5 ms·

Perhaps, but you're still lopping your SV salary in half, and if you want a central 1 BR that's not government housing, you're paying close to SF housing prices

Perhaps, but you're still lopping your SV salary in half, and if you want a central 1 BR that's not government housing, you're paying close to SF housing prices.

eru 7y ago
Well, those visas that allow you to work in SV don't grow on trees. (And you'd have to put up with California and the US.) If you do have an American passport, you get a double-whammy in opportunity costs: you can already work in SV, and you still have to pay American taxes even when you are not working there. --- The government housing in Singapore can be quite nice. But yes, you are going to live in a high rise tower, most likely. Not a country house. Some people prefer urban living and short commutes. One effect that I only appreciate after living in Singapore for a while and then visiting elsewhere: the peace of mind not having to look after all you stuff when you are out and about. In Berlin or London or New York, I need to constantly worry that someone would nick my laptop, if I leave it on the table in a cafe when going to the loo.
- electricviolet 7y ago
  About the taxes thing -- you can subtract foreign taxes that you pay from your American tax bill, and you also get an exemption on your first $100,000 of earnings, so it really only affects you if you're living in a low-tax-rate country AND making a six-figure salary in USD. (I'm an American living abroad so I deal with this every year.)
  - eru 7y ago
    Yes. Specifically for Singapore those salaries are easy to achieve for techies, and sort of the point of living here as a foreigner. Otherwise, you are probably better off in a lower cost place. I assume you still have to do your American taxes, even if just to show that you didn't hit the threshold?
    - alexsb92 7y ago
      Yeah you still have to file your US taxes
richardknop 7y ago
Rents are cheap in Singapore. Way cheaper than they are in London. When I worked in Singapore few years back I paid at the time an equivalent of 1 thousand pounds for a brand new condo in a nice gated community with swimming pools and stuff. It was only 3 MRT stops from downtown. In London to get something of comparable quality I would have to pay at least 3000 pounds if not more.
- eru 7y ago
  Around 2012, I found London relatively comparable to Singapore in terms of rents. Since then, rents seem to have come down by about a quarter. (I live in an HDB close to the CBD.) Singapore has those 'gated communities', but it's actually the last place on earth to need them. ;)
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

Perhaps, but you're still lopping your SV salary in half, and if you want a central 1 BR that's not government housing, you're paying close to SF housing prices.

eru 7y ago

Well, those visas that allow you to work in SV don't grow on trees. (And you'd have to put up with California and the US.) If you do have an American passport, you get a double-whammy in opportunity costs: you can already work in SV, and you still have to pay American taxes even when you are not working there. --- The government housing in Singapore can be quite nice. But yes, you are going to live in a high rise tower, most likely. Not a country house. Some people prefer urban living and short commutes. One effect that I only appreciate after living in Singapore for a while and then visiting elsewhere: the peace of mind not having to look after all you stuff when you are out and about. In Berlin or London or New York, I need to constantly worry that someone would nick my laptop, if I leave it on the table in a cafe when going to the loo.

electricviolet 7y ago
About the taxes thing -- you can subtract foreign taxes that you pay from your American tax bill, and you also get an exemption on your first $100,000 of earnings, so it really only affects you if you're living in a low-tax-rate country AND making a six-figure salary in USD. (I'm an American living abroad so I deal with this every year.)
- eru 7y ago
  Yes. Specifically for Singapore those salaries are easy to achieve for techies, and sort of the point of living here as a foreigner. Otherwise, you are probably better off in a lower cost place. I assume you still have to do your American taxes, even if just to show that you didn't hit the threshold?
  - alexsb92 7y ago
    Yeah you still have to file your US taxes

richardknop 7y ago

Rents are cheap in Singapore. Way cheaper than they are in London. When I worked in Singapore few years back I paid at the time an equivalent of 1 thousand pounds for a brand new condo in a nice gated community with swimming pools and stuff. It was only 3 MRT stops from downtown. In London to get something of comparable quality I would have to pay at least 3000 pounds if not more.

eru 7y ago
Around 2012, I found London relatively comparable to Singapore in terms of rents. Since then, rents seem to have come down by about a quarter. (I live in an HDB close to the CBD.) Singapore has those 'gated communities', but it's actually the last place on earth to need them. ;)
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]