This looks like your best bet, to me, for what you are looking for. Hour or two commute each way, around 600-700k school fees. Rental will be high, I don’t know how much.
if you work a MNC, will they be flexible about work from home? if you can do 1 or 2 days a week from home it will make the commute easier.
I would also raise the tuition issue with rhe company, they might be willing to raise their offer if you tell them school is out of your reach with the current offer.
230k nt sounds a lot… But if no one in your family speaks chinese or is familar with Taiwan it will be much more difficult. The issue of schooling for teenagers wont be cheap and they will have trouble intergrating into the culture here. After education costs and housing you may be left with only 70k per month and that will go fast depending on what you eat and do for entertainment. 25k a month for food for a family of 4 is fine if you eat local… Like very local. But i think its unrealistic.
I think if schooling costs are 50k total you will be able to enjoy your contract time here. This will be a key factor.
Unless there is some significant side benefit it doesnt sound that great a deal.
I don’t think anyone mentioned that tuition isn’t necessarily the main issue.
If you want them to go to good school like TAS, there’s no guarantee your kids will be accepted to attend even if you have the tuition. This is also something to consider.
I would also talk to those schools and get a realistic expectation of their ability to attend.
i think its not an expat package, its a local contract, and he has the freedom to spend money as he wishes…
he can home school the kids and roll in cash or send then private school and be left with very little
People forget that TAS is an American-style independent school and generally promotes itself as one. They literally told me when I went to a job info session that they operate as an American independent school. If you’ve ever looked at independent schools in the US, they are also primarily catering to the ultra wealthy (though in the US, you usually have a scholarship case or two in the class, and that would never happen at TAS). People from abroad often think they should send their kids to TAS so their kids can get an “American” education, but very few are people who would think, “I can afford and would prefer for my child to receive a US$30k+/yr private school education in the US”. The average “decently well off” American lives in a school district with well-resourced public schools supported by tax dollars, filled with specialists and million dollar sports facilities and AP/IB courses galore. It’s only when people want to prove they’re “even better than that” and make sure their children only ever interact with people of equal or better “caliber” than they believe themselves to be that they foot the bill for a private independent school. (Or they make an excellent case for why they need tuition assistance, in which case, they are probably dirt poor or will bring “diversity” to the school based on their race or religion)
The problem in Taiwan, however, is that parents are forced to decide if they want their child to be in the soul-destroying public education system, go to an independent school that’s still not likely the culture they come from (unless they already come from wealth), pay a lot of money for a moderately not great “English language education” at a tier 2 or 3 international school, or homeschool. There isn’t really an option in Taiwan for international students to get a copy-paste education from their home country that involves interacting with humans outside of your immediate family for most of each day.
Yeah not only are they super expensive they also have long waiting lists and all kinds of entry criteria. Taiwan just isn’t good overall in terms of the education offerings. Too many rich local people with bought foreign passports. Public schooling is a grind and actually many of the private schools grind their students down as well.
i wouldn’t say “many” private schools. More like “most” private schools. Including (especially?) “experimental” schools. Just because they say “forest” or “Waldorf” or “Montessori” does not mean they do anything but force kids to do excessive amounts of memorization and prepare for performances so they parents can feel justified in the money they spent. Just like “international” is rarely reflective of the student body.
I believe TAS does prioritize American expats who move to Taiwan for work but it’s usually pretty competitive to get in. Definitely need to talk to their admissions to understand the situation.
When I tried to get my daughter into TES I was told no chance unless a kid drops out and there’s no waiting list. On the plus side my retirement target is considerably closer.