I will possibly be shifting to Munich

Hi!

Possibility of shifting to munich, since my husband is currently chasing an opportunity there. Me? Dead worried abt the following:
1. What is a good salary to make per month?
2. How friendly is the place?
3. Do we need a car?

and yeah, the biggest of 'em all -- How do I get myself a job there?

Need as much help from all you kind hearted souls there... :-)

My qualifications:

Currently working as a project manager for an e-learning company -- managing development of training material (web- / computer-based)
have done my masters in English
Total work ex: 5 yrs.

1. €25,000
2. As friendly as a bowl of Shreddies which has had the milk applied but left for 6.4 minutes on the kitchen counter
3. Not unless you would like to drive somewhere on a regular basis
4. By applying for a position and having suitable qualifications and qualities such that the employer considers you to be above the other applicants.

2) very friendly
3) possibly, depends on where you live or work, but many live without.

What type of e-learning have you been doing, on what platform, for what type of client? What are your language skills and do you have multilanguage project management experience?

I am from Munich (born there) and may be biased but it is a friendly place. Maybe not as friendly as the south of the States but it's a great place to live. As for the salary I have no idea (I am a student), but you don't really need a car as long as you make sure you live centrally (i.e. close to a U-Bahn or S-Bahn, that is subway or suburban train stop), and close to grocery stores. (And possibly close to work.) For me the only convenience in having a car in Munich would be to make grocery shopping easier, or for example trips to IKEA or somewhere where you would else have to carry around heavy or big things via public transport. But usually just for normal getting around town, public transport is usually better anyway, you don't have to deal with traffic and don't have to find parking.

Hi Haripriya,

We are in much the same situation ... I am chasing a job there and my wife will be shifting there with me. you will get most of your answers by searching various portions on this website...but as a quick guide.. to bring you upto date of what I have heard

• Munich is the most expensive city in Germany
• Taxation is really high in germany - 40-45%
• Housing is quite expensive...a small furnished 1bhk will cost about 1000Euro
• From what people tell me... a salary of 5-6000 euro gross (i.e. 3000 Euro net) should get a family of two through quite comfortably
• Cars are always desirable but Munich has a very good pubic transportations system including underground rail, buses and trams..so you should be able to get by without a car through
• getting a job there is not going to be easy...the labour laws are quite stringent there and hence for a non-EU person to get a job can take some time. From what little i know about your line of work..lots of people work from home and hence you may be able to manage
• my office is sending me and my wife to munich to check out the place next week..and hence i should be able to give you more details later...

btw...where are you guys based now...india by any chance?

Now that's a typo!

Ditto.

4. A certain Fr. Stoiber is looking for someone to keep her DH occupied.

NO: If you are paying 40% taxes in Germany you are earning a thumping great salary - at least if you are married.

What HEM means is that taxes are not 40%, total deductions including pension (9%, which you can claim back if you're working here less than 5 years), social security and health care will however be around this amount. It annoys me too when people talk about "taxes" being high, when really these "taxes" include things that are not taxes, and wouldn't be included when looking at the "taxes" of other countries.

Don't forget the VAT on goods and services. These taxes will come out of what most people think of as 'after-tax' pay, and you will notice that 19% if you buy a new car.

As Hucho points out, calling the non-income tax reductions taxes is technically not correct, but it is a matter of semantics, as they do in fact reduce after-tax pay. To give one example, what is a pension contribution in Germany is the Social Security tax in the US. The fact that German pension contributions aren't technically a 'tax' will not benefit your wallet any more than if it were called a pension tax.

Some people are friendly here, some aren't. You can live quite well in the city of Munich without a car. Good luck...

@Conquistador

My point is that someone sees that it's only 25% tax in country X but it's 40% here. However, in country X you have to pay health insurance and pension yourself, and they don't take that into consideration.

I know you have done the sums before for America, and overall the "taxes" are less than here, however still when you remove the cost of medical insurance and pension from the German system, it's seems to be not a lot higher for most people than in your previous example of America.

For the car, you can try to sign up for a "car sharing service". I.e. there are companies/clubs (almost like car rentals) which have a pool of cars to let. You basically pay per hour and distance. I.e. if you can use public transportation for going to work, etc. - which is a very reliable service - then that might be a viable option, given that parking in the inner town can be a bitch.

eg. http://www.stadtteilauto.de/ (unfortunately in german, but http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/Car_sharing has some more info about it)

Hutcho, your point is understood; however, it really depends on the details of each individual situation. When I compare US and German 'taxes', I do account for the cost of health insurance as much as I can. As for removing the pension contributions from any calculation of after-tax salary, I think that is a huge mistake, given that you will not receive them for years, if at all (what if the non-EU citizen decides to stay >5 yrs.?). If a non-EU citizen starts working here today and does so for five years, the earliest one would get their portion of the pension contribution back is seven years from now. That amount must be discounted for inflation, and you must also take into account that any old-age pension received will be less because of these missing payments, if you do decide to leave Germany and apply for them. It is poor accounting to take the pension contributions out of any current calculations of after-tax and after-deduction salary, because you do not know for sure you will ever get it back, plus you aren't getting the amount of the pension deduction refunded to you in the current accounting period. If one wants to do an ex post facto adjustment once one receives the refund of the pension contributions years from now, fine, but not beforehand because it would overstate what actually makes its way into your bank account.

At any rate, we cannot ignore consumption taxes, especially in the case of Germany, where there is a high reliance upon them for tax revenue. I suggest that we work with actual numbers as much as possible to get a clear view.

WOW! Thanks a ton guys...further points of view (barring taxes!) :-) are welcome.

I got a small lesson in taxes for sure! In all sincerity, much appreciated.

Jobs leads will also be welcome...

Meanwhile, we are trying to pick up some basic German... Fun learning a new language as well.

Thanks All!