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Q: How much is enough?
Im sure most of us that have been here for a while and plan to stay longer have given up our hopes of grandeur. A common topic on this site is finding better jobs, be it teaching, engineer ect. And im sure no one would have any complaints about a dead-end teaching job if it paid what you felt you were worth. It wouldnt even be a dead end job anymore, it would be your career.
So based on your city and lifestyle and what you plan to achieve in the future, how much ( per month) would be enough for you to be content?
I say 40,000 a month plus a decent bonus at the end of the year.
What do you guys think?
How much is enough?
This question really depends on where you live and what your priorities are.
10000 is enough for everyday life
20000 is enough for everyday life + car
30000 is enough for everyday life + car + ...... hmmmm, I guess when it gets to 30000 a lot goes to the wife's shoe budget and savings.
It's not how much you make, it's what you don't spend my dad always said. I guess you and I feel the same though, since I do make 40K a month with a nice yearly bonus and I am quite content.
i guess some people have to realize how much 40000 actually is.
mostly i would talk about 40000 after tax so i would just make a counting here:
40000 rmb are around 5000 € in germany to earn 5000€ after tax would mean you would earn almost like 140000€ a year
a master degree engineer earns around 42-45000€ a year (before tax)
meaning 40000 is tripple of what i would earn back home, while having cheaper living conditions here.
I am more than happy with my salary but i am still young, though not eager for money. 30000 is alot for me currently, though i would also be happy with 20000
mike695ca:
yeah, im not saying its not alot, but considering my current conditions. Thats what i would like! haha not saying it would happen. But its possible. Thats the sort of upper echelon for foreigners here unless its a diplomat or here on a super expat package. We all can dream haha
dom87:
its really really huge, 40000 is ALOT FREAKING MONEY
those dream jobs some foreigners always tell about are those with the incredible expat packages.
those positions are very rare as most of them are general manager and over 50 years old with 20+ years experience.
those times are now over most companies wont give out these packages anymore because there are more people who are willing to go to china nowadays.
if you earn over 20000 and you are young you can be really happy with what you got.
i earn like 30000 and i often hear crap like "oh for a foreigner nothing special" "oh not much considering you are a foreigner"
dunno what all those people think
Objective => Simple lifestyle, no car, no fancy clothes, no fancy food, good education for the kids. Wife says "top that with a home/flat, non negociable".
I was doing ok with 5K/months, but it restricted me to travel within China only.
At 10K/months, well, it pays the ticket to visit home once in a while, and allows to travel around in Asia.
At 20K/months, can travel anywhere I wish, can have a mortgage in China, and still save some.
At 30K/months, same, but with a mortgage abroad and moarrrr savings ^^
305k RMB per month. That's why I'm going to med school. 
Sick of computers. Puck 'em.
Anyway, I had no trouble working as an English teacher in China. It wasn't beneath me at all. It still isn't. Even when I achieve my dream of becoming a doctor, it still wouldn't be beneath me. It's a good job, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Personally, I was content with just 7k RMB, but I only worked for 3 months total in China. Most of my time was spent traveling. Sometimes I wish I taught English more than I traveled, though. I found it very satisfying, and I wasn't ashamed of it at all. Still aren't. Never will be.
I miss China every day. :/
dom87:
nowadays doctors arent paid good anymore unless you are the chief of medicine
not wanna burry your illusions^^
sadly the big paid jobs you have to get out of opportunity, luck and chance
Hulk:
In the U.S., invasive cardiologists are paid $519k to start out with. That quickly goes over 600k with additional years of experience.
Non-invasive cardiologists get paid around $323k. It's still really good.
You're thinking of family practice doctors, who are paid between $140k and $229k. That's still a VERY good job.
It all really depends on your situation. Do you own a home somewhere already? Will you retire here or back in your country? How many kids, etc. How about the materal desires of your wife? What can satisfy her?
I think for me 20,000 a month would be enough. Considering I can live comfortably on 10,000 I could pocket the other 10,000 in savings. That is if my wife is also working, if not I need 25,000-30,000.
"Enough" is not a money question for me. "Enough" is when I am happy. To be happy, I need a roof over my head (preferably one that doesn't leak), clothes on my body, food to eat and someone to love. The rest of the equation is inside of me and how I view things. So, it was enough when I first came to China and paying myself 10K a month and it's certainly enough now with a family and more than twice that income. If something happened and we dropped down to 5k, I am certain we can make that amount "enough" as well.
dom87:
wisely spoken.
china is to eager for money anyways, please let the foreigners dont copy that terrible habit
mike695ca:
If its not about money then why did you feel the need to share your salary? We call this a "humblebrag" and i liked how you also threw in the " i pay myself". Tried to be sneeky but we see you Mr I use echinacities to feel good about myself. We see you
xinyuren:
I don't have a salary. If you followed my comments enough here, you would know I don't work. I "pay myself" from my savings and investment dividends. My wife works so that's where the double comes from. Anyways, I don't see how 10K is bragging. That's just about 1500 usd a month! I never heard anyone bragging about that meager sum. Money is paper. I only need paper in my office and in my bathroom. What i really need is the 4 things listed in the above comment. Not necessarily a money issue.
mike695ca:
you forgot about the "more than twice that income " part but i digress.
xinyuren:
double == twice. not my income, but my wife's. I addressed that.
MissA:
xinyu, I thought you did work, that you owned a school? Am I mixing you up with another poster?
xinyuren:
Technically, my wife owns the school. I am her counseler and business consultant. It was her dream to have her own school and I'm merely helping her to fulfill it.
With a paid apartment, the two of us lived pretty comfortably on about 8,000 RMB a month and saved the rest). So I guess 10,000 (assuming the upkeep of a decent apartment approached 2,000) was 'enough' in that context.
If we'd been staying for longer I think I'd have wanted a combined income of at least 40,000 RMB per month (so, that's pretty similar to your own magic number) to facilitate a comfortable lifestyle in which we could also save for the future and travel home regularly.
I don't think there's any monetary figure you could have thrown at me to make me decide to stay permanently in China. Money was not a factor in that sense.
If you are not saving money here then what is the point really? You could just get by somewhere nice like Thailand. If you are going to put up with the hardships here (not that is is that bad) you really should be saving. I'd say in a city you can live ok on 10k a month and should probably be saving about 10k more. I really don't get the people working for 100-200 rmb per hour. What's the point? If you just want the experience, Thailand is the place to go.
mike695ca:
me, personally, i agree, but thats just our opinion. you are forgetting about all of the people, that choose and love the experience of china. There is a reason China gets more tourism than Thailand
MissA:
I've looked at the rankings and they don't seem to make sense. Russia and Malaysia also make it in to the top 10 - I can't believe that Malaysia gets more tourist arrivals than Thailand!
xinyuren:
China might get more tourism, but I this thread isn't about tourists who stay at most for only a few months and never work or try to live here..
