Moving for a job: the costs that are not in the offer

Everything here earned its place by changing an outcome. Nothing about relocating for work is included to round the number up.

Transaction costs land at once

Selling and buying, or ending and starting a tenancy, both carry fees, taxes and moving costs. These are paid immediately while the salary increase arrives monthly, so the payback period can be years. A relocation package rarely covers all of it, and what it covers should be checked in writing.

Relocation help is frequently taxable in whole or in part and commonly carries a clawback if you leave within a defined period, so the questions are what it is worth net and how long it binds you.

Cost of living can erase the rise

Housing costs vary far more between locations than salaries do, and childcare and transport follow. A twenty per cent rise into a market with forty per cent higher housing costs is a reduction.

The useful part is this: comparing net income after housing is the only comparison that means anything. Tax and social contributions differ between regions as well as between countries, so a move across a border means redoing the whole comparison on net figures rather than adjusting the old one at the margin.

The second career is the hidden cost

A partner leaving a job to relocate loses income, progression and often a professional network built over years. That cost is frequently larger than the salary gain being pursued and is rarely modelled. Where both careers matter, the decision is a household one rather than an individual one.

Whether a partner can work at all becomes a separate question where a visa is involved, since the rights attached to a dependant permit vary widely and in some countries exclude employment entirely.

Networks take years to rebuild

Informal support — childcare help, friendships, knowing a reliable plumber — has real economic value and does not transfer. This is felt most acutely by whichever partner is at home more, and is a common source of regret.

It is not an argument against moving; it is an argument for counting it. The loss is heaviest where a grandparent was providing childcare or where a parent nearby was being looked after, because both have to be replaced with something paid for and that cost belongs in the comparison.

Test before committing

Renting for a period before buying preserves the option to reverse, at the cost of one extra move. Spending time in the actual neighbourhood at ordinary times, rather than on a viewing day, changes assessments.

A trial period is cheap relative to an unwound relocation. Test the things that are hard to reverse in particular, including school admission rules, waiting lists and the actual commute at the hour you would be making it, since those are settled by local rules rather than by impressions.

If that does not fit your week, it is not a failure of willpower.

Moving to another country changes the questions

Pension rights, healthcare entitlement, professional qualifications and credit history rarely transfer intact, and each is rebuilt separately and slowly. A file with no local history reads as unknown to lenders and landlords, which can mean larger deposits or a guarantor for a period regardless of what you earn. Tax residence can change on a different date from the move itself, and being treated as resident in two places at once is a common and expensive way to start.

Because tax, pensions and immigration rules interact and are specific to each country, this is a case for advice in both of them rather than reasoning from the system you already know.

Everything above, in order of what to do first

1. Transaction costs land at once. Selling and buying, or ending and starting a tenancy, both carry fees, taxes and moving costs.
2. Cost of living can erase the rise. Housing costs vary far more between locations than salaries do, and childcare and transport follow.
3. The second career is the hidden cost. A partner leaving a job to relocate loses income, progression and often a professional network built over years.
4. Networks take years to rebuild. Informal support — childcare help, friendships, knowing a reliable plumber — has real economic value and does not transfer.
5. Test before committing. Renting for a period before buying preserves the option to reverse, at the cost of one extra move.
6. Moving to another country changes the questions. Pension rights, healthcare entitlement, professional qualifications and credit history rarely transfer intact, and each is rebuilt separately and slowly.

The takeaway

Compare net income after housing, and price your partner's career explicitly.

Pick the one that costs you least, and let the rest wait.