Stupid for Going Back to Taiwan AGAIN?

[Kingdomparadise]

The decision is yours.

[RickRoll]

Where’s that obvious advice thread?

[tando]

The completely useless obvious advice thread

I’m creating a dumping ground for nuggets of wisdom in the tradition of you may be the ebola virus if your driver’s license photo looks like this. [image] First nugget: living in a van down by the river is something you’ll have a lot of time to think about when you’re living in a van down by the river.

[anon38216271]

@Darkesontr

You already lived in TW so you know what life is like here.

Life for your wife could be lonely. There’s not a big expat community in Hsinchu, so might not easy to make friends. Baby classes and hospitals won’t be in English either, although you could just hire a Taiwanese nanny and get her to do everything.

Ultimately it’s up to your wife - can she handle moving here with a new born and with no friends, family, or husband to support her (presumably you’ll be busy with work until late every day )? I’d say that
she’ll be the one “taking one for the team”

Great points. Might want to consider where her emotional well-being is after having the baby. I love Taiwan but there were times where managing my own people mental health issues were a bit too much against the backdrop of regular foreign living issues. I had great medical help but the support network was not strong. And I was single.

I can’t imagine dealing with post-partum AND adjusting to a new environment at the same time. That might really be too much at once.

[anon38216271]

@tommy525

Just for laughs and giggles let’s see what 250k is about in SF

Tax takes at most 40pct including federal and state and social security and Medicare

So we got 150k

A two bedroom costs bout 4000 a month to rent or to buy for 30 years loan
A nice audi or Bmw costs about 600 a month to lease add insurance and what not let’s say 12000 per annum

So the 150k is now down to 90k.
Let’s say eating costs 2000 a month or 24000 a year so we are now at 66000 a year minus water and electricity being about say 3000 a year we are down to 63000 a year minus some other misc costing say 3000 a year we still
Have 5000 a month to play with or invest

So that’s not horrible

For a single dude
For a family depends on what’s needed but that 5000 a month could be spent pretty quickly

So yeah for a family 250k is nice living but not overly posh

Now if u have a wife and kids you get a tax break but guaranteed your wife and kids will spend more than your tax savings

I think you’re missing a lot. Like child care, lifestyle creep, taxes, 401K, donations, etc

[mokkie]

Not if you left your heart there in the first place!

[Brianjones]

Anyway I’d take that 10 million NTD offer with a warehouse full of salt if it is a Taiwanese corporation .

If a US company you might do well for a couple of years before they cut the costs. I’d take it to stash away some cash it’s barely hardship is it?

[jacobson8959]

My mindset is always live where you want to live as long as it is possible. If San Fran is where you want to be then stay there. Put money and jobs aside and figure out what you want then think about the logistics. Sounds like either way you’ll be sitting pretty good. Yes San Fran is insanely expensive but you’ll be living a life a majority of people will never be able to get close to so I’m not sure why the money is a factor. Good luck.

[bojack]

@jacobson8959

Yes San Fran is insanely expensive but you’ll be living a life a majority of people will never be able to get close to so I’m not sure why the money is a factor. Good luck.

Lest we forget, it’s not just any old city where you can pay through the nose to avoid walking on needles and poop, after all. Keep the dream alive, man.

[Dr_Milker]

@jacobson8959

Yes San Fran is insanely expensive but you’ll be living a life a majority of people will never be able to get close to so I’m not sure why the money is a factor.

It’s worth noting that living in San Francisco doesn’t have to be expensive.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

If you got lots of money you may consider investing it rather than save it. Saving interest is really low and I’m sure there are tax savings from investing. You may consider incorporating because corporate tax is low.

[anon96115109]

At SF rates those prob go for 800 a month each now…

[DrewC]

You left a zero off the end there.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

SF sucks, I hate to say.

It’s expensive as hell, VERY hard to find a bathroom anywhere. The only place I found a bathroom in is the public library near the Financial District BART stop (I forget which but it’s like 3 stops down from Embarcadero). The place is infested with homeless people, and the whole city, while it looks great from afar and Hollywood movies, is a cesspool up close. The people are very rude and unfriendly, not to mention crime. Even Austin, TX felt clean compared to SF. Public transport is good, except the stations look like poop, trains are disgusting, and it’s expensive. But you really can’t beat Taipei MRT prices especially with All Pass. I probably spent over 200 dollars a month on BART rides…

SF is great for rich guys who lives in places like Palo Alto though, but you’d still want a car if you want to get around.

[DrewC]

SF used to be great in the 60s/70s according to my Dad, but it’s awful now. You pay $6,000 a month for a small studio apartment and the privilege of being harassed by homeless buskers and addicts every time you step outside.

[Taiwan_Luthiers]

Big cities all over the US is awful now. They’re all full of stress either from traffic or just harassment from homeless people. And the US government has a “out of sight, out of mind” attitude towards everything. So SOMEWHERE will be a hellhole. As bad as Taiwan is, the stress level seem to be a lot lower. Taiwanese government seems more proactive in managing things than the US government.

The country would be so much better if they didn’t keep waging wars on stuff like drugs, poverty, terrorism, etc. because so much resources are being wasted for little to no benefit for Americans.

[jacobson8959]

Lol yes indeed. Hopefully the quarter of a million dollars that he’d be making would help.

[tommy525]

Not all of SF is bad to live in. Sunset district is nice. Many others. Downtown SF is a place to avoid unless you work there though.

If you can afford it, live in Walnut Creek, Danville, Alamo, Lafayette or more middle class Pleasant Hill, other East Bay towns. OR go to the South Bay towns.

Those of us who live here know where to go and more importantly where not to go.

[DrewC]

What is the Castro like these days? It used to stand out as the “gay neighborhood” in the 70s, but now that’s more mainstream accepted I wonder if it’s become gentrified.

[Pinoco]

Took a vacation there a couple months ago. We walked all over town and didn’t notice any homeless or junkies.