HELP!! KL offer 5000 month, is this enough?

Perhaps you info about the currency.....you mean 5000 Ringgit, USD or Euro ?

Sorry. I mean 5000 ringgit per month + 44k ringgit every 6 month

Not if the 44k is commission and may or may not happen.  I have met quite a few people who come to Malaysia on a lot of promises and once they arrive, find out everything is very different. They dont get work permits unless the person proves themselves and they get 3 months to do so. If it is with a wealth management company, I would be very very wary. They chew people up and spit them out regularly. There is a constant stream coming and going. Most leave broke.

good advice from gravitas. i doubt there will be savings. if u leaving a job in the uk to take this up, then not advisable. but if u dont have a job and are doing this for some international experience and the opportunity to live in malaysia, u can figure out ways for it to work. but again, if ur thinking of savings, that wont be possible.

Sounds legit Why not be fair to them ask for 10k/month.. you have more for cost of living and they save some

Angryrodent wrote:

Sounds legit Why not be fair to them ask for 10k/month.. you have more for cost of living and they save some

Good point... ....nego up your monthly income by reducing the bonus payment after 6 months and have if fixed in the contract

One other point is I think the tax on bonus payments is really high. I read that it was 60%, but it would be good to check this out. If that is the case, then it will make a huge dent in the extra income.  You will be paying income tax and it will be at 26% for 2014 and 25% for first six months of 2015. Not possible to leave Malaysia for more than 2 weeks for leisure purposes without the number of days to become tax resident is zeroed. Once you have lived in Malaysia for 183 days in a calendar year, you will pay normal tax rates:

                 2015
         0-5,000       0%                                                 
5,000-10,000      1% RM50
10,001-20,000    1%  +RM50
20,001-35,000    5%  +RM750
35,001-50,000   10%  +RM1,500
50,001-70,000   16% +RM3,200
70,001-100,000   21% +RM6,300
100,001-250,000  24% +RM36,000
250,001-400,000  24.5% +RM36,750
Exceeding 400 000  25%  (+?)

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for the replies.

Yes it is a good ideia to renogtiate! I will try that today.

No, the 40k is not commission based, they say is like part of my annual salary. As per the contract it would be :

Base - 60k ringgits a year
Lump sum payment - 88300k ringgits a year paid in two instalments (June and December).

I am also entitled to receive a shift allowance ranging between 600-1200 ringgits per shift.

Well I am an intern in the company in the UK and they have offered me this new job. So if I say no I'll probably be jobless, and I do love the  thought of living in Malaysia and it would be a great experience personal and professionally.

My main concern was the fact that 5000RM would not be enough to live a comfortable life!

So you wont be living on RM5k per month really. You have the shift allowance and after the first 6 months you have a lump sum (more than your salary) to carry you through if you need more than RM5k. You will have to watch the pennies at the beginning. The biggest expense will be housing and associated costs (utiities, internet, tv, phone, etc.), but you could control that by flatsharing.

Just remembered, foreigners are supposed to be 27 years old (23 years old if an ITC graduate) and have a degree and at least 2 years of professional experience. Not sure how your company will get round that, but I guess they know about the rule?

Not sure if they know about that! I am 24 soon to be 25 and I have a masters degree. They hiring as if I was a "home country resident". But today I'll ask about the work permit as I am insure how that works.

So, overall is not a bad salary, and if I behave myself (not spending loads of money) I will be able to save?

Again, thank you very much for your replying

Depending on your lifestyle, you can save. A sensible salary would be RM7-10k per month. It is a very high salary for Malaysia at your age, but the COL here is getting quite high, especially if you want to transport your current lifestyle here. I would say that if that is the case, you will spend the same amount here as in the UK.

depends on your qualification and work experience

My currently life is style is OK, I live in London and I mostly go out during weekend (Friday or Saturday) and is not every weekend, I manage to save around £400 every month, and my monthly salary is like £1106. However, I still live with my dad so I don't pay rent.

My weakness would be travelling, I love travelling and whenever I have a chance I travel and being so close to places like Thailand, Indonesia I will be travelling for sure.

I do not eat out a lot during weekdays, I prefer cooking and then take food to work so I will be saving on that.

I wanted to keep this lifestyle in KL, I know I will be paying rent and the bill associated to it, but I saw some rent prices and is still very very cheap comparing to London.

Hi John,

I just finished my Master degree in September. I worked for 1 and half as a sales assistant in a store in London.
I have started an internship in HR with the company in June, had the interview 2 weeks ago for a position in KL and was made an offer yesterday. So I guess I do not have much experience in HR, only 6 months really.

Thank you for your reply

Where is the office location?  That will have an affect on the type of rent you will pay. However if you just want to share a flat with others, you can do that for about RM1500 a month. You can rent a place of your own from about RM2000 per month.

It is a bit more outdoorsy here and people are very sociable (except not usually with anyone from HR ) So you may find yourself attending more social functions so you meet people and do not feel isolated. That of course costs money.

You may find the opportunities for travel are actually quite limited because of getting time off. The holiday allowance in Malaysia is very low (only about 10 days per year after several years) so make sure you get UK time off if possible. Weekends and Public Holidays are of course possible, but can be incredibly crowded. Avoiding the Monsoons in different places at different times of the year is quite an art.

Office is based in Petaling Jaya, is it an expensive area? I am willing to pay between 1000 - 1500 ringgits. I've seen like studio flats for that price, not sure if fake or not and can't really remember the area . I am entitled to 21 days of vacations per year.

I am going for the experience obviously, but I am quite responsible and I really want to save money and I will probably cut a bit on the social events and choose wisely what events to attend.

Petaling Jaya is a huge area. There are expats living there, but probably not so visible as closer to KL City, Bukit Bintang, Mont Kiara, Damansara, etc. If you want to check on rooms try using www.ibilik.my or www.mudah.com.my. You should spend your housing budget wisely in terms of living somewhere decent and safe.

Hey,

Just checked and the office is in Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya.

What would be a decent and safe area that is close enough from the office and is not extremely expensive? 

Thank you in advance

There are bus routes from One Utama to say Brickfields for access to other parts of KL and suburbs, but there is no mass transport in Bandar Utama, so you will need to know a bus route from your office location to any place where you could possibly live.

Yes its enough for a single person, not a family. The PLUS part, is that a promised bonus or what? If you dont get that 44K, 5000 is still enough but if you dont get it will you still be satisfied?

RM 5k is considered not enough for expat.

housing around Bandar utama (consider up scale) rental for 1 private unit is around RM 1.7k -RM 2k

after deduct expenses , travel and tax you will end up nothing.

advisable expat to get offer around 7k min for comparable in UK.

Regards,

Hi cvco

I would not go (or I would negotiate the salary) if I would be earning only RM 5k per month. That would be way less than what I earn in the UK as an intern. However I am also considering the shift allowance and the 44k every 6 months so I think, well I hope, that I will be fine.

I do think that the first 6 months will be the hardest in terms of money.

Thank you for your reply

Hi derekchan1977,

Thank you for your reply

Yes I am aware that is not a lot for an expat. But they have divided my salary into to parts - RM60k per month + Rm88k every six months. I will also receive shift allowance between 600 - 1200 per shift.

So, after considering all of that is not that bad.

The only problem is that the first 6 month will be quite difficult when it comes to money ( paying for rent, expenses, etc) I will be, indeed with no money after tax

hi,

email me. im a local. this deal sound fishy.
[email protected]

hi for a foreigner working in malaysia it will cost a lot..you must ask the company or whoever you dealing for this following:
if company is genuine?
if there no agent in between?
accommodation
transportation
food allowance
there is any deduction after you came?
visa
contract

then from that you can we can give you answer if your 5k is enough for living here in malaysia. then we can help you to find out if the offer is true or not. malaysia is a wonderful country but still have some bad guys around.careful for dealing with them.

if you need to pay accommodation for 5000 rm salary forget it, your salary must 10k up..you know why?we a foreign that job they offering to you is can take by a local..but local will not agree to 5k that's why they want foreign to take it..for me is big no!
but if you are not after the salary, you have savings take it, you will enjoy here in malaysia..but if you want to save...ummpp..think about it..

If KL area living cost is very high RM5K, if other place maybe can consider.

Am not saying the others are wrong, but personally, I think 5000 RM is enough for one person....I think the main thing to factor is your accommodation. Depending on what you choose, you could pay 500 RM (stay in a room in a condo, or 2500 RM, stay in fancy studio)

To give you an idea, this is what I earn and spend. I noted down daily expenses in an excel file for one year, and the below is the month that I spent the most on.

Earning 6000 RM per month..
*Note that I have a non-working wife, a 4 year old , and a 1 year old. I do not own a car.

3 Bedroom Apartment, almost unfurnished (only came with aircon and fridge) - 1500 RM per month.
Groceries - 200 - 250 RM every 2 weeks. = 500 RM per month.
Going out, movie plus eating out, plus buying random stuff for kids, plus ice cream etc, every weekend once. 200 RM X 4 = 800 RM.
Electricty = 150 RM
Phone credit - Mine  150 Rm  +  Wife  100 RM = 250 RM
Wife pocket money per month - 800 RM
----------(for below makes no difference if you are one person or family)
Unifi Internet = 149 RM
Astro  (including sports package + hd + other addons) - 160 RM
Taxi to work and back daily ( i live within 10-15 minutes taxi ride to my house) = 20 RM X 23 days = 460 RM
*Daughter education = 250 RM

Total = 4869 RM
*My daughter is homeschooled but need to pay the school in my homecountry 3000 RM per year for her to do the exams and get a certificate to allow her to join primary school.

Now, am sure if I was alone I would spend less. I still can save 1000 RM per month comfortably at the moment, and whatever I get as bonus at the end of the year adds on to my savings.In your case, the additional payment after 6 months is a bonus.

Hope that helps.

Hi xammuri,

It helps a LOT!! Thank you so much.

I mean I do not spend a lot of money and do not spend my money in luxurious things here in London so why would I do that in Kuala Lumpur?

My only concern was that I would be quite tight after paying the tax and then having to pay all of the expenses.

But taking into account your calculations, even after taxes, I think I will be fine. And like you said the money I receive every 6 months would go straight to my savings.

Additionally I also need to consider that I will be receiving a shift allowance every month, so my monthly income would probably be a lot more than RM5K

Hi JhayMonina,

Yes company is genuine and there is no agents between us ( I have been working for them for the past 6/7 months).

They are taking care of my visa, flight to KL and accomodation for the first month. I also receive a relocation payment of two times my montlhy salary.  I do not have housing nor food allowance.

One of my colleagues lives in KL and she said that taking into account I will receive shift allowances and a payment every 6 months, than RM5 is enough, she receives around the same thing and she still manage to live in a nice apartment, go to work by taxi everyday, to eat out quite a lot etc.

I do not have any friends there so for example I do not think I will be spending a lot of money in going out or eating out.

Thank you for your reply.

IT IS A GREAT HELP...YES... WE HAVE DIFFERENT WAY OF LIVING..THANK YOU FOR COMMENT.

JhayMonina > could you please use lower caps for your posts ?

many thanks,

Julien

yes its enough to live in kl...

  Hi there - so am a bit confused by your calculations as in one post you say 6kMYR per year and then per month? Strange. I have also relocated to Malaysia from the UK with my company in August this year. They ended up paying for my accommodation for 3 months as my work permit took that long to come through so I would check with them what happens if there is a backlog with processing your visa. Have you even started or have they asked you start putting together and sending your documents? Do they already have expats who have relocated to Malaysia or are one of the first? Moneywise yes definitely the first few months will be the hardest. You should aim to bring savings or have access to funds as until you do get your permit, you wont get housing or a bank account - surprised no-one has mentioned that in these posts. Also you need to factor in that you will pay tax of 26% and how are your company going to pay you your monies as you cannot "technically work" until you get your permit!! So please think it through before you go and like others have said, renegotiate your contract so you do go to 10k basic per month. 6 months is a long time to wait for more monies to come in and as someone else said, these 2x 6 month additional benefits you get will be classed as bonuses so will be charged higher. Hope this helps. CK

You can get a rental without your employment pass being processed in most places.  But altogether, it sounds ominous that it took 3 months to process atomickitten's and smacks of growing problems with immigration here to grant passes, especially when your company tries to apply for one with a low salary and you are underage.

Hi CK! Thank you for your input

It is RM60k a year, I probably forgot to put the 0 at the end.
Yes I have already started the visa process, I am still in the UK, only going to KL in February if everything goes well with visa. And I will not be one of the first expats, the company sent a few colleagues in the past.

I know, I have consider the 26% and I know that I will have to have money with me. Already start saving so I can be ok until I receive my first salary. Together with my first salary I will receive a relocation payment to help me settle in and anything I spend in temporary living I will be able to claim it back.

I already start checking for bank accounts, thinking of opening an accout with HSBC so that I can connect with the UK.

Well yes RM60 is RM5k per month?  I dont get your comment.

There is no visa (employment pass) to start off yet on your side. The company can request permission from Immigration to hire you, but you dont get the actual employment pass until you arrive in Malaysia and its pasted into your passport. I expect they just asked for your CV and perhaps references?

Standard Chartered is better than HSBC. The latter have high charges. You cant open a bank account in Malaysia until you have your employment pass. You dont need an SC account in the UK to have one here. No connection needed in any way.