r2i, now r2a. wanting to get some cost of living estimates

nand · Post by **nand** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:35 pm

I had r2ied 7 years ago and my kid is in 10th now. r2i has been a great experience work and otherwise. Now looking to r2a and considering offers in the NY/NJ area around edison/new brunswick thereabouts. Been a little out of touch with US now so wanted to get an idea of the cost of living now in these parts. say a single family home of 2500 sft. your typical honda accord type of cars etc and good public school and nothing fancy.

What would it cost these days to live there comfortably without scrimping and saving and penny counting? Especially the cost of health insurance premiums and out of pocket? Seems like lot has changes in that front. Any help in this front would be great as i try to compare where i am (blr) vs moving to the US.

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 8:53 am

I've no direct knowledge of cost of living in NY/NJ. I've immediate family members living there with similar lifestyle you're expecting and their income is 220k-250k gross. The biggest variable in terms of living expense is house mortgage+ Property tax in NJ. All other expense like car,gas, food, travel,clothing is pretty much the same over past 7 years. Medical expense will be typically 7k annually with a max of 15k if you have any medical emergency.

I was curious about your plan for your kid in 10th grade. Will the kid finish high school in India or is the plan to move to US for grade 11.

sweet_honey · Post by **sweet_honey** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 1:03 pm

My query too- do you have a preference to High school in US over India?

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suba · Post by **suba** » Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:51 pm

nand;632759I had r2ied 7 years ago and my kid is in 10th now. r2i has been a great experience work and otherwise. Now looking to r2a and considering offers in the NY/NJ area around edison/new brunswick thereabouts. Been a little out of touch with US now so wanted to get an idea of the cost of living now in these parts. say a single family home of 2500 sft. your typical honda accord type of cars etc and good public school and nothing fancy.

What would it cost these days to live there comfortably without scrimping and saving and penny counting? Especially the cost of health insurance premiums and out of pocket? Seems like lot has changes in that front. Any help in this front would be great as i try to compare where i am (blr) vs moving to the US.

$110K to $130K should suffice.

nand · Post by **nand** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:31 am

thanks for the replies.

1. the move is mainly motivated by kids education. its very competitive here and some avenues are closed to USC also. Plan is for me to move earlier, kids complete 10th and 7th and then move after i set up the place.

2. one thing i am concerned about in the US is the medical cost. i keep hearing about these horror stories of people getting bankrupt after even not so complicated procedures because even a simple operation can cost 200-300K though insurance pays. And it seems these days the insurance co pays are increasing. are there out of pocket limits typically?

Ravi999 · Post by **Ravi999** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:50 am

Had a minor outpatient procedure done and the hospital
Bill filed was $12000.
One friend's parent had a heart surgery ( new pacemaker). Surgery and hospital stay bill filed was $90000. Not sure how much did they
Pay oop.

nand · Post by **nand** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:53 am

what was your oop in this 12K bill?

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:09 am

One of my friend in San Diego had a bad experience two years back. His son fell and fractured his arm. He was in the hospital for couple of days for surgery and plaster. They inserted a rod to fix the fractured bone. Total bill came to $70K. My friend had to pay $7k oop. Rest was picked up by his employer's medical insurance. Some of the billed items were outrageous -
- charge for hospital room - $5000 per night (more costly than luxury hotel)
- bandages and plaster - $600

He was furious looking at the numbers. I suspect they write whatever they feel like but insurance company pays negotiated rate and only for covered items. You are on the hook for the rest.

rajradio · Post by **rajradio** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:18 am

In emory, mri pelvis insurance negotiated rate was 1150 usd, cash price for same was 6500 usd. So if you were jobless and were out of insurance you pay much more than what your billion dollar insurance company would.

Btw mri pelvis done on same machine is 10000 inr in India.

nand · Post by **nand** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:52 am

and would you know before hand what is a covered vs non covered item? seems like the medical system can lead you down a path of financial ruin very quickly! 70K for a fracture is outrageous. you can get cancer treated here for that amount. from reading all this it seems like the cost of house car or cable bills is a trivial matter that can be factored for. How do i budget or account for this kind of a situation. In india insurance kicks in only after hospitalization. so we factor 1 lac a year for outpatient and that has been more than enough. I also have a top up policy that covers me till 30 lacs or so. so the question is how much to account for medical unforseen expenses. and a fractured arm is a fairly common event, not even tlking about a heart or cancer type of thing.