Escape South Africa

Its difficult to write about these topics since there are so many variables in determining what your cost of living and taxes are. I will mention what I experienced and you can use that as a starting point.

Being a foreigner in the US certainly has some great tax benefits. For instance, when you open up a bank account, be sure to mention that you are from another country. Why? You will not be subject to any federal withholding tax on any interest you make on the money you have in the accounts you have with that bank.

The other bonus is that you can open up a broker account there and any profit you make on trading shares/options/futures will not be subject to tax due to your foreign status.

You are expected to declare these earnings/profits to the SA Receiever of Revenue...

When I was an employee there on a J1 visa my average tax rate was about 28% BUT when I did my US tax returns I got a HUGE refund. Again, this was due to my foreign status. This brought my average tax rate down to about 15%! WOW!

I can only comment on the cost of living on the East coast as that is where I was predominantly based. I heard from many Americans that living on the East coast strip between New York and Washington DC is one of the most expensive places and I have to agree. I stayed in Maryland for just over 2 years and it was an expensive city to live in compared to Georgia where I spent the remainder of my stay in the US. In Georgia you pay far less for accomodation and you get more for your money but then again the salaries there are lower too. I think Georgia state is one of the most fantastic places I have ever had the honour of working and travelling in.

Rent in Maryland will set you back around $800 (single room) to up $2500 (for a 2 bedroom upmarket apartment) per month. My food bill for a single person was around $75 per week. I had a company car so I'm not 100% sure of the costs associated with this. Needless to say to lease a car is VERY cheap there. Broadband Internet and digital cable TV was about $80 per month. A meal out was about $20 and buying lunch (when I was too lazy to make sandwhiches) cost about $10.

I think its necessary to point out that converting all these costs in Rands is pretty much a pointless exercise. You should work out everything relative to your salary you will/could earn in the US. The ONLY time you should convert is when taking cash over with you to settle in for the first couple of months.