Salary to live in Makati

Hi All

I think this question might have been asked several times for so many people, so please don't get angry for the typical question :).

i will try to be precise rather than general,

I have a job offer to move to Manila for 110.000 US$, plus medical insurance, plus 1 flight a year to return to EU.

My question is, how 'well' i could live in Makati with 110K US$ a year (before taxes).

If someone could tell me if that would be good enough to

a) rent a quality/decent 2 or 3 bed apartment with swimming pool and garage access in Makati
b) be able to go out and drinks and socialize time to time as well as buy cloths/food etc
c) buy (second hand or new) a motorbike (600cc or above) and afford it
d) travel asia cheap and discover asia easily from Manila.
e) save some money.


and now i let you all call me crazy maybe and maybe better stick to be in UK?


advise would be appreciated

:)

Marcos

Wow! With that salary, It is really more fun in the Philippines!!

You'll be living a life of luxury with that salary. You can invest a lot.
some of my clients are earning that much and they travel around Asia every week. They're renting in the condos that I manage, costing around 200k pesos a month. Those are high end condos here.
You can save a lot with that amount of money.

" maybe better stick to be in UK? "

Stay in the UK.

Thanks for the replies, I will go there for couple of weeks to get a feeling how things are and lets see what happen :)

for what i read the taxes on that salary will be 32% which would leave more or less 400K a month after taxes? ...

I will check prices and calculate costs once there before making a final decision hehehe

was the comment of stick to UK sarcastic or legit comment? ... in any case that comment is welcome too :)

Thanks guys

uytf

Thanks gbargav and Leelo.

The company pay me two weeks to go there to see the office, meet the people and see the city as well as negotiate the contract offer.

Climate is not a problem, i know about rain, flooding, always hot (which for me 32C is the perfect temperature). I was trying to get into SG, but this offer came along, not SG but hopefully it will be ok if i can achieve summer all year around and travel asia easily.

:)

Of course any local will say you are rich at us$110k. Just keep quiet when it comes to salary.

If your single, no problem. I live in Fort B, rent runs about p80k for a reasonable 2br place like in Boni Ridge. Fun is cheap, just dont get attached to quickly. A new Ford Escape is about p1mm. I would not get a bike as primary transport (although I have one for leisure). Also used cars/bikes could have been in any number of floods so as a newbie, go new unless have a colleague selling.

Also, I lived in SG for 3 years. Biggest issue is the pollution/traffic. I used to be able to run outdoors, but now its either to smoggy or raining.

Hi,

I believe it's not just how much you earn, but also on how you spend. Cost of living in SG is thrice more than in Makati
Rent in SG is way much higher than here. 10k SGD a month at Fraser place for a 2br.  You can rent a much better one here at 5k SGD- at BGC.
Just do what my friends did before moving in here- they spent several weeks here and decided afterwards.

Cant really compare SG to MNL. I have a nice 2br condo that I rent out for S$2500 on the west side. Or the Caribbean on the water or Sentosa is a whole lot cheaper than S$10k. Difference is SG does not have really cheap housing like living in MNL. But you can find HDB for less than S$1k. Just need to search.

Electricity is a lot cheaper, transport is cheaper and more available, and food is cheaper for an expat and yet can eat at a quality hawker center for very cheap.

Downside is SG is a safe environment, meaning its strictly controlled by the govt and boring.  Cars are very expensive, but MRT/Buses are top of the line. SG is small and boring overall, but it has much better air network to go anywhere in SE Asia on budget.

marcosgali wrote:

Thanks for the replies, I will go there for couple of weeks to get a feeling how things are and lets see what happen :)

for what i read the taxes on that salary will be 32% which would leave more or less 400K a month after taxes? ...

I will check prices and calculate costs once there before making a final decision hehehe

was the comment of stick to UK sarcastic or legit comment? ... in any case that comment is welcome too :)

Thanks guys


In my view, if moving to Metro Manila, then Makati is the place to be.  I think your figures are a bit off above i.e. circa 400k php a month after taxes might be correct if on a salary of £110k p.a. but not on $110k p.a.


Either way, in my experience, it's easy to get by on a much lower budget than London but, equally, it's easy to spend money too i.e. you mention socialising and having a few beers etc.  There are plenty of places in Makati where you'll run up a tab exceptionally lower than in London.  However, go to Greenbelt or a bar such as Beer Paradise or in one of the high-end hotels and the prices will be on a par, or sometimes higher, than equivalents in London.


Makati is energetic and cosmopolitan.  Well worth taking the opportunity for at least a year or two in my opinion.

Whoops, should have been "stay in HK"

I was thinking you are in Hong Kong.

Have fun in the Philippines.

please explain what BGC stands for. Newbie here. Thanks :)

Geezer1951

Brian

BGC = Bonifacio Global City.  Adjacent to Makati.  Significant development there in recent years and in the pipeline.

Thanks all for the replies... :)

Ciarangq - why it wouldn't be more or less 400K per month with a salary of US$110K a year? ...

Regards

Marcos

marcosgali wrote:

Thanks all for the replies... :)

Ciarangq - why it wouldn't be more or less 400K per month with a salary of US$110K a year? ...

Regards

Marcos


Marcos

You referenced that it would be circa 400k php per month after taxes.  However, $110k would equate to circa 4.7 to 4.8 million php per year so a gross income of around 400k per month.

Therefore, you would need to adjust for taxes.  In one of your earlier posts, you referenced a tax rate of 32%.  I'm sure that would be a marginal tax rate so overall tax rate would be less than that but, in net terms, I'm guessing you would be looking at a salary of circa 300k php per month.

Still a good salary to live on in Makati.

Whoah!!! Your a king! If you do stay here... rent or buy a home few blocks away from your work. Traffic can drive you crazy here. Anyway, avoid wasting time for traveling toffice and back home... time is gold.

a) rent a quality/decent 2 or 3 bed apartment with swimming pool and garage access in Makati
b) be able to go out and drinks and socialize time to time as well as buy cloths/food etc
c) buy (second hand or new) a motorbike (600cc or above) and afford it
d) travel asia cheap and discover asia easily from Manila.
e) save some money.

If you will be based in the Philippines I suggest you buy your own flat, renting in Makati is very expensive, so instead you'll be just paying for your Monthly dues.

Streets of Makati have a lot to go to dont worry, even just by going down from your apartment you can already find bars and restaurants and you might want to be close to the shopping mall as well like greenbelt.

Motorcycles, well you can pretty much find one pretty sure, since i've seen alot of expats here that are using big bikes like harley.

Coming from Manila, its almost like surrounded by different Asian countries you could visit, and yes you can get cheaper fairs for that.

Save money... well thats up to you. if you're making 4.3M per year and your single thats a lot, or if you have a family, still i think you will survive pretty well.

If you need to ask anything with regards of owning you condo apartment let me know, I can help you with that.

contact me at (+63)927-2426333 email: [email protected]