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Base on your post... you have already answered your own question.
I think you will choose to follow the money.

I don't understand the math, can you summarize both with just one number each?

anyway, i love signapore and would choose to live there over shanghai regardless.
Singapore is an amazing island which is almost tropical and it ain't 3rd world.

Shanghai is cheap but dirty.

Annual salary of RMB910k, meaning you will be in the 35% income tax range. Net annual salary will be approx RMB591k, or RMB49k per month. Sure you can deduct up to 1/3 of your salary, but you'll need official invoices to take advantage of it. That and you may be dealing with an HR dept that's too lazy to help you with it.

Not sure what it'll be like in Singapore.

If I were you, I would choose Singapore for different experiences.

oh yeah.. i live in HK now.. so both are "new" experiences.

oh, in this case, maybe Singapore is easier for you to live, it's similar to HK.

angela75 wrote:oh, in this case, maybe Singapore is easier for you to live, it's similar to HK.

i agree, HK might be right in the middle.

Singapore = step-up
Shanghai = step-down

absolutely Singapore - period! you can always fly on over to Shanghai to experience it with nice tourist goggles on, and MAYBE think 'Oh I made the wrong choice' but read posts here often enough and you will GET a real sense of the senselessness that prevails in PRC.

but is the shanghai salary posted here pretty good, is it similar to expat?

Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
There are 4 million people on that island and 20 million in Shanghai. Which do you think will be easier?

Singapore is clean and easy to navigate. If you look at the lists, in various poles, Singapore is rated one of the best cities in the world in which to live. English is a second language for people and I found most to be fluent enough to share a joke with and have a chat.

Taxi drivers are very professional, know where you are going, have GPS if needed. No car required and rentals cheap enough if you want to drive over to Malaysia for a weekend.

Singapore is a comfortable 5 hour coach trip from Kuala Lumpur or a 30 minute flight but the usual airport routine and drive to airport makes it about 4 hrs from door to door.

Diverse population of Chinese, Indians, Malays and lots of expats of all makes and models. Plenty of night life. All the different types of food from stalls, local food course and fine dinning.

Singapore airport is good and always plenty of taxi's and other transit services available.

Rent for a CBD area apartment is high but you can live just about anywhere, travel into the city with ease, in less than an hour.

All those factors that make a city pleasant and easy to live in are to be found in Singapore. It is a safe city for a woman and very pleasant to walk about especially at night.

Unlike Shanghai there will not be four seasons. Singapore has 12 hours of daylight, 31 Deg Celcius temp and high 60% plus (varies) humidity (*look at the annual weather reports), all year round.

It is also has good medical facilities and skilled professionals who have often done their training in UK, US or Australia.

I Singapore

i think your salary is decent.. i'm not sure about your "local taxes," but i don't know any expats who pay them.

i don't.

you can live cheap and save a lots of money, but you should already know that living in HK.

Do you get housing allowance? driver allowance?
I ask because, most expats (i know) do, and it makes the difference between living like a king and living in the slums.

i hear there are deductions (1/3rd of salary) can be deducted for expenses such as 1) housing, 2) food 3) laundry, 4) cabs 5) airplane tix 6) services etc...

yeah.. in HK, i get around 950K HKD + 500K bonus and live ok.. not too special but can save...

I don't get these special allowances except whats stated in my original email. HR told me that they can't "split" my salary up into allowances because they're not allowed to.. (perhaps they're lying?)... i was hoping they reduce my salary because allowances can't be taxed? anyway, is the salary i'm getting ok? i'm sure it should be because i can live cheap in shanghai?..

the other thing is I already verbally committed to the job in shanghai, but then got an upgrade from my existing company to get a higher pay and expat package to move to singapore.. so thus my dilemna now.. I verbally told the shanghai company i'd come in oct, but i haven't signed any contract yet..

ya, i'm not sure... it does already sound like you have made up your mind for shanghai... and you can live very very cheap and bank lots of money doing so.

i think i read somewhere that the average yearly wage in shanghai is like 4,000 RMB per year ($600)... so that means lots of people (likely the large majority) are living on less then that and managing to do alright... i think i read the labor wage is about 10 RMB/hour.

I'm fairly careless when it comes to money and don't pay much attention, so i don't know about all the allowances and tax break ups.

As I stated earlier though - most expats get a "housing allowance" which means, as an expat, a company pays for an apt which (for me) is about 50,000 rmb/month. most expats also get a "driver allowance," which means (for me) a car and driver 6 days a week for 12 hr/day. If they came out of my normal income, i'd likely be broke by the end of the month and may not even be able to afford it.

So that's what i meant by live like a king or in the slums.

However, don't be discouraged by these packages - lots and lots and lots of young foreigners are here as teachers and don't get these sort of things.

Add endum-
You will live comfortably in Singapore on a minimum of 70 K Sing before tax and with other benefits.

Not interested in another Shanghai vs. Singapore debate, just wanna give my personal opinion like everyone else to help the OP.

I chose to live in Shanghai over Singapore(or Hong Kong), because it's a much bigger place and have a lot to offer entertainment wise. I like to go out, and honestly find Singapore and Hong Kong to be boring after awhile. You are young and single, if you like to go out I honestly think Shanghai is the better place.

Singapore is cleaner, more civilized, more westernized city, where general public have much better manners, there is no question on that.
Shanghai, well, if you live like a local who earns 3k RMB a month, it sucks. But if you are on a bigger budget, which seems you do, your can afford a better living style than you do in Singapore/Hong Kong.

anter wrote:Add endum-
You will live comfortably in Singapore on a minimum of 70 K Sing before tax and with other benefits.

People have different definition for "comfortable".
I think 70k SGD pre tax is very little money to live on. You can barely afford a nice luxury apt in city center.

wow... 50K a month in Shanghai and a driver! I mean, that would translate to around 58K HKD a month, or you can live in a nice place on the mid-levels, and i mean pretty nice!

Well, I'm in my early 30's, and i'm not a teacher. I'm getting hired as a Director in Treasury for a multinational company.

However, if i go to Singapore, i continue with my existing company on an semi- expat package (but no driver - who in singapore has drivers?) but i heard from everyone that singapore is not a place for a someone in my age group.. perhaps just take the risk and go to shanghai?

Welcome to Shanghai then.

chiedog wrote:... but i heard from everyone that singapore is not a place for a someone in my age group.. perhaps just take the risk and go to shanghai?

Not really age group, more about life style.

Like Hong Kong, Singapore is small, so there are only so many places to hang.
Shanghai has many night spots, and every night is a happening night, that's something matters to me personally.

I don't think Shanghai is risk.
20k RMB can get you a luxury 2 beds apt in city center. Subway is just like Hong Kong, but taxi is much much cheaper, and there is no bullsh1t toll crossing the river, the 80hkd toll in Hong Kong gets irritating after awhile. Plenty of nice/fancy place to eat and play, also cheap shack options.
If you are fine in Hong Kong, I think you will do well in Shanghai.

so i take it that minus outside allowances aside and bonuses.. that 70K RMB in shanghai is better than 16.5K SGD in Singapore?

btw.. 80 HKD is not the toll in HK, unless you cross the western harbour crossing, which is 40HKD + 15HKD (for the return fee for the driver i believe).. although i drive currently in HK and need to sell my car here (btw.. cars are cheap in HK but petrol expensive)... oh yeah, the MTR in HK goes till like 1am so you can go out and still the train.. shanghai still shuts down like 11pm?

chiedog wrote:so i take it that minus outside allowances aside and bonuses.. that 70K RMB in shanghai is better than 16.5K SGD in Singapore?

If you mean 70k RMB in Shanghai will go further than 16.5 SGD in S'pore, yes it will.

chiedog wrote:btw.. 80 HKD is not the toll in HK, unless you cross the western harbour crossing, which is 40HKD + 15HKD (for the return fee for the driver i believe).. although i drive currently in HK and need to sell my car here (btw.. cars are cheap in HK but petrol expensive)... oh yeah, the MTR in HK goes till like 1am so you can go out and still the train.. shanghai still shuts down like 11pm?

I know the old tunnel is cheaper, 15?
The new tunnel is 40, driver always wants to take the new tunnel because they say it's less traffic.
Most of time, they surcharge me 80 onto the meter fare when they take the new tunnel.

I think Shanghai subway shuts down earlier than Hong Kong. But plenty of taxi's available and cheap cheap cheap.

Why don't you take a short 2 weeks holiday, spend 1 week at each city and then decide which one you like. Shanghai isn't that instantly likable.

At your salary level you can afford to (and should...) spend the money in both places to get a financial tax planner to tell you what your take home will be at the end of the year. Your bonus for SGD is so high that this will affect your net compensation and dispensation greatly.

You need to find out how bonus' are taxed in Singapore.

Less than $1,000 USD would do it for both places and a couple of hours with a pro.

Another issue you should consider...you can only exchange up to USD50,000 per year in China. You can exchange more by using co-workers/local people, but legally only USD50k.

Shanghai.

BTW - I think you are over-paid, or I am under-paid.

i think i'm qualified to answer your question. I'm Malaysian and live at Singapore for 3 years and Shanghai 4 years. (single and 31).
Its depends on your character if you like to try new things. Shanghai is the place tht you can make money, and then you may travel to every corner of China when vacation.and not everyone speak or understand english, so maybe you need to learn mandarin, to mk your living easier.

Next, Singapore. Clean and very convenient city, language is not a problem, they speak Chinese, English, Malay. during weekend you may drive to Malaysia, even drove to thailand. Its good place to live. beside this, u can easily find anykind of food in Singapore with reasonable prices.

And at first, I can not stand living in Singapore is too routine, thts why i try to Shanghai, and after all, my conclusion is i still prefer to live in Singapore...hahaaha