the job in Hong Kong, you may want to speak to your local HSBC bank in the US to see whether you can open a Hong Kong HSBC bank account before leaving the US. HSBC has a large retail branch networking Hong Kong.
 
#8 ·
All in HK$. pa=per annum, pm=per month.
HK Median household income is 24K pm. At 30Kpm, 60% of household earn less than you. With salary of 360k pa, your tax will be like 10k pa. You may need to pay US global tax - i have no idea how much (if any).

Biggest cost is rent. Keep your rent low , ideally 25% of Salary (=7.5kpm). So shareflat is the idea. If you hate people, then you can pay up to 10k pm for a tiny flat.

Then the rest is easy. depends on your financial objective of your HK stay. If you want to save 10kpm, then your lifestyle has to adjust to 10kpm. If you idea of HK is to have a blast, then spend the rest of the money(20kpm) the way it give you most meaning.

Conclusion: Very doable with planning.
 
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