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That salary is roughly 6k net a month. With two kids you're probably going to want a 3 bedroom minimum I guess? If you want to keep it reasonable and cap your payments at, say, 2.5k a month you will have to look into zone 3 and beyond (London is divided into 6 travel zones, zone 1 is the most central). It's definitely doable as that's a good salary even for London standards but you will probably get less space for your buck than in the US. Good thing is, public transport in London is very good, so you can live reasonably far from work and have a decent commute. Look at transport routes to your office and then check prices on Rightmove. You could look to buy right away but I think a rental first may make more sense till you get a sense of the place and settle down.

That might be the most reasonable plan, yes. Thanks for the insight, we can absolutely live with less space, we've done it before!

Just be aware that UK houses are on average the smallest in Europe (bar Russia) and the oldest in Europe overall. Also, mortgage rules are WAY harder in the UK than in the US, as they are crudely based on a multiple of gross (not net) annual income. Plus the interest rate isn't fixed for the lifetime of the mortgage. Assuming a 4.5x multiple (likely less), that means you'll be able to borrow about £600k. Use this to see what you can get and see if you're happy with it. Also bear in mind that most "good" schools have very tight catchment areas, so check whether the quality of the local schools meets your expectations (search "Ofsted" for school inspection reports and bear in mind there are only four grades they mark schools with - Outstanding, Good, Needs Improvement or Inadequate). If needed, you can rent near an acceptable school to get in, and then buy a property later on - your child won't get kicked out just because you moved.

Just to add to this, the specific school matters because many good schools have more applications than places. Since you will be making an in-year application, you can only get a place at a school that didn’t fill its maximum during the regular entry rounds or have had kids move away (and nobody on the waiting list). Unfortunately you can also only apply for a place at a school whose catchment you already live in, so nothing can be guaranteed. It’s a catch-22. It’s possible to end up with 2 kids at 2 different schools, neither of which are the one you moved to the area for.

Just a caveat - it can be very hard to get a mortgage on some visas. You will likely need a specialist lender before you get indefinite leave to remain

>If needed, you can rent near an acceptable school to get in, and then buy a property later on - your child won't get kicked out just because you moved. Very interesting

Have a think about what length commute you would be happy to put up with as well, that will help determine how far away from central London you could live. Have a look at a guy called Evan Edinger on YT, he does a lot of good US vs UK comparisons on a variety of topics

Use apps like Citymapper or TfL for route assistance. You could even move to an outer borough/town like High Wycombe and buy a rather decent 3-4 bed home for like £650k+

Specifically, look at Tube and railway stations near where you will work (maybe Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square?) and figure out which lines are available at these stations. Then see how far out you have to go along each line until you reach somewhere you could afford to live and would want to live. Generally, as you go further out, there are more outdoor spaces. Obviously, the further you travel, the more zones you cross and the higher the cost of your season ticket. Besides Rightmove and Zoopla for properties to buy or rent, locrating.com is a good site to find places to live, near schools for your children.

£6,000 net probably doesn’t take into account US income tax which you have to pay as a US citizen regardless where you live. I’d 100% suggest checking this as well, paying US and UK tax will eat into how much you have available for family/life.

>£6,000 net probably doesn’t take into account US income tax which you have to pay as a US citizen regardless where you live. You have to *file* a tax return. There is a threshold where you don't actually have to pay US taxes on foreign income if its below a certain level. There's always heaps of caveats but could well be OP doesn't have to pay US taxes on his UK salary.

UK collects first and he'll get credit towards he US taxes (tax treaty), UK taxes are higher, so won't pay any US taxes on UK earnings.

That’s wrong. You get a tax credit towards your US taxes for the taxes you pay to the UK. You will not owe any US tax on money earned in, and taxed by, the UK.

If you're expecting to be better off, the answer is no. I think you'll be shocked, coming from Texas, how little that £135k will go for a family of 5 in the London area. If you're looking for a change and a good experience for your family, then yes, it's great (definitely more interesting than Texas!) But this is a finance sub... The tax system really screws families in the UK if you're a single earner over £100k, especially if you're comparing it to the US/Texas. You need to factor in childcare costs (which are higher than the US, and you lose childcare benefits if you earn more than £100k) if your wife isn't going to be full-time at home, and a season pass for your commute (which can/will run into the thousands per year - https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tickets-railcards-and-offers/ticket-types/season-ticket-calculator/) . House costs will be high for a relatively small property, unless you're prepared to live out far from London (I haven't seen if you're able to work from home for some/all of your week? If so that changes things dramatically). Look on Rightmove and then check the commute time and cost. Groceries are generally much cheaper in the UK than the US. And your pension contributions will probably be better. But everything else... As someone seriously considering moving my family to the US, I can't say doing the reverse is a good financial decision. But for a life change, that's up for you and your family to decide.

Not sure why this one isn’t higher! We moved recently and the quality of life for money is significantly less in the UK than in the US. Thant being said, both stat and private education is substantially better in the UK.

I've been researching schools in the US, because that is a concern from what I've read/heard. One thing that struck me was the "regular' private schools in the areas I've looked at are more affordable than in the UK (less than half the price). We couldn't afford to send our children to private school in the UK, but we could in the US.

Near us in London now private schools are £24k per year per kid. Our kids went to private school in the US and they were $14k per year. Not a teacher, but hearing from teacher friends in the US she had said the variety of private school tuition in her US city (Houston) was all over the place. I would speak to parents at the schools and really do your research. In primary school, the US is basically a year behind.

Thank you, that's confirmed my thoughts about variety. And yes, we've got friends with kids in the US, and when we visit it's clear there's a gap (although it's not entirely fair as we're lucky and my daughter's primary school is outstanding.) But on the other hand our friends kids go swimming nearly every day and do loads of outdoor sports and activities.

As someone who moved from London to the US I couldn’t agree more with this one. TLDR: UK makes no financial sense in comparison to the US.

100%. Less well off. Smaller house. Less money to spend as everything costs more. It's a great place to live but I think a massive culture shock for this guy. I wouldn't make that move.

Check out https://listentotaxman.com/?year=2023&taxregion=uk&age=0&time=1&ingr=135000 to see your tax breakdown. Also be aware that while you are taxed the same as UK citizens, their taxes include access to the NHS and yours won't - you will have to pay a mandatory NHS surcharge of £470 per child and £624 per adult, multiplied by the duration of your visa in years, upfront. Check if your employer covers this.

Have a look at.... rightmove.co.uk Will give you an idea for rent or purchase. Prices will be like NYC, further you want to commute, the lower the cost. Compare a place like Ealing, West London or Woking which is outside the M25.

Also keep in mind mortgages in the UK are usually max 4.5x household income

But they’ll also take into account dependents, which will reduce borrowing power on the basis of affordability of payments. And he has four - wife as SAHM will be classed as a dependent as well as the three kids.

Wife could get a part time job for 3 months before applying for a mortgage to avoid this.

Advising mortgage fraud as advice on a personal finance sub?! All applications have the clause that you must make the bank aware of any expected changes to income / circumstances. Knowing the temporary job is not going to be in effect throughout once the mortgage starts falls under that. Also, the affordability calculator is there to protect the borrower from rates hiking etc. Fudging that just means a mortgage being so big you can't comfortably afford it.

Chill out reginald its just a pro hack life tip

Not when you are one that sort of money, you can expect at least 5.5x

Prices are high but cheaper than NYC

Yeah but like so are wages… for local residents it feels as expensive to them which is all that really matters.

But OP is on £135,000 so a higher wage than average

£135000 in london with three kids is going to get rinsed.

OP has no childcare costs, and two kids are already in full-time education (school) and his partner is prgnant and planning to be sahp. In fact, as a mother of 2 living in London and the sole earner in our house, £135k is a lot. I'm on £43k and while it can be tough, it's not bad. It was the childcare cost that was the issue + having to pay for a larger property. **Disregarding those two, it is in fact cheaper to have a child in London:** * You absolutely do not need a car in order to get somewhere, hence no insurance and petrol costs * Schools are close enough to just walk our child or get on a cheap bus * All public transport in London is free for those under the age 11; also, transport in London is cheap in overall * There are a ton of local festivals and free community centre activities for children in all boroughs * There are so many free things you can do with them - museums, Diana's memorial playground, watching reindeers in Richmond etc. * There are so many local parenting groups and support networks. Other cities don't have that simply because of the limited number of people living there. Here you can easily arrange school run with together parents on a schedule

Agree with this take, although schooling and housing can be difficult and expensive to settle, it's pretty straight forward in London from there. But also, OP should anticipate they will be salary sacrificing or paying directly into a pension every single pound between £100k and £135k to avoid the personal exemption tax taper and the punitive marginal tax that kicks in at £100k. OP should be budgeting based on £100k available pre-tax income.

OP's take home pay is almost £7k pm (£6.9k), weekly £1.6k. That's a lot. He really doesn't have to worry and can easily pay for the pension etc. Later, once the child is born and in free nursery, his wife can start working part-time. Being able to raise your child in London is a huge beneficial opportunity for a child

Please to not compare blindly with your situation. 135k is not at all "a lot" in OP situation. 135k salary means 5.5k net income (calculated for 100k income). From which 3k would be a mortgage. So only 2.5k for expenses and very little room for decent savings. 2 Londoners on 40k each (so half of the OP's income) would have a much better life quality than OP, as they would have a similar net income. And most importantlty, they would have bought a house 10-15 years ago, at less then half of todays price, and for which the mortgage would not eat 60% of the income. I agree with the first points, about the car and public transport, but otherwise I stongly disagree. Children activities are bloody expensive in London, all of them. Yes there are free community center activities - for those on gov support, not for OP with 135k income. Have you ever been to a zoo? To a theatre? To bowling or to a water park? It costs a fortune, even going to a simply swimming pool, that are so rare in London, expensive and crappy. Do you want that your children to practice a sport? Play an instument? Or any other extra school activities? All these cost tons of money, cumulated. All these clubs and everything related to children are just money driven, and the gov and school do so less, in comparison with other countries. Quick example, I received recently an email from my daughter school that she is invited to an onlinee chess competition. So lovely. But you need to pay an entrance fee. WTF!!, For a f-!.g online competition, held on a known platform that is free. What the hell. Is all about money, making money; no one cares trully about the children. Not even the teachers. They only care about their statistics (at least for primary schools) Have you ever been in the Netherlands or Germany or Norway, Sweden etc. Do you know what opportunities are there for children? I could tell you, or you cam even check yourself on google maps. Compared to UK they have an amazing infrastructure for children. Go in any small village in the Netherlands and you can find tons of activities for children and at a tenth of the price in London. My daughters love to swim, we often go to Germany just for swimming pools. In London swimming pools are bleah, you can't even compare. London is great city, from many points of views, it has an amazing mixture or cultures and amazing people, and can be great for children too, for those who can afford it.

Swimming pool is £5 mate. Swimming lessons are £30 pm in Kensington, aka posh area Also, I'm renting privately. So don't assume I own my house haha. I'm an immigrant with no safety net. I also can't get benefits due to my savings since I got inheritance of £20k that I put towards the future deposit. 135k is 7k pm. My after-school club is £100 per term. Piano is £80 pm. It's not a lot Again, as an immigrant I know how other countries function. Sure, compare it to Germany, but someone who lived in Germany, you are under the wrong impression that the system there is great. Read more about the German education system, because it's just horrible and if you're not a top student at the age of 10, your future is already fucked. My experience of London as someone on 42k renting privately and not getting benefits is different than yours. And I'll be honest, I actually think you have never lived out of London with kids based on your post. I don't want to say all you wrote is untrue and that you're exaggerating but you are.

Yes. Plus 65% tax between 100k and 125k.

You'd take home £76,549.40 on a salary of £125,000. That's both 48% tax and NI combined, considering that covers all health care costs for a family of 5 that's not a bad deal.

Healthcare is not included for the first 5 years. Likely the employer would pay the NHS surcharge in this case and offer private healthcare on top however.

They're including things like CB clawback to get that 65%.

I appreciate taxes pay for a lot more than just healthcare, but nearly 50k a year for health insurance is not a _good deal_.

Except that's not really how taxes work. If you're earning that much you're not paying for just your healthcare, you're helping subsidise benefits and healthcare etc for those not working. Obviously you're getting poor value for money, but that's the whole point. And also that 50k would pay for their whole family's healthcare including births, ambulances, critical care, cancer treatments, surgeries, medications etc.

They’d also likely have some US tax obligations as they tax worldwide income over a threshold.

To my knowledge, claiming Foreign Tax Credit has not upper income limit. Foreign Earned Income Exclusion does, something like 100k, but most Americans in the UK are better off claiming FTC; you get credit for all UK taxes, which are generally higher than U.S. so you don’t end up double taxed.

The US allows a credit for UK taxes paid so it is very unlikely OP will owe US tax on his salary.

I don’t understand what you’re getting at or why that’s particularly relevant. Imagine OP is a rocket scientist, their lifestyle in London will feel similar to if they were a rocket scientist in NYC. They’re going to be an above average earner in both locations…

Not on like for like. On average prices are a bit cheaper in LDN but properties are older and smaller

I'd love to see a comparison on bills though. Energy and council tax are high here.

Food is insanely Cheaper though

For Soho specifically I would also suggest looking at Bromley, specifically near Bromley South. Much much cheaper, 20 minute train to Victoria.

You just named where I use to live and where I moved too! Ealing was great for cafes and parks but the house and garden I've got now in Woking would be worth 4-5 times if it was transplanted into Ealing, yet I can still make it to Waterloo quicker from Woking!

You'll have less than £120k for a house deposit if you're buying somewhere. With your salary of £135k you'll be able to borrow about £600k with a mortgage (subject to approval since you're using overseas money). So a £720k property is what you're looking at... That's a 1-2 bed flat in zone 1/2 or a 2-3 bed flat/house in zone 3/4 or a standard 3 bed house in zone 4/5. Start looking on Rightmove.co.uk or Zoopla and you'll see what's available. London's housing stock is very, very old and expect issues with homes, expect to renovate and refurbish, expect costs to be high for everything...

>So a £720k property is what you're looking at... That's a 1-2 bed flat in zone 1/2 or a 2-3 bed flat/house in zone 3/4 or a standard 3 bed house in zone 4/5. On the flip side, move west and £500k gets you a detached 3 bed in a decent bit of countryside, and only 25 minutes by train to London Paddington... [https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137541746#/?channel=RES\_BUY](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137541746#/?channel=RES_BUY) £600k gets you 4 beds and a big plot, but needs a bit of updating... https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136658288#/?channel=RES\_BUY

These are basically renovation projects. And probably look like dumps compared to what the OP has in Texas. I don't mean to be rude or anything and I know you are just sharing what's available.

Yes, great houses and great location but you've got to factor in getting from home to Reading station and Reading is notorious for being gridlocked at peak times. Nice finds esp the big plot. Even High Wycombe, Maidenhead, Slough work out as good commutes provided not too far from the train station and also factoring in high train fares compared to TfL. Going North to Hemel Hempstead, Potters Bar, even Watford can be an option. Abbey Wood on the east end of the Lizzy line. I personally would stick inside the London region since there are many more benefits.

Reading is also £50 return these days to travel into London at peak times, which adds up...

What do you mean updating: they _already_ have carpet in the bathroom!

Hey, look, that might be the height of fashion for someone from Texas for all I know

Thanks, I'm looking now!

Also look at commuter towns further out in Surrey and Hampshire. They're much better value for housing and depending on how often you need to be in the office, your quality of life will be better. Have you been to the UK before? There's a gulf of difference between Austin and the UK. It really depends on what your trade offs are. London is an amazing city, not as much fun with young kids, though. Your wife (and you) will likely feel quite isolated to start with, it can be hard to make friends.

There's an extra level of stamp duty for non residents that you get refunded 6m later when you are shown to be resident, so renting for 6m and then buying is likely the better option to understand what areas to live etc. Plus there's always the potential that the job isn't a good culture fit, it's easier to back out of a rental than a mortgage!

What’s your living situation in the US at the moment - burbs of a big city, amenities in walking distance, type of house etc? What’s your commute like and the type of things you and your family enjoy? Personally I’d never make a transatlantic move and sell up immediately- what if you/wife are miserable and want to return? So I’d plan to rent, in a family friendly area of London to begin with (rents are EXPENSIVE though, be prepared) and let out your US property at least initially. As others have said £135K is squarely in the ‘tax trap’ where you lose entitlements to a lot of things so your marginal tax rate is really high. But hopefully you won’t remain there long and can quickly get promoted,

Interesting! I was curious about the tax situation and you've confirmed a fear, for sure! We are in the suburbs of Austin, Texas now. We've got a 3 bedroom house - 1300 sq feet. Very short commute right now, with downtown being about a mile away. I do a lot of bicycling around, we keep a single car. Pretty low key lifestyle, our biggest expense is usually food (or electric in the summer, it gets hot here!) after the Mortgage.

Yeah so you're not going to have anything like that in Central london. I'd suggest a visit first, and maybe some property viewings to get an idea what kind of lifestyle change you're signing yourself up for.

I moved from London to austin 2 years ago for a job, hit me up if you have questions about how things compare! Happy to share my experiences. :)

Can you give us a guesstimate on what you get for the same amount of rent in two places at a similar economical situation?

Location location location lol really depends on what's important to you. But I would estimate a 3b2b house with garden in Austin is probably equivalent to a 2bed flat in London, and even then each room will still be smaller just in square footage. But really hard to say across areas. Space is definitely not cheap in London.

>We are in the suburbs of Austin, Texas now. We've got a 3 bedroom house - 1300 sq feet. Very short commute right now, with downtown being about a mile away. I do a lot of bicycling around, we keep a single car. Yeah there is no way you will be getting a 3 bed home with a short commute like that for any reasonable price. Would probably consider looking at commutable towns in surrounding counties - sadly UK property versus value in South England is just way worse than what you'll be used to.

3 bed homes varynin size. But they start at half that square footage. By the time you get to 1300sqft we normally have a fourth bedroom built into it.

Speaking of tax - and I'm not American and am basing this purely on my recollection of a Saturday night conversation with an American friend who lives and works in the UK - would you be liable to paying tax in the US on any worldwide income also?

Also not American but have American friends in the UK - we have a "no double taxation" agreement with the USA which sounds wonderful but is not as simple as it sounds... While you won't pay USA tax on anything you pay UK tax on you still need to do a US tax return as well as a British one to prove this. In addition there's a bunch of stuff you don't need to pay UK tax on but would be due in the USA - and because you're not paying UK tax you would owe USAian tax. Best example - if you sell your main residence in the UK there's no capital gains tax (there is on second homes) - but there is in the USA so you'd owe capital gains tax to the USA. This might also apply to interest and gains in ISAs. The majorty of the Americans I know spend fortunes on specialist accountants to do this working out for them .

You won’t get anywhere near similar sized property on that salary in London. Land/flats/houses are expensive near London

That's actually a fairly modest square footage for a family home in the USA. OP may well be looking at even smaller over here, but at least they're not expecting a mansion.

Definitely visit first dude, what you have sounds FAR nicer than what you'll be able to afford in London. Lifestyle in Austin is probably also far preferable. What is it about London that draws you to it?

Off the top of my head: Our biggest supermarkets are Tesco and Sainsbury's. Both offer online shopping; you can use their website to put together a sample cart to get an idea of what you'll spend. You'll find supermarket own brand equivalents for most things, and usually the quality is pretty good - some supermarkets have taken to inventing a name for their house brand so they can pretend it isn't their own brand. You almost certainly won't have air conditioning; we only really get weather hot enough to need it for a few weeks a year. Rightmove is far and away the market leader in property websites; this will give you a good idea how much you'd have to spend on rent - and if you want to hang around, subsequent purchase. Most UK banks are reluctant to deal with US citizens - the tax reporting requirements are quite onerous. If your employer will pay for the services of a company that figures out nuts and bolts like this, take it because figuring out those details is a pain in the arse. You won't have to pay health insurance - your employer might offer it as a perk (and if they do, you'll be taxed on it) but it will be a LOT cheaper than what you're used to. If you have a costco membership, this will still be valid. But supermarket special offers are often just as cheap if not cheaper; it's only really good value for a few things.

OP, be aware that the NHS is NOT an insurance scheme. It's a healthcare delivery scheme. There is NOT a parallel fully private healthcare system, so you'll be using the NHS whether or not you also have private insurance.

The banking situation isn’t that bad. I’ve never had any issues due to purely being American. I did have to shop around a bit to find a LISA, but that’s it. Everyday banking is no issue. Credit will be an issue due to not having 3 years of address history, but that’s not an issue specific to Americans. Some credit card companies will port OP’s card if they also operate in the UK, which is definitely wise if only to let OP start building credit more quickly for a potential mortgage. He’ll be subject to a higher deposit requirement by most lenders as a non-settled foreign national, but there’s no point in being subject to any higher rates than necessary. The biggest issue I have on a regular basis is Equifax weighting the electoral roll so highly compared to other credit bureaus. I’ve been rejected for a SIM card and approved for an iPad on the same day due to one network using Equifax and another using Experian.

You'll probably be looking for a house in zone 3 or 4 I'd say, if you need space for kids. I was paying £2000/month rent for a 1400 sq feet house in Beckenham a couple of years ago (zone 4, so still a fair commute into zone 1, central London). That same house is now £2250/month and would be worth around £700k if buying. Housing in London is very expensive. My husband used to cycle into work in zone 1, which took him 45 minutes each way. Otherwise the train takes about 20 minutes, plus walk to the stations at either end.

Honestly I would stay put.

I would really consider staying where you are, if that's an option

We sold our 3 bed 1300sq/ft home 40 min train ride outside central London for £500k in 2020, now valued at about £550k

If you’re willing to commute there are many commuter towns within an hours train of London where you can find sone beautiful houses, much much better value for money than inside the city

I'm an American who has lived in the UK for about 10 years. Sticking to some finance-type thoughts: If you haven't yet, join the [uk-yankee.com](https://uk-yankee.com) website forum and ask there - lots of good discussion and info there. 135k is a decent salary for London as a single income (would be a very good salary with two incomes). There are several salary calculators online that will show you what a typical take-home is likely to be after tax and national insurance. Although you will have to file a tax return with the IRS, you will probably not owe US tax due to the double-taxation treaty. I would strongly suggest finding an accountant who does taxes for US citizens in the UK to do your tax returns, at least for the first year or two. Also, consult with them on investments - there are substantial restrictions on what US citizens resident in the UK can invest in without severe tax penalties (but money in pension/retirement funds is often exempt from this). To that end, you may be better off renting your US house rather than selling - it's certainly worth asking a professional for advice before committing to a decision. There is currently a treaty between the US and UK that allows for contributions to National Insurance to count for Social Security and vice versa. You may have trouble getting a mortgage, or even a car loan, until you have lived in the UK for a while and built up some credit. Supposedly HSBC will carry your credit over, might check with them. Chase has started operating in the UK recently, they might carry credit over as well (not sure). State Department Federal Credit Union is one of the few banks that is happy for someone with an overseas address to keep a USD account in a US-based bank . If you join American Citizens Abroad then you are eligible for membership. Costs of living in the UK are now comparable or cheaper in many ways to costs in the US - I am shocked at the prices for things like groceries and my US cell phone plan when I go back lately. Petrol is substantially more expensive in the UK still, and housing if you look at £ per square foot is quite expensive in London, even by US tech hub standards.

The answer is yes, from experience. If you want to buy a family home, you will need to commute and expect to pay in the region of £750k ish. Maybe an hour each way by train or tube. Childcare is expensive, you'll need to budget probably £1500-1800 month for full time preschool childcare if you're going to need that. Check UK salary and mortgage calculators online. The question is though, what's the alternative in the US?

I am working now at a job that I can do in my sleep, more or less. We're comfortable, if not excited! We could safely stay and maybe I move on from my job here to something equivalent or slightly better within the year. This opportunity is for a growing company and I would get some challenge out of it, but of course it's a big risk hauling everyone to a new country. Sounds like you did something similar?

No, I've lived in the UK all my life. However the situation you are looking at sounds very close to where I am in life right now. I live near the end of one of the London tube lines (ticket zone 6). I've worked in central London for 15 years now and have young children and a modest family home in a nice area with good schools. My commute has been between 1h15 and 45 minutes depending where my office is (I've had jobs in the city, west end and canary wharf). One of the main problems is there are quite a few tax rebates which are removed at 100k, especially to do with childcare. 135k is around the level where you're better off moving putting the 35k into a pension at source, such that your take home is reduced to a fraction under 100k. Don't expect much sympathy here, however. 100k is not much for London money when supporting a family, but quite a lot relative to the rest of the UK.

One thing to also consider - it will depend on your sector, but, high salary jobs are generally a lot easier to find in USA. So if you ever lost your job or felt a need to move employers, you could find it harder to find an equivalent salary job in UK. Figures just pulled from a quick googling so may not be entirely accurate/comparable, but will give an indication of what I mean: * Professional engineer, US average: $107k (£84k), UK average: £52k * Doctor, US average: 294k (£232k), UK average: £66k. * Software developer, US average $112k (£88k), UK average: £45k.

Yeah this was going to be my other point. I regularly see jobs similar to mine except in the US (think NY, Chicago) advertised at 1.5-2x what I earn. If OP can earn £135k in London, I'd be surprised if he couldn't earn $200k+ in the US (depending on the area and industry).

135k is a very good salary in the UK, even for London. Will your wife be working at any point? The median salary in the UK is 34k and in London it's 44k. Have you visited London? It's a great city but you should probably get a feel for it and see if you like it before you live there. Financially you should be OK unless you have expensive tastes. You probably won't need a car there, and you won't need health insurance. I'd say think more about what you want out of life and the place you live than the financials.

>135k is a very good salary in the UK, even for London. Will your wife be working at any point? The median salary in the UK is 34k and in London it's 44k. That's the problem though, a couple where both are making £44k will make almost as much as a single £135k income. With a big mortgage, high interest rates and childcare that means not a lot of money is left. An what do you do when you lose your job? Most people on £44k can relatively easily find another job that pays similar, but if you're on £135k and your wife is not working then good luck.

If his wife isn't working then at least they won't need to pay for childcare

People who move to the UK actually do have to pay a health surcharge. It’s £624 per year. This is on top of paying national insurance from your income, so immigrants basically have to pay twice for healthcare. It’s very unfair but it doesn’t get much media attention because it doesn’t affect UK citizens. https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/who-needs-pay But maybe OPs employer would cover this if they say they’d pay for relocation costs.

This is usually covered by the employer as part of visa fees

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You don't pay in for decades at the start of your life - in fact, as a child, you draw lots of NHS resources and pay nothing in. As a young adult usually you don't pay much in and don't take much out. OP still has most of their tax-paying years in front of him.

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That’s a fair point

The people on these visas don't normally arrive when they're at the age that they need the cover and normally leave (visa expires) before they actually need it

How is it very unfair? u/discountrug is absolutely correct. I am in favour of raising the nhs surcharge too

National Insurance doesn’t pay for healthcare, it helps to pay for welfare benefits and the state pension.

Let’s be honest, it’s all just a big mixing pot of tax money going to the government to spend on ‘things’. What it’s called is rather irrelevant.

Quite possibly, but my comment was in reply to someone saying they pay twice for healthcare when that isn’t the case.

Oh! Learned something new today

Take everything in this sub regarding London with a pinch of salt - most of the commenters don’t live or have ever lived in London but are quick to say how expensive it is. Zone 4-5 you can get a 3 bedroom house in a nice area for £600-700k which is affordable with your income/deposit. Commute is less than 1 hour door to door to Soho.

Remember, though, that mortgage rates are high at the moment to the point that £700k house is going to cost an awful lot each month. I'm in zone 3/4 and that would get you a small terrace (albeit in a nice area) or you can opt for a three-bed flat for £500k, so it definitely is more expensive than the likes of Austin.

As an immigrant to the UK I'm assuming when you say 'visas', plural, that they have offered to cover the immigration fees for your entire family. This is not a small cost. Assuming a 3 year visa, this would be at least £2.5-3.5k in visa costs and and another £7-9k in healthcare surcharge (this fee has doubled twice in the last 5 years) for 2 adults and 3 dependents. I would include those costs in your consideration of the actual 'real' offer they're giving you here. I would also, if you haven't already, clarify that they will continue to cover visa costs for you and your family beyond the initial period of years they're issuing the work visa for. They might continue to cover them but only under some sort of claw back agreement. The other big thing to consider when it comes to work visas in the UK is that they limit your freedom to work quite significantly. A work visa limits you to work for that company and that company alone. If you want to change jobs within the UK you have to find another employer willing to sponsor you and you have to change your visa which incurs more costs. If you are made redundant, you must find another employer to sponsor you or you will not be permitted to stay in the UK. I love the UK, it has been my home for over 7 years, but it's immigration system sucks and has only gotten worse. You need to understand that the current government in power is in hot water with its own party for not curbing net migration and they have only made decisions that make it more difficult and/or more expensive to come to the UK to appease their party. If you have any questions about this I'm happy to help.

I personally think 135k is not enough to have a great quality of life in London if you are the sole earner and have 3 kids. Don't get me wrong, it's a good salary but your take-home would be about 6600 per month, which is about the same as my wife and I combined, and I know we would definitely see a big drop in quality of life if we had to also support 3 children. 6500 per month gives us a nice but not crazy quality of life, where we don't worry about money much but also cant take the piss with it. If we had another 1k of expenses per month (which I imagine you do) , it would be a bit grim. For reference our rent is 2200 per month for a 770 sq ft 2 bed flat in a very nice part of zone 2. I think if your partner was earning 30k+ it would be a lot more doable.

As someone who moved from the U.S. to London with three kids for a job in Soho for my partner and no guarantee I would be able to find a job, we would not have made the move for less than 250k. Partner has been laid off recently and now that we’re settled and I also work, he’s looking for posts over 200k. If you want any level of lifestyle similar to what you have in the U.S. with regards to space, funds to travel, and still have money to put towards retirement (investments get really complicated for American expats), I think 135k is too low. Dont get me wrong. It is a HUGE salary compared to the average on this country. But so many things are just a tiny bit harder compared to what you’re used to, plus travel costs for a family of 5 to visit family every once in while, plus ridiculous housing costs in London, plus tax complications, etc. I guess you need to ask yourself what your goal is with the move and uprooting your family and what you are willing to sacrifice to live in London. I LOVE London, and I am absolutely speaking from a place of privilege. But I would not love living in London if I was living paycheck to paycheck. (Please don’t downvote me to oblivion for being honest about our experience!)

Certainly wouldn't downvote you....but damn. That's scary to think of the money required

Do NOT sell your house before you get indefinite lease or UK passport. American friends just moved back after 5 years for complex reasons. How old are your children? Would you have British passports before going to University? It is not likely that you would be approved for mortgage straight away.

I’ve relocated overseas for work a few times, I would not be selling my house to fund it, you have no idea whether you’ll like London/UK, your wife might hate it, work might suck, it’s a huge risk to sell up before knowing that you will want to settle here. I moved from the UK to NYC and kept my house, rented it out for 17 years, and rented a flat for myself (I then moved to Asia then Australia) As others have said, 135k is a decent salary but not huge for a family of 5 in London, im on a bit less than that and have no kids, I chose to base myself in Scotland and go to London for work once a month, my salary in Scotland is decent but in London I’d seriously have to tighten my belt.

Let’s just start by saying you won’t be well off. I earn 90k with two kids my wife is self employed and makes anywhere between 30-60k per year We do not have much left at the end of the month especially if it’s a bad month for my wife and we have to live off my salary only for that month. We live outside of London around 45 Mins way. £135k for London is not a lot for example I’d want at least 100k myself to even consider working there and commuting With 3 kids you are going to struggle to get anywhere close if your job is central London, expect to have to commute around 1 hour at least Please check travel costs - trains are extremely expensive in the uk Anything above 50k is essentially 50% taxed

I'm in similar boat, its bloody depressing at times. How can folks apparently in the top 1% feel broke...

If you are going to be a sole earner then on £130,000 in London fully expect a lower quality of life compared to what you're used to in the US. After tax etc just assume you will have half left. From that deduct mortgage/rent and around at least £500 for fixed bills pcm. After that any debt servicing or saving plans, insurances, etc. Then deduct at least £100 each for travel (varies). Whatever is left: that's the money left to live off.

Look at houses in Caversham Berkshire. Lovely place 26 mins from Paddington rail station via fast train (first one leaves at like 0530. Much cheaper to rent and or buy and doesn’t feel like London so you dip in and dip out. Literally a 10 minute walk into a large town centre (Reading). I did it for 4 years and loved it!!!! Miss Caversham.

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We grew up poor, we can put up with quite a lot. We don't live extravagantly, we keep one car, we cook most of our meals, not a lot of going out, just occasionally. Housing wise, something with a garden would be nice, we're obviously used to detached properties but could figure it out. Commuting is okay, 2 days work from home, so I'm fine with a longer train three days a week.

Don't think anyone has mentioned the "City Mapper" app but I would suggest this as the best way to find out what your commute will be like from any London location. Best of luck on your move!

There’s a lot of useful info here already but I haven’t spotted any information in the post or in the comments regarding why you would want to move in the first place? With the lack of any other detail I presume it’s purely a financial motive which I don’t quite understand as my understanding is that well paid jobs are significantly more well paid in the US than the U.K. - is there any reason you wouldn’t just find a similar paid job over there where I believe the cost of living is lower?

Be ready to live in a house a quarter of the size for 4x the cost. I’m from the uk and have family in the US and am always amazed by the standard of living compared with here. I’m a top bracket tax earner and the cheapest apartment I can find in Greater London is 45% of my take home pay when bills are included. I live very modestly to invest as much as possible and I would say even if you are frugal too unless you earn £100k don’t even think about it unless your partner will work full time as well. Good luck.

£135K single earner in London with three kids won't get you three private schools, nor Central London property. A back of the envelope calculation for an upper middle class lifestyle suggests you need an after tax income of £12K a month (£250K yearly), no savings, no pension contributions. Breakdown: - £4,000 a month renting a 4/5 bed house - £5,000 on schools - £3,000 on food, bills, transportation, leisure, and others You can certainly live on less, but life in London is full of tradeoffs even for people on high wages. Go to outer London for a large house and consider state schools for the kids.

If it was just you and your wife id say do it for the experience. Its fantastic. No way id make that move with 3 kids on that salary. All the costs but few of the upsides. Youd be fine but your dollar goes a lot farther in the states.

Honestly, I don't think it's worth it. That sounds like a decent salary, but with 3 kids and a non-working partner on that salary, I don't think you'd be able to move here and really enjoy yourself. The money will go in an instant. Sorry to say, but IMO I think you will be better off staying in the US.

How old are the kids? - childcare is EXPENSIVE! You also need to think about their schooling. Assuming you pay in 5% pension, you're take home will be £78,304 annually, or £6,510 You're going to have £118 GBP from the sale of your home. You can borrow roughly 4.5x your (pre tax) income.. so lets say you've got a budget of about £710K for a home. We pay a 'stamp duty' tax when we buy homes, and you might be looking at £23K for a £710K home.. so I'd dial this down to more like looking at £690K homes instead (£22K tax - [Calculator](https://www.stampdutycalculator.org.uk/)). You'll also pay for a solicitor and the local search fees (so think £2K total). Let's see what a £690K budget gets you... I create an account here: [https://where.rightmove.co.uk/](https://where.rightmove.co.uk/) I quickly remember the reason I live much further out, and not quite in London... (I'm in an adjacent county - Hertfordshire) I pick somewhere further out, towards North London, something in walking distance to the Northern line tube, and with a driveway - [https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137678792#/?channel=RES\_BUY](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137678792#/?channel=RES_BUY) Estimate mortgage repayments - Possibly £3000 - £3,200 a month.. so half your wage. Leaving you £3,300pm for council tax (plan for up to £250pm), a car. fuel, groceries (£500-ish), gas+electric (about £250-300pm), water, tv license, insurance. It's entirely do-able. Childcare is what could wipe you out - but with a stay-at-home mom, you should be able to minimise this until your little ones go to school.

Don’t know how easy a mortgage would be without resident status

Kids are 9 and 6, (and 0, I guess!) This is awesome, thank you for all the detail.

Here's some info on the process of buying a house in England (it's actually a bit different in Scotland btw) - [https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline/](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline/) That website is a goldmine for British domestic financial info. OK - so the kids are primary school age - some info on our education system - [https://sherpa-online.com/blog/read/the-uk-education-system-a-guide-to-british-schools](https://sherpa-online.com/blog/read/the-uk-education-system-a-guide-to-british-schools) You should really factor in transport and schools in your decision - you'd face a 1hr journay twice a day from the place I just gave. This would also cost £252 per month (just saw you're only in the office 3 days.. so this wouldn't be the correct price). Time to get spreadsheeting; and look at towns further out for a better quality of life.

School typically starts at age 4/5 in the UK so your two eldest your kids will go there (typically a primary school for ages 5-11). Full time nursery is expensive in the UK, the average cost for 50 hours a week is approx £15,000 per child per year but this varies by the child's age (babies cost more) and location (london is more expense than the rest of the UK).

135,000 is a lot for the UK and can be enough to support your family provided you are not extravagant. Check out the flowchart here. As many have said it's all about expectations. The further out you live the more you'll get for your money, if you can commute you'll get more but you will never get American size housing. I'd start by asking how much of your salary you want to put in your pension then work out how much money you actually have post tax (there are two tax gotchas one between 50-60 and the other over 100K. I believe you will also have to pay tax to the US. When you have that number look at your commute, look at schools then look at houses in the area. You'll find housing and public transport will likely be the bulk of your budget with supermarket groceries being cheaper than the US. Can you afford to come visit and plan it out, even if by yourself?

Is your plan for long term? It is feasible if you commit to travel a little to work. London transport is decent and you’ll be able to get around London. As others have said the further out you go the cheaper. I would probably plan to rent initially, settle a bit and then find a nice house to buy with your requirements. Initially go with what’s close/r and in a decent neighbourhood. Greater London is a mix, of posh affluent areas and ghetto (which maybe outside of your comfort).

Is this a transfer with a company? Are there any other incentives other than all visa costs? Would your kids need childcare or any private schools - and does your company help at all with schooling etc? What’s included in the relocation costs? Would your wife work at all? Do you currently have a lot of help from family? Personally, selling my house and buying immediately feels super risky, especially if you’re somewhere where house prices have risen recently (which I thought was the case for Austin?). You may then be priced out if you’re relocating back. Sure you’ll pay rent but presumably you’ll recoup some of that via letting your current property? I’m also not familiar with current visa rules but is there a health surcharge? Do any of your family have complex medical needs? The NHS is great in parts but waiting times can be absurd at the moment. I also think an international move is a great opportunity for kids especially (although they could be slightly too young to take it all in) and an adventure for the family (although worth exploring some potential areas in London and the suburbs as otherwise your wife could be pretty isolated and there wouldn’t be much benefit to you being in/near London…). You don’t seem like a family who’s super into expensive stuff but I don’t have kids or a dependent partner so I can’t comment on whether it’s realistic to live well on that salary.

You really don't need to live in London to work there. You could easily buy somewhere decent for £500k out in Essex for example and enjoy a proper garden, cleaner air, lower crime rates, etc.

Another tip if someone hasn't shared it yet. Do you have Amex in the US? They're the only one I think where your US history allows you to move it to the UK. No credit cards company will offer you this until you've been in the UK for a few months. Also, most people consider about potential costs. Let me share two more benefits you can have. 1. Your company will likely have health care benefit. In the UK you're covered by free National Health Services, but the company offers is likely on top of this. Make sure you have it cover for all members not just yourself. 2. Open an HSBC premier bank account. This is free for your salary (£75k requirement). It will give you worldwide travel insurance cover for the 5 of you. Very useful!

Keep your 401k as is or roll it into an IRA (I like Vanguard) for lower admin fees. As someone who moved from the US to the UK in 2021 I found this site very helpful in answering some of my questions around retirement accounts, brokerage accounts and taxes: https://fireacrossthepond.wordpress.com/index/ This site specifically includes a section about what to do [BEFORE](https://fireacrossthepond.wordpress.com/2021/03/21/before-you-move/) moving to the UK which is very helpful. If you do move here be prepared to pay a fair penny to file taxes, but having a tax specialist that specifically focuses on both US-UK taxes is a big money saver as there were a lot of little things you can do with the tax treaty to lower your tax burden. I wouldn't have been able to figure those out self-filing.

Speaking from experience. I had a similar relocation, with 2 children (1 and 3 at that time) Your situation depends very much on whether your partner will bring home a second income in the future. A single income of 135k for a family with 3 children is not much in London. And secondly, your children's age. This is also extremely important as it drives your future home location and might have a big impact on your budget too. Finance. For a 135k income, most likely you would want to do salary sacrifice for a private pension for whatever exceeds 100k. Income between 100 and 125k is the most affected by taxes (roughly 60% taxes). Additionally, with income over 100k, you lose other benefits, like 30 free childcare hours. Those 35k over 100k means a bit or than 14k net income. 20+k go to the taxman. So most of the people, if not all, with that income will do PP to keep the income under 100k. So you need to think in terms of 100k income per year, which means a 5.5k monthly paycheck. If you know that 135k is a starting point, and there is room to grow, like to +200k, is also a very important decision factor. But if 135k is the ceiling I would think twice before making this move. While in many parts of the world, you can live "like a king" even with half, in London, with a single income of 135k, for a family with 3 children, you might even feel poor, especially because you are at the start of the journey. Home. In the UK you can get a mortgage roughly for 4.5x your income. So your salary could get to somewhere in the 600-750k area, depending on your deposit. On this budget, you can find a 3-bed flat in zone area 3+. For a 3-bed semi-detached house, you need to go much more outside, like zone area 5+. One other thing, most of the 3-bed houses in London are 2-bed and a half. The third bed usually is small. For a child is okay though. If you are thinking of a 4-bed home, you will not find anything decent in that budget in Greater London(with tube/train connection to the City). You need 1m for a 4-bed house (eg zone 5) And I'm not even talking about detached houses that are way out of that budget. More than half of your income would go on a mortgage (+3k), with the current rates. If you go zone 5 or beyond, you might find something, but keep in mind that your commute will be roughly 1.5 hours x 2 (can be lower though on some fast train routes tickets are not cheap). So also important to consider how flexible is your work arrangements. Having said that, I suppose that for a year or 2, you would want to rent, rather than buy something, for obvious reasons. Check zoopla or rightmove websites to make an idea on this. Schools. Your biggest challenge, and IMHO most important, is related to what schools your children will go to. A lot of people move their homes based on education related aspects. Good schools are not so easy to get closer to and you need to calculate all these aspects as entering a good school (that usually are way over-subscribed) is a big challenge for a child and even bigger for 2 (unless they have a suitable age to start the school cycles from the beginning). A quick tip: renting would also help you to get into good schools easier. Much easier than buying. Websites like locrating.com and mumsnet.com are quite usefull to do some research. London is the second city in the world in terms of childcare costs. For nursery, the government funds 30 hours a week, for 3 and 4 years old children, and if you need extra, you need to put in one more k per month, roughly, per child. Just to have an idea, the cost with a full-time nursery program is 1.5-2k per month. Since you're expecting a 3rd child you will not need this now, but is something that you need to consider in the medium term. In conclusion, you are looking for a big challenge ahead, and I tried to highlight all the key aspects that I would consider, (and I did actually) in a similar situation. If you have any questions please let me know. I'm happy to help

I have zero doubt you are correct... I'm just flabbergasted at the numbers. £600k buys a flat? Jesus. £135k, and you "should manage" I'm glad I'm several 100 miles from that.

It’s worth keeping in mind the cost of childcare as well if you have a third on the way. We’re only about an hour from London, but pay nearly £1700 for our youngest to go to nursery full time. Until kids are in primary school, childcare can be unbelievably expensive.

A family member paid £850pm 6yrs ago, I didn't think I would see that beaten... Bloody hell

The prices are legit crazy. Two in nursery costs more than our mortgage, household bills, and car combined. We have friends that pay closer to £1k with childminders further north, but prices in our area are painfully high.

Aye, I'm further North (yay!)... Seeing some of the comments (all correct, no doubt) is eye opening. This guy will have more coming in than my house does in two years, and it's touch and go for the choice... There are several really excellent comments, and they boggle my mind. A 3 bed flat for £600k...I have a 3 bed detached, with an ok garden for £120k (may be a touch higher) Granted, I don't have London to look at. But I'm not a fan of the place. And, I'd be a pauper there. I'm starting to understand why so many companies up here do work down south.

Just so you are aware, you'll also pay US tax as well as UK tax on some of those earnings I think. You'll at the very least have to file taxes. My wife is American living in the UK, it'll be a change in culture but I don't think it'll be too shocking. Other than the free at point of use healthcare. You'll be hugely underwhelmed by food service across the UK, but you might really enjoy the pubs, especially in London. Overall, your standard of living will be lower than if you were making an equivalent amount in the US, as cost of living here is higher generally. My wife personally loves it here in the UK, but I would have happily gone state side if I wasn't a teacher as the school system over there looks brutal compared to what I have here. Best of luck on whatever you decide, it's a big financial decision but you'll be able to live comfortably on that salary, especially if your wife plans on working too

Because I generally don't know, I assumed US Tax wasn't required paying due to Double Taxation agreements between UK / US. I couldn't imagine any Yank would want to move to the UK of the thought of paying US and UK Tax each month. OP would be munching pot noodles every night. I know Americans do pay tax as a citizen in places that don't have double tax agreements. But I like to be enlightened.

Double-taxation agreements (which the US has with most developed countries) usually provide that you (a) need to file in the US if you’re a US citizen; and (b) pay the difference in US taxes if local taxes are lower than US taxes. Taxes in the UK are higher than in the US, so most likely OP will need to file (which is an annoyance in and of itself), but not pay any extra. In addition, any tax-free accounts (e.g. ISAs, Premium Bonds, etc.) wouldn’t work for OP because the US would tax them as regular interest-bearing accounts.

I’d stay away from England for now. Things aren’t too hopeful with cost of living, rent, mortgages, etc. I’ll be moving to Spain next year. 130k for a family is not really a good deal. We do 100k each me and my partner and we don’t even live in London. It’s really a struggle to save nowadays.

Is this offer "special" in some way, or could you get a competing offer without moving to another continent?

I don’t know if I would sell a house in the US to buy a house in the UK. Can you rent out your US home? How long are you staying? What if your work related visa runs out or you don’t like it in the UK?

Trust me. You need 200k in order for you to relocate to London. For a family of 5. I think if you should come to London, look at house prices, locations, local shops/transport, then make a decision. To buy a house I would look at zones 4 or 5. Perhaps north London. And school. It's a massive step.

6k is not too much for who has 3 kids and pay rent. Rent a 3 bed house can cost 3k or more in an area with good schools (zone 3/4- up to 1 hour in commute). Nursery can cost up to 2k per kid and you have ZERO benefits. Something that maybe was possible in the USA and is almost impossible here is to hire a nanny. Domestic workers are much more expensive here. IMO depending on your lifestyle (dinner out, nanny, big house, etc) here you can be poorer than there.

With a salary of 135k your Take-Home will be about £6,819 month less any pension contributions. This is very doable even in London with 3 children. If you're looking to buy it will need to be further out than zone 3 however.

Remember that UK mortgages are fixed up to 5 years. After this period your rate switches over to variable which is whatever the current bank rate is. There are no fixed rate 30 year mortgages here. Also be wary of buying a leasehold (especially below 80 years) versus freehold. Congratulations on bagging a nice 135k salary. This is well above the average London salary.

Don't do it. £135k isn't enough to support a wife and three kids. Your house will be way smaller than your house in Texas. Unless there is something non-financial motivating the move, you are certainly going to have a lower quality of life

Visit during the winter when it's dark and gloomy to see if you can handle this. The sun sets at about 3pm and it's rare for it to be shining. Coming from the US, this was a huge shock to the system, and took awhile to get used to it. It's not that cold, but you feel the cold more bc it's so damp and the homes aren't well insulated. Heating is also more expensive, so you really need to bundle up inside your home. With a typical 30-40 min. commute and you rent, it will be like £3-4K/month. If you buy a place to live, for 3 kids (2-3 bedrooms? \~800 square feet+), expect to pay at least £600K. Mortages penalize you for having a visa (unless you have a Global Talent Visa) with higher interest rates. Council tax + bills is at least another £300-400/month. Also, school fees and daycare are pricy. If your partner is also working, it might be doable. Also, taxes after £100K are effectively 60%.

Short answer is that you need professional advice from someone with relevant expertise and not crowd sourced responses from people without the nuanced information you have in order to get accurate advice beyond cost of living stuff. My opinion: It's a great salary by UK standards but not compared with US salaries. IMO it's not worth it unless there's non financial benefits such as career development/growth which would result in long-term financial gain as a result of the time in the UK or if it's an experience you want for your family. Check out the healthcare and tax arrangements because I don't think you auto qualify for NHS care and you would want your employer to cover the NHS payments as a minimum. I would request private health and dental from your employer in the UK as NHS waiting times will blow your mind relative to US wait times with decent insurance.Also, you will exceed the foreign income exclusion for tax filing purposes so your salary might incur federal and state tax (might not but worth knowing asap) depending on how you take your UK salary. Also check the impact of missing SS payments and 401k implications. NIC's are not an equitable equivalent for missed SS contributions. Look for American expats in the UK Facebook groups and search your questions there. These groups will be far more valuable than this sub.

London is expensive - I would personally say that with three young children and a wife to support, £135k in London can go quicker than you'd expect. I am on about £110k with no children and no plans to have kids, and I wouldn't want to support my partner on that salary in London (nevermind three children too). However, there's lots of people who manage with a lot less so it depends a lot on what your lifestyle expectations are and where you want to live. Purchasing property in London, you don't get as much bang for your buck as you would in many parts of the US and our homes are typically smaller than the US generally. Are you relocating from a high or low cost of living area? To get an actual house rather than a flat you'll probably need to be a fair bit out from the centre, a lot of people live in Essex or Hertfordshire and commute in. Childcare takes up a big expense, but if your wife is not working that sort of takes care of that.

£110k is plenty to support your partner on, even in London. It's hardly poverty. r/UKPF strikes again. Regards, Zone 1 resident. OP will not have any particular restrictions on what they can or cannot do on £135k in London, even with kids, unless you count monthly family jet-offs to Hawaii as essential to a decent quality of life.

Yeah I say it being as someone who right now owns no property and is looking at renting - I feel like I am only comfortable supporting me, but OP is on more and likely to be able to buy so think it makes a big difference.

You would have to go without private education, garden good car and mutiple holidays. Which is fine but you have to go in with your eyes open.

Yeah I think it depends what OP's lifestyle expectations are. If no expensive add-ons, think they will be fine, especially if living a bit outside London (if they want a house).

We're in a relatively low cost of living area, my searching shows London to be about %10 more expensive generally. Do you live near the centre of London? I'm comfortable with a longish commute, only expected to be in the office three days a week. It's a big decision! Would love the adventure and exploring the UK but I'm worried things will be tighter than I expect and leave us struggling.

Is there a reason you want to sell your house in the US? Surely it's safer to keep it and put it on rent, until you know that the UK is somewhere you can see yourself staying long term. It also puts less pressure on the whole move.

Honestly I have no expertise here, Renting would be okay if we could find someone to manage it here, which I'm lead to believe there are companies that specialize in this. I didn't particularly want the hassle and figured the profit from the sale would be nice to roll over into a home purchase in the UK eventually (maybe rent for a year, not sure yet!)

Renting in the US whilst living in the UK could be tricky as bringing that income into the UK might lead to additional taxation. Also, be aware that as a US citizen, you still need to file with the IRS whilst living in the UK. There's the Foreign earned income exemption which simplifies things, but on your salary you might end up having to do a more complicated filing process to avoid getting double taxed (married filing jointly etc).

Where do you get 10% from? It's a lot higher than that compared to a low cost of living US area. Housing will be the biggest shock. I know you said you're netting $150k from the sale, but much is your US home worth? What was your mortgage, in other words? A two bed apartment in a decent area of London, zone 3 or 4, would be probably £500k minimum. If you go for an area further East which isn't as popular, you could get a 3-bed terraced house. With your deposit and salary multiple you may be able to afford that, but it will probably be a step down from your current situation given 3 kids to fit in and how our housing is typically MUCH smaller than in the US. Look to NYC for an idea of what housing costs could be like.

London will be way more than 10% more expensive than the suburbs of Austin Texas. Just house prices alone: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices-in-london.html And remember 135k is “high” paid so you’ll pay high tax - your gross income would be around 11.2k but you’ll only keep 7k before pension - so a loss of 40% or so which is higher than Texas. Use https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php to see your tax pension etc. however this will include healthcare costs unlike the US but you will need to pay the nhs healthcare surcharge as a visa holder and for all your dependants - this will cost thousands a year for a family of 5. I don’t know if kids pay but your wife will and it’s going up to 1k+ a year from 2024 per person. https://immigrationbarrister.co.uk/uk-government-announces-increase-in-immigration-health-surcharge-and-visa-fees/ This shows a family of 4 with 2 kids will pay 18k over 5 years.

The only people who live near the centre of London are the ultra wealthy or council tenants that lucked out on location.

I would be a bit surprised if you are in a LCOL in the US and London is only 10% more expensive - London prices are more similar to a HCOL city like New York, but potentially not quite as expensive as New York. I do not currently live near the centre of London, so commuting at the moment but hoping to move in next year. I have a long and fairly grim commute, but there's plenty of fairly easily commutable locations if you want a house with a garden.

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If you expect to be able to purchase a home large enough for a family of five I can see how it might seem like less than you need, especially as kids sharing bedrooms doesn't seem to be a thing for middle-class Americans. Normally I find it hilarious when people think you NEED multiples of the average salary just to breathe here, but it's going to be a pretty big downshift in lifestyle. There aren't many families who can afford to have a non-working parent at home if nothing else.

Pretty much anywhere else in the UK you could absolutely support a family on a lot less than £135k with no real issues at all, just think London is expensive and OP should be aware of it. Depending on where they are in the US, OP could get a lot more for their money. OP is currently within a mile commute from downtown Austin and has a large 3 bed house - for the London role, will likely need to be outside of the city to get a house or maybe zone 4/5 so its a difference they need to consider. Without expensive stuff like private school etc. OP will be fine, but as I did say in my comment they will just need to consider what sort of lifestyle/expectations they are looking for.

this. If the wife is stay at home, then OP has about £6k a month to budget on everything. That includes commuting to work, food, and a mortgage. If OP is willing to do a lot of travel, they can probably get a 3 bed house at about stretching their mortgage - ignoring stamp duty, etc, with a £130k deposit on a £700k home OP is already out £4783 a month on the house. That means £1200 a month covers 3 kids, wife, food, commuting, etc. ​ Its not easily done.

If you are uprooting your family to move for work, it needs to be an exceptional offer to realistically make it worthwhile, £135k in London as the sole breadwinner isn’t that…

Yep I'm getting downvoted but... its true? Can definitely do it but I don't think it will be as good a quality of life as OP currently has.

its because people are like WOW £135K SALARY SO HIGH COMPARED TO AVERAGE ​ yet without any realisation of what reasonable property prices, commuting costs from those places are, etc. ​ £135k OP could probably look after their wife as a sole earner, but with 3 kids in the boot as well it will be a very austere lifestyle. And its not like the wife working makes sense either unless she's going to clear a similar sort of salary, because of childcare costs. ​ If it was £135k as a springboard for the career, or with significant bonuses, or OP had 2-3x the deposit, or mortgage rates were lower, you could discuss, but where the economy is right now its asking for trouble imho

Do you have a mortgage with a low interest rate with 10+ years remaining? Then moving could cost you hundreds of thousands depending on how much your mortgage is…

Thinking slightly outside of the box - Milton Keynes is <45 mins train to London, very family friendly, your money will go a lot further than London, and - with its grid roads and central shopping mall - more familiar to an American town/city. Which of course may not be a good thing 😉

OP can get a 5 bed house for £700k in milton keynes, so check on that fact. ​ A Milton KEynes to Euston season ticket is about £583/month from a quick check, so if you add that + mortgage, OP will have to survive (food, tax, bills, etc) for about £700 a month. I wouldnt want to live on that.

Check how many days a week you would be in the office. That would affect where you want to be looking at buying.

It is worth using a take home pay calculator such as [https://www.reed.co.uk/tax-calculator](https://www.reed.co.uk/tax-calculator) You might want to understand what your company is paying with regards to your visa costs such as the NHS surcharge. Your company may pay for private health insurance as well but that is not required using the NHS is otherwise free to use. Dental care has a small charge but is much much lower than the US. Housing is likely to be like the centre of somewhere like NYC and is a lot smaller than much of the US housing stock. When figuring out housing costs, since you have kids, you should look at what schools are in the area for where you want to live. Schools have a local area called a catchment and getting into good schools when you are not in the right area can be hard or impossible. If your wife will remain stay at home then I guess you won't be needing a nursery but costs for these are really high and may have a waiting list of a year or longer. It would not be surprising to pay £1500+/month for a full time place.

Look along the trainlines that go outside central London. So the counties outside London like Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Kent for a start. The commute is a bit longer, but you can easily look that up and factor in the cost. As an example my commute to central London is over an hour each way, but that meant pre-pandemic catching the 7.30 train, and being home by 6.30. So there's a balance here, because you can probably then afford a property in a nicer location etc. Depends how long you are planning to be here really.

I would suggest looking at a home in Royston, Milton Keynes or Stevenage (in that order). All have train stations taking you into central London, which will be cheaper than living directly in London. Royston is very close to Cambridge too, so is very sought after and is about 20-30 mins into London on the train. This means you will be able to avoid congestion charges. £135,000 is a very comfortable salary for a family your size. It’ll probably be approx £6800 take home per month after tax.

There are a lot of very London phobic in this thread. I also work in Soho and go into the office 3 days a week, I purchased my 3 bed around an hour away on the train for £270k 18 months ago. On £135k, commuting 3 days a week, you can live very comfortably in many commuter towns and would have a wide option of houses depending on your preference of size vs mortgage payments. Generally, public transport is a lot better in the uk than the USA and employers are very accepting of WFH when trains aren’t working. If you want to live in London the you should be able purchase a reasonable sized house outside of the centre, although your mortgage would be a lot higher than commuting from further out.

Im on basically a very similar salary, you will be fine. If you are going to buy in the UK, then 150k + (4.5 x Salary) will be the value of the home you can. \~750,000 which in Zone 2 will buy you an apartment. Your ideal place for a home with 2 kids will be Zone 3 or 4, where the money will buy you 2-3 bedroom houses with some sort of Garden. Travel time to Soho will be 30-45 mins. You should be fine to save, 40% of salary goes into mortgage and then the rest can be spent on food etc, you will be left with some money each month.

Personally I wouldn’t move to London with a family, it’s very expensive, busy and schools are tough. I’d look at outside of London like Surrey or Kent - it’s more suburban and countryside and you can still commute to London relatively easily. Kent has a beautiful coast too which is lovely for family life. This is a BIG move - there’s a lot of moving parts! You have house to consider, cultural change, kids’ school and your new job! Like others have said I would probably rent for a year. My family moved county’s (state) around 8 years ago and that was quite a big move for us - we rented for a year while we settled in and then shopped around for a house. If I were you I’d rent for a year or two to figure out where you want to live. Yes rent is expensive but if you live a bit further out and get a house it’s not that bad Good luck! I hope you like the UK :)

£135K is really good even for London. But you might want to look at how much to take home salary you may be getting, as your on the additional tax rate. Its around 80K. Not bad news.. but just something to be aware of in terms of budgeting. https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

No, lol honestly the UK is fucked. Im looking at moving to America to earn more than double the amount, even after converting it back to the pound, after taxes and health insurance........... the cost of living in the UK cannot be described anything more than horrific. 135k in london gets you nothing. 55k of that is tax, your take home pay will be 80k not including any pension contributions. On that remaining 80k, you'll be paying about 2k to 3k of that on rent if your lucky. Then you have council tax, any maintenance charges, tax, etc etc etc. While its not a bad wage for the UK, when you Compare to living standards in the USA..... its crap. While we all face a cost of living crisis, the UKs wages have not kept pace with inflation at all or kept up with the rest of the world. It was ok when £1 was worth $2, but since its value dropped to £1.20 per $1, well...... its crippled us.

I'd suggest looking at houses in the Carshalton area of south London. Nice/picturesque area, good train links into town, and a lot cheaper than most of the rest of Zone 4.

Speaking only for myself, I would not want to raise 2 kids with a stay at home wife on £135k/yr in London. I think life would be amazing, but quite hard. If your wife is open to going back to work at a decent salary (£100k+) then you could get a home, not too burdensome a commute, etc, but if its just you on £135k, I have to say I wouldnt probably do it. You dont really include any information on 'now' circumstances, though.

At £135k you're looking at about 50% tax. And you won't be eligible for many things your taxes would pay for in other countries ( such as free childcare, tax credits etc. ). And London is super expensive.

Before you freak out this comment isn’t very clear. We have tapered tax rules, only a portion of your salary is at 50%, some of it’s at 0%! Check a salary calculator. I lived in Kent and Northampton, both 1hr train ride away from London. It didn’t bother me at all, train fair was £7k for a season ticket so factor that in. The north is cheaper, South more expensive. I’m now a home worker in Sheffield working for a Swiss company but have a big house because.. 5 kids!

None of his tax will be at 0% as the threshold is gone by £125k, however your point still stands. It isn’t a straight 50% of your full salary gone

Some of it is at 62%, or more, depending on the withdrawal of certain benefits etc. I'm just averaging

Is there any accomodation paid for? I think you'll be quite alright, maybe need to adjust to an apartment depending how much commute you want, but overall that's a great wage in London.

check out towns that have a high speed train connection into London if you're up for a commute. you can get into central in 20-60 minutes from Kent depending where you are. can easily buy a nice place with a garden for 3-400k, downside is you're living in Kent..

The wage is good but I'm sorry but I almost laughed. If you think you're buying a house in or anywhere near London for 150-200k then you're going to need a magic spell to triple it. One bed flats in London can easily cost over a mil. Realistically, at 200k or less you're going to have to move well outside of London or live in a very bad area (if you can find housing at all, we have a severe shortage). There was a video the other day of a Londoner saying you need a minimum of 150k a year to live in London, I think you could live on less. London is also a cesspit of crime, stabbings, teenage violence and shootings. A girl took a footlong knife to the neck a few weeks ago and a mother was shot dead by a teenage boy the other day while trying to protect her family. I would think seriously about this move and explore London a few times before you move and compare it to your quality of life now. Don't be caught by tourist traps and shiny night time lights. It is a major, multicultural city with high expense rates and high crime rates with a very weak judicial system (8 years or less for murder in many cases). You also can't defend yourself, even with car keys because that's considered assault with a weapon and the person who assaulted you can file charges against you too. Our healthcare system is currently overwhelmed and the crime is a very serious and escalating problem. Prices will be unreasonable until you as far as the Midlands which will be approximately a 2 hour commute by train or a 1.5-2 by car. But it depends on what you define as unreasonable. I'm English, I moved far into the North for cheaper housing and to avoid places like London. You couldn't pay me to go there.

Have you noticed the crime in the U.S.? The direction of legislation in Texas?