The cost of living for a family of 4?

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Israel related Inquiries & Aliyah Questions

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amother

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 3:34 pm

Is 5,200 nis a week for a family of four a realistic income? One child in grade school, The other child in gan. No car. Outside of Jerusalem. Will not need to travel much (Most of the work is done via phone/internet at home.)

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 3:45 pm

5000 shekels a week? Do you mean a month?

Liba

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 3:56 pm

Realistic to earn or realistic to be able to live on?

amother

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:41 pm

I rounded it off about 5,200 nis a week before taxes. I wanted to know if that is a realistic income to live on for a family of 4? It's a current income, which will be the same in Israel as well. (Working for a US company)

I ask because people who live in America, NOT Israel are telling me that we wont be able to survive on an income like that in Israel. I wanted to get a more accurate answer to these questions from people who actually live there, and not from people who live here who are hopefully misinformed.

Liba

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:42 pm

I think you can live *well* on that income.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:46 pm

Amother, thats over 20,000 shekels a month. That would be living well, as Liba said.
That salary is very good. Good luck!

Tablepoetry

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:47 pm

Note - she said BEFORE taxes. So 20 800 for a month, minus taxes? That means about 13 K after taxes, no?

It's not living well by most standards, but it's definitely doable, especially if you don't need to live in an expensive area (and it seems you can pretty much live anywhere?)

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:53 pm

Ah, I missed the BEFORE tax part.

Liba

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 4:57 pm

Will that much really be taken? I guess we are in a different tax bracket.

Marion

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 11:39 pm

Tablepoetry wrote:

13K after taxes for a family of 4 with no car is DEFINITELY living well!

RachelB

Tue, Jul 16 2013, 11:44 pm

You can be very comfortable. Especially of you are a good shopper, budgeter, etc.

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:03 pm

Wait - are you aware of potential (US - income/employment) tax implications of working for your US employer? Very important to discuss with a professional; I have looked into this personally and unfortunately it's not a pretty picture.

vicki

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:11 pm

Tova. PM coming to you.
I also work for a US company and I haven't seen that it isn't a pretty picture especially if, as the OP posts, one has an unadjusted US salary.
But, I agree, the advice of an expert in US and Israeli tax law is crucial.
Good Luck OP. I think it should work out well for you.

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:21 pm

vicki wrote:

On the Israeli side there is income taxes plus paying Betuach Leumi as an atmai (self-employed). That is a large chunk. On the US side you are either an employee of your company (which I have heard can put your company at risk with the Israeli gov't coming back to them and having a liability on a portion of the PROFITS of the work you helped generate - not sure this has ever happened) or self-employed. As self-employed individual you have to pay in 15% employment tax.

I think I PM'd you once before about this issue...there are the options of the Israeli "management companies" which potentially could help you keep employment status but unless I am totally misunderstanding/gotten misleading advice, at the end of the day your net salary will be much lower than you are used to getting in the US.

Last edited by Tova on Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:22 pm

Yes, I agree vicki. Get advice from both US and Israeli tax experts. Find out your net salary and then you will know what you are dealing with. Just ensure you are considering both sides of the coin (ocean).

vicki

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:30 pm

Tova wrote:

I think I PM'd you once before about this issue.

LOL. Yes, you're right. My memory's not what it was. Shh. Don't tell my boss.

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:44 pm

vicki wrote:

Tova wrote:

I think I PM'd you once before about this issue.

LOL. Yes, you're right. My memory's not what it was. Shh. Don't tell my boss.

No prob. And to answer your PM, I definately read your prior PM's but likely through my e-mail notifications so it doesn't show "read" through imamother messages.

Marion

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 1:44 pm

I thought there was a tax treaty.

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 4:39 pm

Marion wrote:

I thought there was a tax treaty.

That only covers income tax, not self-employment. So - an Israeli resident who pays Israeli tax will most likely not owe US income tax on that income. However, it doesn't help with self-employment tax.

Tova

Wed, Jul 17 2013, 4:43 pm

Also, Israel won't tax income generated from US government pensions. Many more details, I'm sure, but nothing that I'm aware of for this situation.

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