Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sue Ridenton]

How do you get one of these offshore accounts ?

[Cyprus4MeSoon]

any large amounts of cash you have look at putting it into a sterling account some have a very good rate of intrest. for example £260'000 gets you aprox £900 a month intrest.

I put £32K in an offshore account and got £400 a month after tax, although interest rates have fallen you can still pull £390 a month after tax on a £32K balance.

Please tell which bank this with?

Hi Southerner,

Can you tell me what bank you have this offshore account with, as I want to open one and was hoping you will save me the time of searching for the best, as no doubt you have already done this!

[Eliko]

I think you would be wiser to forget about offshore accounts, you may end up with badly burned fingers.

[Maccy]

We can live fairly comfortably on around £600 - £700pm (there are only 2 of us and we have 2 vehicles), which covers our rent, food, utilities, car insurance etc and we go out at least 2 nights per week and also have takeaways

Hi Juliesewell

I was so encouraged by your post! I recently posted a question under "cost of living in Cyprus" asking whether it would realistically be possible for a couple to manage on CYP800pm - this would be to cover absolutely everything including our rent, medical insurance, etc. - and the general consensus seemed to be that we wouldn't be able to make ends meet. At the moment we live very simply and generally shop at Tesco and Aldi buying mostly fruit and veg and cheaper meat. We hardly every buy ready meals or takeaways. We go out for a beer or a movie once a week and would like to be able to continue to do this. We will have 1 car. So, do you really think we'd manage to get by?

Thanks for your help!
Maccy

[Southerner]

beware of offshore accounts the tax man is on to them and you may have to pay a hefty bill if your not careful.

It's the people who don't pay tax at scource according to my accountant, my wife and I registered for tax where our accounts were based, we paid 21% local tax on our accounts.
If my account had been taxed in the UK as well I would still have got around 12%.

[Alassa]

My gut feeling is that nearer £1000 would be a target figure to allow for unforeseen expenses. You may manage on £800 some months others less/more. Its very hard to guestimate but I'd err on the side of caution.

Best of luck
Alassa

[souroul]

any large amounts of cash you have look at putting it into a sterling account some have a very good rate of intrest. for example £260'000 gets you aprox £900 a month intrest.

I put £32K in an offshore account and got £400 a month after tax, although interest rates have fallen you can still pull £390 a month after tax on a £32K balance.

you're kidding right? thats like 15% interest rate

[DT.]

any large amounts of cash you have look at putting it into a sterling account some have a very good rate of intrest. for example £260'000 gets you aprox £900 a month intrest.

I put £32K in an offshore account and got £400 a month after tax, although interest rates have fallen you can still pull £390 a month after tax on a £32K balance.

you're kidding right? thats like 15% interest rate

should be mroe like 130 quid

[juliesewell]

Hi Maccy

It's difficult to tell as obviously, there are unforseen costs that do happen from time to time....

My stock reply to people is to try to bring enough funds to be able to survive (without working) for at least 2yrs. That way, you will have some rainy day funds to fall back on should you either not find work immediately or have some additional expenditure along the way.

It's not a good idea to come here with just enough to get by for 1 month and expect everything to go according to plan. Paperwork or should I say, the bureaucracy that goes with it here can be painstakingly slow and tedious to say the least and if you are reliant upon some red tape etc, then you could be disappointed.

It's best to err on the side of caution.

[Broadlea]

Don’t believe everything you read!
Yes wages in Cyprus are comparatively low and housing costs are relatively high.
Personally, I waited until I was debt free, including mortgage, (and NO I’m nowhere near retirement age), and without the, proverbial, mill stone around my neck I have found that even on the, apparently “low” Cyprus wage I can live really well, and my quality of life is immeasurably higher than it was in the UK. Having said that I was not used to an inflated London salary, I do not have a gas guzzlin’ 4x4, or the latest 102” plasma TV, and I don’t shop at Gucci!
The time honoured adage “location, location, location” is something you must bear in mind when looking for property. If you tell a Cypriot you commute more than 20 miles to work they will look at you as if you’re from another planet. Consequently, their enthusiasm for not having a long commute, everyday, means property prices in and around the major conurbations are high and property prices in coastal regions are exorbitant. If, however, you are prepared to commute there are still plenty of bargains to be had in the surrounding villages. Also bear in mind that if you like being crammed in like sardines you will pay through the nose to do this in the suburban areas.
If you do manage to buy your property outright you will find that your yearly bills are tiny, I have “council tax” of less than £100 per year, gas bill for cooking and heating for a year comes to less than £250, (and I live half way up the Troodos).
You will see a lot of people, here, complaining about their electricity costs, what you have to bear in mind is that they probably have A/C, I don’t, I don’t need it. On average I use 6.5 units of electricity per day, running two A/C units for 1 hour will use more than that. Bear in mind that any sort of heating or cooling done using electricity is not very cost efficient.
Household and car insurance are about the same price as the UK, medical insurance, well how long is a piece of string? Most decent employers would offer you this as part of their package. Road tax on small engined cars up to CY£40 per year.
Job wise, if you have a trade, or profession, you will have relatively few problems finding work, with a relatively good salary and despite what you may have read on here speaking Greek is not a prerequisite, most employers ask for Greek or English.
If however, (and this sounds awfully patronising I know but), you fall into the category of unskilled labour, you will find work, but the wages will be low and the hours long.
The cost of living, well some people say it is expensive, but like anywhere if you shop around you can easily bring your bills down, and don’t assume that the large supermarkets will be the cheapest place to shop, they are NOT.
Anyway in conclusion, two adults + two dogs + two cars, with no mortgage or rent can live very well on CY£800 pound a month, (eat + drink out every weekend, 1 smoker, fully stocked larder etc). I know because I’ve been doing it for a couple of years. I believe we could get by, with little hardship, on CY£400 - CY£500 a month.
Unfortunately I can’t give you any cost of living tips on which include children’s expenses.

Hope that’s been of some help.