Should I accept this €600/day job in Frankfurt?

Well, pissed off at work, I'm an IT contractor in UK and basically I've not been paid for a while - agency HRM outsourcer pie-fight, resolved 'next week' but I was so pissed off with it I chucked my cards in and applied for a job in Munich.

Got a call straight away, cos my German isn't great, would I go to Frankfurt. I said 'go on then'...

Anyway, two year contract, I asked for 600 Euro a day, seemed ok, but will we manage with that, Frankfurt seems a bit like an expensive city from my two-hour research...

Bear in mine I have a family of five and if they want me, they want me next week...

Of course I should say we've been planning a move to Germany, just not quite so quickly...

Nice problem to have I know, appreciate some 'do it's' or 'don't do it's'...

It sounds like a nice deal I think there might be contractors earning more but not sure how easy they are to come accross.

Frankfurt is not that expensive in comparison to the UK. In fact I think it is a lot cheaper and for my salary I get to do a lot of things I wouldn't be able to do in the UK - go on 6 ski trips a year at least, lots of weekends away, dinners out etc. I'd probably struggle with what I earn in the UK.

I would say go for it - is there not the option for you to come yourself for a while before relocating the whole family?

600 a day is pretty okay, depending upon what you do but there are a number of factors to take into that and I would suggest looking at other areas of this board in particular with regard to deductions (tax, health, etc.) and registering yourself as self employed. If bringing a family of 5 out here you're also going to need a fair bit of start-up cash as you're going to need a reasonably sized place to live. For such a place you're probably going to be looking at somewhere just outside of Frankfurt due to prices. Once again, search this board, there's a load of information.

600 € a day is good. Provided I don't know how much an IT contractor earns anyway. But Germany is still cheaper than the UK. One important factor is schooling for your kids. If they go to public school, no problem. If they go to private, then I would think twice. But I would not rush into the situation esp with a family of 5.

I have been an IT contractor working out of Munich for about 8 years, frankfurt is cheaper than munich, but you can expect to shell out about 5k in deposit and advance rent for a house for 5 people, its up to you about tax, you can do the self emplyed thing and get a tax consultant to sort that out, or use a management company. 600 a day is about right if you are a developer and a 2 year contract is long, are you sure that its 2 years or a 3 month roll over and the project is expected to last 2 years?

Stek. A good friend of mine did the same some years ago. His missus stayed over in Frankfurt for a while with the kids but in the end
he used to fly back for the weekend. Lots of people I know did the same thing actually and if you are paying tax over here you can
knock off a fair bit in expenses. €600 a day is ok, as a contractor in 1997 / 98 I was on a 100 DM an hour. No such luck these days
as I am permy.

Contract is two years plus according to the advert.

I know about kaution etc and with not being paid for a while this would be an issue. So I would most likely go alone at first, get a small flat or hotel room, got a great deal in Berlin once (Hotel Berlin), a two room suite for effectively 35 euro a night...

Let's see, bu somehow Frankfurt does seem to give me a buzz like Berlin and Hamburg...

There are people living in Frankfurt on little more than 600 a month, I think you'll be fine..

5 people is a lot to support but in the system you will clean up on child allowances, kindergeld and so on. Look to live outside Frankfurt as houses or large apartments are expensive there but commuting from a town with S or U bahn connections is easy. Germany tax system is kind of terrible but it has a very generours tax allowance system. It is important that you get yourself a good accountant and probably you should look to register yourself as Freiberuflich, but talk with your accountant.

You'll be fine with that.

€600 a day gives you around €12000 a month. Take off 2 months for holidays, sick days, etc and you're left with a gross income of €120k a year. If you were single, you'd pay 30% tax. That'll be a lot less if you're supporting a further 4 people, and a lot of other stuff is tax deductable - but even with 30% you're left with €84k. Health insurance will be expensive, as you'll have to cover your whole family yourself, and it might be wise to see if you can insure yourself in case of long-term illness.

You'll be able to afford a good, comfortable life in Germany with the money.

I deal with IT freelancers every day and €600 is OK.

You only live once - go for it!

i have 4 people to support and make a good life on 35k a year.Go on mate go for it you should be able to have a fantastic life on that salary

tax would be cheap with 3 kids and you can reckon on just short of € 500 a month family allowance

yeah, i was whining too when i read this poor sod's post. glad to see somebody post what it's like in the real world.

Pfft.. not even a days work.. hardly worth applying for it..

Update;

I decided to stick with my current role seeing the buggers have now paid me!

We didn't feel quite ready yet to make the move, especially cos we kinda mental prefer Munich, Berlin or Hamburg so I'll stick it out for somewhere there and be a bit more prepared.

And I do know what it;s like in the real world, 2001 I was almost on the streets, clinically depressed and suicidal, left with five kids, huge debts, house gone, car gone, job gone. All my own fault, it was almost as if I depressed myself. Then my father died suddenly, mum already gone and I thought I was ready to go over the edge myself. AD's made me worse, so ditched em, got back on job wagon, stopped whinging and got on with life. Now I'm doing very well, mentally and financially but only too aware life can bite you in balls at any time...

I'll be back!

@multivit: in a mere 52 posts in 2 days you have shown yourself to be a true genius. Hats off!

@SteK:

Given your difficulties in 2001, I assume you've scrimped and saved up a good cushion in the intervening 7 years.

If your principals had a tough time paying you just now, I'd think you should take that as an advance warning and be thankful to have had one. So don't throw the Frankfurt idea out just yet.

If you're doing IT for banks/financial services then Frankfurt is probably where you'll end up in Germany; some of the potential customers in Munich are a bit reluctant right now ;-). Investing more time on private research into life in Frankfurt will probably not be a loss.

I've worked in Frankfurt before and find that €600 per day is probably ok, depending on your specialty. If you've got something they want bad, you could get 25% more. If they're willing to pull someone over from London, with family, then they might want you enough. I assume that you are dealing with a well-known agency in Frankfurt and not with the customer directly or with a small agency without much depth. Many banks put collars on their agencies, allowing the agency to mark up the consultant by no more than 15% or so.

One thing you should clear up beforehand, in case you go, is just how many work hours a "day" contains. Better yet, get an hourly rate and not a daily rate, or at least a deal where you can turn your overtime into extra "days". Otherwise they'll burn you out with 10 to 12 hour "days", which will negatively affect both your effective hourly rate and your well-being.

I am definately in the wrong job/profession if people are wondering if 600/day is too low and i'm like 'damn that's nice!' and then realizing i probably don't even make that much in a week (but hate math so am not going to sit and figure it out).

mere: It's a unit price for a contractor, someone who's self-employed though.

Meaning more taxes, higher financial risk, higher cost for any kind of mandatory insurances, on-and-off working and payment instead of a secured 12-month-per-year salary and so on. Typically private health insurance too - meaning every family member has their own premium, ie a four-figure number per month too if you have a couple kids, any month.

Compare it to a car mechanic, or other contracted handyman. Those work with the same numbers, and don't really live on all that great a salary.

Even at the lowest, no one in that situation can really afford to work for less than 50-60 euro per hour. And with any kind of skills, 70-80 upwards is the norm (and that's what he was offered effectively).

Hi,

Hubbie and I just made the decision to move and I have just read some great books which I am sure can help you. One book called the expert expat and another called living in Germany. Just go on Amazon and you will find them there. They are great reads and have really given me the tools I needed.

From The Siegmann Clan

Yeah right... I and every other single person could only dream of that...
For a single person with no kids, your in tax class 1 and tax is 48%.

As a single contractor, you would actually pay around 30% tax on that salary. Less if you had a family.

On top of this you would have to get your own medical insurance, but other than that there are no other deductions that you have to pay, in comparison to when you are employed full time.

Nope - that's what I paid on a similar rate as a freelancer. As Hutcho already pointed out, you have to cover your own medical insurance, save for your own pension and make sure you have enough set aside for the times you aren't earning because you're between contracts, sick or on holiday..