(edit title) Canadian moving to Stockholm Advice on Living Conditions Options

[AstroGeek]

Hello all,

This is my first post on the local, even though I have been following it for a a couple months now. I have a few questions to this amazing "Local Community" on practical matters of moving to Stockholm. Many of these are discussed at lengths here, I have gone over each one of them, but mine seems to be unique!!! ... isn't this always the case!!!

Background: We are a family of four with two little kids. I have been offered a job in Stockholm. I got my Residence/Work Permit approved in 2 days (Surprising while most posts suggested over 4 months).

Some Questions:
# The pay is 1M SEK plus bonuses. This is quiet a reasonable salary here in Canada. Considering the tax system in Sweden will I be able to maintain an equivalent lifestyle in Stockholm? I know this is very personal and subjective ... any practical suggestions would be very helpful.
# My wife is an EU Citizen, She speaks Finnish (No Swedish). Will this help in any way for her to find a job in Stockholm? She is a graduate of economics. Interestingly, she works as a chef in Canada
# I have read some horror stories on the Swedish housing market. If I cannot manage to get an apartment in Stockholm, will I be able to get a mortgage to buy a house with about 30 to 40% downpayment?
# Does it make sense to hire a relocation professional to sort matters out? Has any one used their services and can you suggest any? My prospective company is providing some help but nothing on the scale of questions I have.

Thanks

[3000]

The salary is extremely good for Sweden, but you will get hit with the high marginal tax rate. Ask your employer to estimate your take-home pay. Looking at http://www.ekonomifakta.se/sv/Fakta/Skatte...a-ut-din-skatt/ , my guess is around 48k SEK/month. (enter your monthly income before tax)

With an EU passport, your wife shouldn't need any immigration approval but might face some paperwork delays in getting a personal number (SIN equivalent). I had no problem, but I had a contract before I arrived. (I also have dual citizenship Canada + EU.)

Daycare is almost free (if that's a factor in your calculations).

I can't comment on buying a detached house, but you generally get less space for your money compared to home. I think more people here live in apartments, even families in your situation.

If your new employer is paying you that kind of money, I'm surprised they won't spring for a relo. Try asking if you can pay for that yourself, then expense it later. It's possible that they just don't have a policy about paying international moving expenses etc. If you come up with the creative solution yourself, it's easier for someone to approve it.

Finding rentals is tough. I posted an ad on http://www.bostaddirekt.com/ , and let the landlord find me. This was for a limited term "second hand" rental... (In Canadian terms, I rented privately from the owner of the condo, but they refer to this as second-hand due to the crazy-ass market in Stockholm.)

Good luck

[PDX]

What is the actual position you are about to accept? Most people on TheLocal will tell you 1M SEK is good but there are plenty of jobs in Stockholm that pay considerably more.

Apartment/housing is not an issue, it is just that most people are doing it wrong. I am moving again within a couple weeks and had 10 serious offers to choose from for fully furnished apartments in attractive locations. That was without pretty much any effort on my side.

As far as a relocation agent goes, absolutely do it, seeing as you are in a specialist or management position. I could give you some names, but start with Human Entrance. Several of the large multinationals in Sweden use them to help out with everyone arriving from abroad. They can help with everything, housing, banking, language lessons, even showing you around a grocery store if it feels too alien .

Oh, and absolutely ask the employer to make the contract with and bear the cost of the relocation agent.

Apologies for any mistakes, typed this on my phone.
~~~PDX~~~

[redblue]

After tax income:
As you probably know, you are entitled to special taxation aimed at foreign experts. Hence, your income after tax is around 63 000 kronor (if you live in Stockholm).

Homes for sale:
hemnet.se and bovision

Regarding work for your spouse, ask your employer for advice. Check job sites such as monster.com (mostly white collar jobs) and platsbanken.se (chef jobs). As always, its a good idea to contact a number of companies and ask if they have any open positions.

[Bender B Rodriquez]

After tax income:. As you probably know, you are entitled to special taxation aimed at foreign experts.

Not necessarily. The salary alone is not enough. It is also required for his employer to show that similar skills cannot be found in Sweden. There are several examples of VPs and other key personnel that did not qualify for expert tax.

[PDX]

Indeed. Also, since the idea of the tax relief is to ease the burden of social security contributions for those who will not be here to enjoy the benefits, the contract must be of fixed term or temporary nature.

~~~PDX~~~

[redblue]

Not necessarily. The salary alone is not enough. It is also required for his employer to show that similar skills cannot be found in Sweden. There are several examples of VPs ... (show full quote)

Not necessarily. The salary alone is not enough. It is also required for his employer to show that similar skills cannot be found in Sweden. There are several examples of VPs and other key personnel that did not qualify for expert tax. ... (hide full quote)

The salary alone is indeed enough to qualify for "expertskatt".

http://www.deloitte.com/view/sv_SE/se/tjan...a56f00aRCRD.htm

[PDX]

Intressant...

~~~PDX~~~

[Yorkshireman]

Both the old rules and new rules apply, the change in 2012 was to remove a degree of uncertainty since you could not apply until after the applicant had started working! Now the salary threshold gives automatic qualification for high earners, old rules for those earning under the threshold are still valid also.

The tax reduction is valid for the 1st 3 years.

The expert tax is restricted to non-Swedish citizens, and those who only intend to stay in Sweden for a maximum of 5 years.

[jonathansistonen]

I think most other questions were answered except the question regarding work for your spouse.
Especially in and around the Stockholm are there are numerous jobs for native Finnish speakers, mainly due to customer service and sales roles being situated here with focus on the Finnish market.

Also, if your spouse grew up in Finland, she will have had Swedish as an obligatory language in school, thus it won't take long to learn Swedish properly.

As for housing, considering your income, getting something directly can be sorted second hand, alternatively buying a home. Unsure if you can get a loan for a house if you have just moved to Sweden, however you might be able to get a loan in Canada. Expect second hand prices in or near central Stockholm to pull about 15-20.000 sek / month for a place large enough for a family. Prices of houses vary within the Stockholm region and range from 2.5M and up, average in the outskirts is probably around 3-4M sek whereas in the city or fashionable areas will easily set you back at least 6-7M.

[Fernandis]

why you moved to Sweden ??? After having lived in Sweden for 16 years, I recently have moved to Canada and I can tell you that Canad is the best place!

[Migga]

Did you read the OPs post? If you did you would know why he consider moving. As it is now it seems as if you just read the title, didn`t bother to read the text and just wanted to let everyone know what you think.

[Fernandis]

Migga-DUMB i read it and know that he got job offer, but i was wondering that just because of a job offer, someone'd move from Canada to Sweden, i mean not considering other factors especially if if you have got a family and children, and not taking into consideration about their future.

[Migga]

I`d appriciate if we could keep the discussion civil and not resort to name calling.