Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Weigookin74]

[salutbonjour]

Anyone who rides a motorcycle will understand the difference:

Taxes on a 650R in Quebec: 1400$ a year.
Taxes on a 650R in Korea: 9$ a year.

[northway]

[beison]

Obviously it depends on what you do.
It's pretty standard that specific things (hobbies, food, what not) are pricier in Korea and then service based things are cheaper.

But look at the whole cost of survival: Included sales taxes, ridiculously low income taxes (compared to the US tax rate anyway), really low medical care costs (again, compared to the US), and the fact that tipping is not part of any cost create a situation where it's significantly cheaper to live in Korea than it is in the US.

Here's a good example: You go to buy a six pack of a craft brew in Chicago. It costs $8.99, not too bad. Then you go and slap on the county tax, state tax, federal tax, and the city tax (alcohol taxes are a bitch) and you're up to a staggering ~20% tax! now your six pack is close to 11 bucks!

Factor this into every purchase you make, and you realize that any sticker price you might see is going to be 7-11% more expensive, and suddenly korean prices start to look a whole lot cheaper.

[Yaya]

It also seems that in the West, they're thinking of new ways to rip people off.

Airports have a new moneymaking ruse this summer - charging passengers for a chaperone to take them through their terminals.

Manchester Airport has introduced a Friendly Guides service that costs £50 for a party of up to four people, while the Gatwick First concierge guiding service, launched in April, will set a couple or family back £99. No doubt these ideas can reduce airport stress.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2362892/The-Crafty-Traveller-Make-sure-costs-dont-airport-terminal.html

[cdninkorea]

[Swampfox10mm]

Beison, what makes it cheaper for me here are: taxes and having no car. And teachers think they are well-covered with just national healthcare. They are not.

Health insurance is no longer so "cheap", and the generally young population of teachers have no clue how much in debt they will be if they have a serious accident which national insurance will not cover. The young, hopefully, never need to find out that they are actually under-insured by national healthcare alone.

If I didn't have a car (not really an option in Iowa, where I am from) and very basic insurance with little major medical help as a part, my life would be a lot cheaper back home, too.

As it is, our entire family has an additional individual insurance policy in Korea. Combined, they cost us an additional 275,000 per month or so, for our family of three.

I will say that I appreciate my school's extensive yearly free health check, although they take way too many x-rays and scans that emit radiation. The dentists are also x-ray happy.

Life here can be cheap, but only if you forgo having conveniences which are somewhat necessities back home (or here, too).

[Yaya]

[beison]

[Captain Corea]

Unless you're a tourist, I'm not sure that taking an exchange rate = cost comparison route is the best way to look at things.

[beison]

Or unless you get paid in US dollars (a few of my multinational business friends do, and they are stationed in seoul.) Or if you're in the military living off base this would apply too.

But even if you're paid in Won, I remember when I was I would still kind of think that a 4000 coffee drink at a cafe was about the same as a $4 starbucks coffee beverage. But the end price isn't--they're about 15-20% different.

[yodanole]

Even just addressing my own personal considerations, the lists of what constitutes a luxury and what constitutes a necessity vary widely between Korea and the US.

[dairyairy]

[Captain Corea]

[dairyairy]