Moving in to Brazil... Need some hand-holding...

Hi Srini,

Welcome on Expat-blog!

I hope other member will be able to advise you on your queries very soon.

Wish you good luck
Christine

[Moderated: Off topic]

Transferring money out of Brazil can be very challenging and expensive. I would suggest that you ask your company to deposit a larger amount in your account in the US so you can transfer it to India without much hassle.
And Brazil has wonderful fruits and vegetables. You won't have trouble sticking to your vegetarian diet.
Good luck on your move!

Thank you Admin and Cissabailey...

Regards,
Srini

Hello Srini,

You got lucky, São Leopoldo is a lovely city in the south of Brazil, it's a touristic city. Here are some pictures os Sao Leopoldo: skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=333708.

SCHOOL:

In Porto alegre there is a very good english school for your children: panamerican.com.br/ Sao Leopoldo is a smaller city in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, about 30km far, you would have to drive them there. School starts at 1h30 in the afternoon in Brazil for younger children.

RENT:

You can rent a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment from 300 to 800 reais, there are very lovely houses around the same price.

GROCERIES:

I advise you to shop at the "sacolao" or "feiras" for fresh vegetables, since you are vegetarians. You'll be spending anywhere from 300 to 500 reais in groceries per month for a family of four, depending of what you are used to eat.Luckly, in Porto Alegre you will be able to find many of te ingredients commonly used in India because last year there was a soap opera set in India that was very, very popular here, and people became interested in indian culture and food.

GAS + ELECTRICITY:

You shouldn't be spending more than 300 reais per month with electricity + gas. If you do, you are doing something wrong.
You will need a medical plan. Public health in Brazil only works with emmergency cases. For other problems you can be waiting a long long time to be attended. I sugest Unimed.

INCOME:
For a confortable, but not luxurious life, with private schools and some leisure, your family income should be around at least 5 thousand reais per month.

Wow Lilu,

5 stars for your advice...  such a guidance is really appreciated.  The photos that was shared were awesome, beautiful photos, looks very neat.  Data you shared is very useful.  I am very happy that I would be able to take some informed decision.

My company is providing me 120K annually, can I also get to know about the taxing rules and how much approximately I would be in a position to take home, and also save each month living in Sao leopoldo and then I would also like to know if there is a way to transfer money back home to support my mother.

Thank you so much for your help.

Regards,
Srini.

The "IR - Imposto the renda" (tax over income) for that amount would be officially 27%, but you are entitled to some discounts for rent, school and other, so in the end it would be around 20% (do find an accountant to help you with that, depending on your profession, you might be able to receive other different discounts on your taxes).

I believe the best way to transfer money would be through HSBC (Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica have outrageous taxes for that), but you could get better information from other expats who are already here in Brazil and sen money back to their countries.

I think you'll be very happy in Sao Leopoldo.

Now, just a personal opinion on school for your children: it might be a good idea to let them go to a portuguese speaking school once they've learned the language. The children who go to panamericana, the english speaking school of Porto Alegre have a reputation of being very very spoiled rich children. Sometimes that kind of influence of school friends might be bad for your children...

Thank you so much for all the advice Lilu...

I wish we have a good time there...  I will also check with my company's accountant on my Tax.  I will also dig around in the internet towards transferring money...  I will take an informed decision post experiencing the school (panamerica)...

Regards,
Srini.

Hi Srini
   if you r holding an HSBC Premier account in Chennai branch, it is easier to open an account here in Brazil and you can transfer money to indian HSBC thr' netbankging.
regards
Ganesh

Thank you Ganesh for the tip...

Hello,

I am moving to Sao Leopoldo so I am very confused about few things....please help me out....
1. How safe is this place as I will be coming with my wife and one small kid.
2. What is the approx monthly expenditure for 2 people (rent + elect + food etc )
3. What should be the good monthly salary to live there?
4. How is the medical facility there as my child is just 4 months old.

Please reply...

Regards,
Rohit

Hi Rohit,

If you read my postings at the top of the first Brazil Forum page you should get almost all the information you need to know.

A Gringo's Survival Guide to Brazil; High Cost of Living in São Paulo how to economize (while written with São Paulo in mind applies to almost any Brazilian city).

Salaries in São Paulo and Rio that expats earn start around R$7000 per month, you might find it somewhat less where you are going to live, but it shouldn't be too far off.

If you get private healthcare through your employer then the hospital facilities should be reasonably good. The public health systetm SUS (Sistema Única de Saúde) is in a real mess so if you're relying on that you might have problems.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team