Scandinavian school or Asia?
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:56 pm
I am coming for a 2 tier school in Asia with a pretty good reputation and package. I am from North American and I have a trailing spouse and 2 kids. We own a rental property in Asia and have some savings.
I have 2 offers:
One is in another Asian country where savings is great but the reputation of the school is not spectacular.
pros- we could use the savings to buy a second property in Asia
cons- working at this school for a few years might make my resume/CV look worse compared to the school I am coming from now. This place is not known for being an exciting place to live.
The other one is in a Scandinavian country where we would have minimal savings, but great healthcare, retirement and free university for my kids when they get older.
pros- Great quality of life. Medical, University and retirement are less of a worry. Working in Scandinavia would look great on the resume.
cons- I doubt we will be able to afford to buy a house in Scandinavia on this salary. Will have minimal savings and not be able to travel for fun, or to visit family easily.
Additional thoughts:
Its hard to get a job in Europe if you are not from the Eurozone and especially difficult with a family. If I pass this opportunity up, it might be difficult to find the same opportunity again in the future. This job could also help me to get my foot in the door for other European schools if I want to leave after my first contract (however, I dont expect other European schools to pay much better). Without the income generated from a second rental property or the ability to own a home in Scandinavia I dont know how happy we could be. My wife is not a teacher and is currently taking care of our kids at home. When the kids are old enough for school she could work as a teacher's assistant in the Scandinavian school, but that wouldn't pay all that much.
In an ideal world I would like to do 2-3 years in Asia, buy a second property and then settle in Europe.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
I have 2 offers:
One is in another Asian country where savings is great but the reputation of the school is not spectacular.
pros- we could use the savings to buy a second property in Asia
cons- working at this school for a few years might make my resume/CV look worse compared to the school I am coming from now. This place is not known for being an exciting place to live.
The other one is in a Scandinavian country where we would have minimal savings, but great healthcare, retirement and free university for my kids when they get older.
pros- Great quality of life. Medical, University and retirement are less of a worry. Working in Scandinavia would look great on the resume.
cons- I doubt we will be able to afford to buy a house in Scandinavia on this salary. Will have minimal savings and not be able to travel for fun, or to visit family easily.
Additional thoughts:
Its hard to get a job in Europe if you are not from the Eurozone and especially difficult with a family. If I pass this opportunity up, it might be difficult to find the same opportunity again in the future. This job could also help me to get my foot in the door for other European schools if I want to leave after my first contract (however, I dont expect other European schools to pay much better). Without the income generated from a second rental property or the ability to own a home in Scandinavia I dont know how happy we could be. My wife is not a teacher and is currently taking care of our kids at home. When the kids are old enough for school she could work as a teacher's assistant in the Scandinavian school, but that wouldn't pay all that much.
In an ideal world I would like to do 2-3 years in Asia, buy a second property and then settle in Europe.
Any thoughts or suggestions?