The Mercer Human Resource Consulting Group just put out their new survey on which cities are the most expensive v. which offer best quality of life. The survey results are already being picked up by MSNBC etc. It should be noted that the survey is geared toward expats/business, not holiday travelers. Anyway, while Moscow now ranks as the most expensive city, Zurich reportedly offers the best quality of life.
The top 10 Quality of Life cities:
1. Zurich
2. Geneva
3. Vancouver, BC
4. Vienna
5. Auckland
6. Dusseldorf
7. Frankfurt
8. Munich
9. Bern and Sydney (tie)

My old (and still part time) stomping ground of Brussels came in at number 14 for quality of life and didn't even make the top 50 for most expensive...so a good trade-off there. For quality of life, Paris ranked 33 and London 39.

Most expensive:
1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo and NYC (tie)

So...if you're dreaming of living somewhere else in the world or are prodding your boss for an overseas transfer, you can check out the complete lists at:
http://tinyurl.com/jvudk

This has recently been floated as a first time possibility for us... maybe... it's a big step. One of a couple smaller cities though, not a list of choices unfortunately.

It appears that the site is a paid system for information? (was wanting a login, and had info towards justifying buying services). Was just wondering if you were a member and knew if the site offers quality of life for places other than the top 100/200 or so list?

We're still at least a year out, but you sort of have to begin to make noise that this is something you want to pursue... we're still in the deciding if that's what we want to do phase. But it's not Paris, London, Rome - it's small city Slovenia. Just starting to dig into resources to understand the lifestyle there (we'll visit, of course, but can't say I know what life is like really in places I've
visited in a short time already).

So I was just wondering if Mercer is a useful resource in general?

No, I'm not a member, and I didn't have to log on to get the lists. I ignored that request, clicked on the mustard-colored icons and they opened up as pdf files.

I have no idea about the quality of their services.

I got it now. Saw that form and thought is was a registration login/signup.

Some real surprises further down the most expensive lists. Cities I would have imagined being much less expensive.

Too bad my possible choices aren't anywhere on the lists! There really is a lot to consider in a big move like that, isn't there?

Thank you so much for the link!

I am seriously considering living in a different country.

Sigh....

I'm not surprised at the quality of life choices...most of them sound like great places to live...in particular we like Vienna and Dusseldorf. My husband has lived in Vancouver, but we're not ready to go back there. Dusseldorf is a place we'd like to live someday...a lively, sophisticated city, high quality housing, terrific transportation links, etc. We'd enjoy Vienna, too, esp. in the new high tech apartment complexes that have gone up out near the U.N. complex.

At one point we looked into Geneva. It is expensive, but does offer a good quality of life. However, finding an apartment there (particularly a 2 bedroom, the most sought after by expats) is EXTREMELY difficult. The current apartment vacancy rate is something like .2 percent, which essentially means you're SOL trying to find an apartment unless you have deep pockets or good connections.

I am not surprised to hear that Moscow is now #1... people have a thought that Russia must be cheap. Not Moscow!!!

it is very important to note that these surveys are only relevent for expats from the united states who are remunerated in US dollars. costs of the "basket of goods" is translated from local currency to US dollar. obviously this exchange rate is an extremely important factor in where the city ends up on the list. if the US dollar declines in value against, say the euro, cities in the euro zone will become more expensive. but this hardly matters to me using my £ in europe or to the local in, say, munich using the euro that he earns.

for all the press coverage that these lists get, they are quite irrelevent for the vast majority of the world.

I guess 'best quality of life' depends on what you're looking for. A close friend decided to quit London with his Kiwi wife and lived first in Auckland (5th) for a couple of years, and then picked Vancouver (3rd) for a couple of years, basing his decision on just such a list as this. He was bored to tears and is now relieved to be back in London. (Part of his reasoning was lack of interesting job opportunities, so I guess it depends what field you work in).

Clifton! Do it!!! Email me if you want to ask specific questions. I have lived in Slovenia for the last 3 years but have been an expat for 8. Email is slojan2000atyahoo.com.

And the quality of life is very high here.

Wherever we expats go to live, and there are over 4.1 million of us, it looks like it's going to be expensive no matter how you look at it.

Thanks to a last minute add-on (in May) to a $69 billion tax CUT package, expats now face restricted housing allowances,( which, granted, only impact those transferred overseas with companies) and higher tax rates.

BRAVO (NOT) to all those fools who voted this in, who think we sit over here sipping champagne while people-watching on the Champs Elysées. I already resent having to pay US taxes at all... after all, Americans are the only expat workers in the world who are required to pay taxes to their home country when earning their money abroad.


American companies are outraged - it will make the cost to them much higher and will make the US less competitive.

So if you're thinking about taking a transfer overseas, check it out well before you do. It could be a costly experience.

Patricia

Tell me about it! Most mfg. companies will subsidize however. Those of us who are living in low tax countries are the ones who will feel the biggest bite. Our tax bill will be going up 6 fold.

Thanks to Charles Grassley of Iowa, we are subsidizing an unnecessary tax cut for those who live in the US.

It also has an impact on exports which hurt all of us. Check out the article in the Economist for some interesting consequences of this stupid, stupid policy.

Yes, SloJan, you are going to be one of the ones hardest hit. And just think, all those tax dollars with nothing in return, especially representation.

All expats should write to Grassley and let him know what we think.
http://grassley.senate.gov/

Maybe we should all also write to support Jim DeMint (R - South Caroline) who is proposing to eliminate taxes on income earned by American workers overseas.

Patricia
sorry for hijacking the thread !

Patricia, no worries. Thanks for the email address and the info on DeMint. Fancy that! Me supporting a Republican from SC!

I think I might be bored to tears living in most the cities listed. What is the criteria for "quality of life"? Does good tasting food count?

And how about climate?

I would be happy with the climate in any of the top 10 listed for quality of life, except Sydney. Unlike everyone else in my family, I have managed to avoid any "up close and personals" with skin cancer because I stayed out of the sun (if you want to hear an insane, death-wish discussion, listen to my brother and cousin, both red haired, fair skinned and blue eyed, comparing notes on the best places in the tropics to get a tan). And I have had fabulous meals in Vienna, Vancouver, and Dusseldorf.

SloJan...

<< Fancy that! Me supporting a Republican from SC! >>

I hear you ! I even felt strange typing that R before South Carolina !

Patricia

I'm not sure that Switzerland is the best place to avoid skin cancer. Or Vancouver.

Thanks Jan, I will probably take you up on that at some point. There's a fair bit of time and trouble before we get to decision making time but I know we'll need advice. We'd both be pretty excited about it IF the situation allows for it. Taxes not withstanding, but that's exactly the type of information we need to consider. If you have any sort of good online expat resources, especially around governmental stuff (we'll both have EU/Irish citizenship by then), living costs, that sort of practical stuff, I would appreciate it a lot!

For good or bad, the area we'd be in isn't Ljubljana, rather it's right on the border with Italy. Photos from nearby areas look gorgeous though. Appears to be about 30 miles from the mountains to the north, and Trieste to the south. Kind of curious what, if anything, one goes through in crossing the border? If it were minimal, we could almost choose to live in one country and work in the other. Depending, of course, on how the countries felt about that!

So thank so much for your offer... if you do know of some accurate online ex-pet info, that would be great. And I will certainly bug you by email once it's looking like it could move ahead. Don't want to get too much forward motion yet, but would love to research and decide if it could be right for us.

Well, must be about me, I suppose (as I cannot agree neither with you, BTilke, nor with Mercer evidently).

I simply cannot trust any list that lists Duesseldorf and Frankfurt for the best quality of living in Germany before the obvious choices of Hamburg, Berlin and Munich (and I mean it in this order). Must be that quality of living vs. quality of life matter, Mercer mention.

I also find it amazing that the L.A. area is not even ranked for the US.

Luckily it takes all kinds to make a world, I suppose !