Moving to Germany?

spiralism

Strongly considering moving over in the next couple of months. I'm unsure as to where but having done a bit of homework on it already, im tentatively ruling out Berlin as it would be a bit too difficult to find work. I'm keen on Munich as the Bavarian lifestyle appeals to me the most but i'm also hearing that the cost of living there is very high and finding a place is a nightmare, two major red flags for me as i formerly lived in Amsterdam and had to deal with those issues.

Any advice? Giving Cologne some thought as i've been there a few times and loved it, though as i said previously, im a little more inclined to try the south. Places like Augsburg, Freiburg and Nuremberg in the south are intriguing but i'm also a little worried as to the lack of an English speaking community, i don't want to have no social life for months on end either.

Doing a TEFL cert at present and hoping to find some work in the field.

Anyone able to advise?

murphaph

If you like the Bavarian lifestyle (well, I think you really mean Upper-Bavarian, or Oberbayern) then go there. I can see the attraction (and I am settled in Berlin). Good access to the Alps and neighbouring countries. Munich as you say is horribly expensive (my employer has their HQ in Munich and the other half's sister lives there, so I'm very familiar with the place) and I'm afraid to say that teaching English does not pay particularly well as far as I know.

Maybe check out toytown, but beware there are some extremely negative people on there, so take everything you read with a pinch of salt.

munchkin_utd

agh, cost of living is not bad in Munich. I'd say Amsterdam or paris would indeed be way worse.
Eating out and pints in a pub are reasonable enough, groceries are a bit cheaper than Ireland and theres Aldis and Lidls everywhere.
The one bitch about the place is getting accomodation. The rent is comparible to Dublin , if not cheaper (well, for 1 or 2 bed apartments. Dublin is cheaper for family houses). Getting a place though can be difficult as theres massive demand on accomodation.
No idea on teaching english or what it pays.

newacc2015

I have lived in Munich. Rent is as expensive as Dublin, but day to day living generally is cheaper. eg food is cheap, pint is about €3.5/4. Munich is a super safe city. As in painfully safe. We lost our phones drunk a few times and they always ended up in the police station. The people are super trustworthy. But a bit rigid and inflexible. They arent the most welcoming to English Speakers. My friends and I have tons of stories of people, giving us **** for being English Speaking(but they were older people)

There is a fair amount of Irish in Munich. You will hear a lot more irish accents, than British or people from any other English speaking countries. The Germans love Irish. Munich has a better labour market in Germany by far. If you are female, you can find extremely well paid work as a nanny

You can get bus around Europe cheaply around Europe eg Munich to Milan for about €40/50. Munich is by far one of the nicest places I have been. There is no negatives to living there other than the German mindset eg not the best sense of humour They can appear a bit cold and unwelcoming. When Germans get to know you, they are really loyal and kind.

18MonthsaSlave

Baden-Wuerttemburg FTW
similar relaxed style like Bayern
Good climate.
Good economy.

riffmongous

Don't rule out Austria either, Vienna is pretty comparable to Munich I'd guess and has a very good english speaking community, you'll have no trouble making friends (native or irish/english speaking) if you go along to any of the irish pubs. My rent was cheap when I got it a few years ago, be warned that estate agent fees have to be paid for most rental apartments if you want to live on your own. Transport is very cheap, 365€ for a year ticket for all public transport in vienna (much cheaper than stuttgart where I am now), cost of living is a bit dearer than germany but there are loads of lidl and aldis so you can still shop cheap. You are also very close to Germany/Italy/Czech/Hungary/Balkans for travelling.

I've been in Stuttgart for a few months now and it seems pretty nice, but I cant tell you anything about the cost of rent. The local area is also pretty nice with some great day trips possible to villages and castles an hour or two away. The city isn't as nice as vienna though.

c montgomery

I've worked in karlsruhe many times and have to say it's a lovely place. It's a small city but with everything you could want along with a strong manufacturing base and fantastic transportation. Summers are fantastic, winters cold but well managed and less hassle than irish winters.
It also has great facilities.
I was flirting with the idea of moving there myself however child number 1 is happy in school and don't want to unsettle them.

munchkin_utd

newacc2015 wrote: »

<snip>
There is a fair amount of Irish in Munich. You will hear a lot more irish accents, than British or people from any other English speaking countries. The Germans love Irish. Munich has a better labour market in Germany by far. If you are female, you can find extremely well paid work as a nanny
<snip>

theres actually about 5000 brits, another 5000 americans and only 750 odd irish so the irish are really outnumbered by the other english speakers.

At mother and baby groups or baby cafes you'd see the amount of English more than in a pub.

about the general population not liking english speakers, I havent had that problem at all to be honest. The germans are latenty racist, but they seem to not mind white north europeans working in good jobs and paying their taxes and pensioners pensions.
(i.e. they'd be giving out about foreigners and whatnot, and you'd mention that you arent a german and therefore a foreigner, but they'd qualify that with Irish not really counting as being a proper foreigner! )

munchkin_utd

munchkin_utd wrote: »

theres actually about 5000 brits, another 5000 americans and only 750 odd irish so the irish are really outnumbered by the other english speakers.

Really has it changed that much, used to be nearly double that in Irish citizens living in Munich?

Niall_daaS

spiralism wrote: »

but i'm also a little worried as to the lack of an English speaking community, i don't want to have no social life for months on end either.

Wouldn't be worried about this. As you pointed out so far you prefer living in a city and the bigger cities like munich, hamburg, cologne, berlin are very multicultural and most German people learn English as a 2nd language in school. So I'd say you'll be fine in socialising besides other Englishspeakers.

As I'm from the Ruhr Area this is a very multicultural place and a massive number of people is living here. It's very cheap for living, but hard to get work if you're not a wanted specialist. But for students it must be great as a lot of universities are located here and leaving costs are reasonable. Other bigger Cities like Cologne or Dusseldorf (with their airports to Dublin) are close enough and it's roughly in a center position so travelling around Germany is easy enough as most places are in a fair distance.

But lifestyle is completly different to the Bavarian F*ckers

shane9689

First off, Learn the language as quickly as you can. People will speak english, but youll get to know people better and understand the culture by speaking German.

Also, decide an area! Germany is Huge and there are cultural variations everywhere. Even within Bavaria, you have Franconians and Bavarians, who consider themselves different. Despite this though, there's a General German Culture that newacc2015 explained pretty well.

They will seem unfriendly at times, but just understand that this is part of their culture... We are brought up to be welcoming and warm, while they are brought to be more "to the point" when dealing with people.

This said, They are extremely good looking in general! (always a bonus) they love the irish and ireland. And they have a similar drinking culture to us and their beer and wines are the best.

The only down sides are, they have a terrible sense of humour imo. They think being goofy is funny, and youll find alot of their comedy and stage performances really whacky and just weird.
They lack the dry/dark humour we have. sarcasm can often go over their heads.

also, their music scene is mediocre, im pretty sure ireland is better for music, but they do get alot of foreign acts touring their country (especially irish ones), so youll still get good music, just maybe not locally.

Everything is neat and tidy and safe, but as another poster said, this is also bit of a downer, as things can be abit too safe and boring. Unlike Ireland, you wont find as many "lads" having the craic, spontaneity really isnt their thing. and ive actually had Germans say this is partly why they love ireland, you can let your hair down more in Ireland.
THat said, they do have great festivals, and Bavaria is the best area for this. Octoberfest etc....are great craic

also, Motor ways are brilliant, go as fast as you like

brassringclub

Ive toyed with the idea of heading to live in Berlin for quite a while now.

i have a degree, 4/5 years work experience, no German though. Is there much demand for English Speaking Graduates over there?

murphaph

Erm....what did you graduate in?

Niall_daaS

brassringclub wrote: »

Ive toyed with the idea of heading to live in Berlin for quite a while now.

i have a degree, 4/5 years work experience, no German though. Is there much demand for English Speaking Graduates over there?

That really depends on what your doing. Germany is big in exporting goods so there is a lot of internation business happening where English is essential. On the other hand your colleagues will probably speak German and your job will not be everything so at least some basic German skills are necessary to not get lost in your daily life.

munchkin_utd

brassringclub wrote: »

Ive toyed with the idea of heading to live in Berlin for quite a while now.

i have a degree, 4/5 years work experience, no German though. Is there much demand for English Speaking Graduates over there?

why Berlin?

you do know that its not the centre of commerce and industry in Germany.
VERY much not so.

it was amusing, bordering on hilarious, that at the beginning of the economic crisis 1000s of Greek and Portugese landed to Berlin looking for jobs and being surprised that it wasnt really the most vibrant ecomomic place in the world and ended up homeless and needing to be helped by the locals.

Theres lots of ex pats woking in tourism, and 1000s of ex pats out there in a flat with daddy paying the rent for them to have a gap year, or be a hippy, or a painter, but the jobs for graduates in general are elsewhere.

(that said, there are supposedly jobs in IT and that, but you should research what you are up to before making the jump)

murphaph

Berlin is an option for IT. We can't fill our empty developer positions either in our Munich or Berlin offices. Things like mechanical engineering will be much harder to find work in in Berlin compared to southern Germany though.

munchkin_utd

murphaph wrote: »

Berlin is an option for IT. We can't fill our empty developer positions either in our Munich or Berlin offices. Things like mechanical engineering will be much harder to find work in in Berlin compared to southern Germany though.

same in Munich wrt IT.

but in General to give an idea of what the craic is,
the unemployment rate in Berlin is 11% (23 year low)
unemployment rate in Munich is 4% (so technically full employment)
unemployment rate in Munich suburbs and some neighbouring towns is a shade over 2% (which is a philosophical question as to what that actually could be termed)

heres a wee map with the figures which shows starkly where the jobs are, and arent (not a dissimilar situation to Ireland currently):


the problem though is housing. Kinda like Ireland currently, where the jobs are theres a chronic shortage of housing.

Also, theres a problem that despite insanely low unemployment, wages are unbelievably static since a decade seeing as companies are still in tight @rse recession busting mode.
The likes of certain high profile premium brand auto companies are cashing in record profits BUT anyone supplying to them or doing work for them is expected to continually offer cheaper and more flexible offers - and now with high penalties for any unexpected delays too

the only way to get well paid seems to be to move company/ find a company which rewards your specific niche skills.

brassringclub

munchkin_utd wrote: »

why Berlin?

you do know that its not the centre of commerce and industry in Germany.
VERY much not so.

it was amusing, bordering on hilarious, that at the beginning of the economic crisis 1000s of Greek and Portugese landed to Berlin looking for jobs and being surprised that it wasnt really the most vibrant ecomomic place in the world and ended up homeless and needing to be helped by the locals.

Theres lots of ex pats woking in tourism, and 1000s of ex pats out there in a flat with daddy paying the rent for them to have a gap year, or be a hippy, or a painter, but the jobs for graduates in general are elsewhere.

(that said, there are supposedly jobs in IT and that, but you should research what you are up to before making the jump)

Hey, guys, thanks for all this. Graduated with a wishy washy degree in Digital Multimedia and have worked in high level customer service and training positions since. Berlin simply appealed to me as a city. Thanks for the subsequent posts too. I just fancy a change. I wouldnt be jumping without having something lined up, and daddy certainly wouldnt be paying the rent haha. I just wondered if there was a market there for someone with English as a first language, in IT/training/customer service.

munchkin_utd

brassringclub wrote: »

Hey, guys, thanks for all this. Graduated with a wishy washy degree in Digital Multimedia and have worked in high level customer service and training positions since. Berlin simply appealed to me as a city. Thanks for the subsequent posts too. I just fancy a change. I wouldnt be jumping without having something lined up, and daddy certainly wouldnt be paying the rent haha. I just wondered if there was a market there for someone with English as a first language, in IT/training/customer service.

the job centre for germany is here http://jobboerse.arbeitsagentur.de/ with over a million open positions
I searched for "englisch" and limited it to Berlin and came up with a heap of jobs, mostly secretarial.

there was at least one job for it support (1st Level IT Support - Tschechisch, Niederländisch, Englisch (Assistent/in - Informatik (technische Informatik))) in english from this crowd listed : http://www.gansspersonal.de/
I could post the link to the listing on the jobs site, but from bitter experience it doesnt work after 5minutes so not going to

justback83

Bringing up this old(ish) thread again - apologies!

I am seriously considering the move...I have a second interview there next week and they head-hunted me so I'm hoping I've got a very good chance of landing it. It's a much better job than the one I'm currently in, with much better benefits. The company in around an hour from Ulm, which is where I'm considering living. I am genuinely shocked at the rental prices - they are a fraction of what I'm paying in Dublin. The company asked me if I had any worries about making the move, I asked them about my lack of German. They advised me that they will provide me with a 1-to-1 tutor, which has worked very well with their non-German speaking colleagues so far.

So I'm weighing up pros and cons and at the minute, Germany is way ahead. My partner will be moving with me, we don't own property, the company will ship everything over there for me. They will also provide us with a fully furnished apartment for 6 months - rent free

I'm kinda looking for any pitfalls so if any of you have any advice on renting there (after our first 6 months), what areas near Ulm/Heidenheim are nice to live in etc., I'd greatly appreciate it!

dissed doc

justback83 wrote: »

Bringing up this old(ish) thread again - apologies!

I am seriously considering the move...I have a second interview there next week and they head-hunted me so I'm hoping I've got a very good chance of landing it. It's a much better job than the one I'm currently in, with much better benefits. The company in around an hour from Ulm, which is where I'm considering living. I am genuinely shocked at the rental prices - they are a fraction of what I'm paying in Dublin. The company asked me if I had any worries about making the move, I asked them about my lack of German. They advised me that they will provide me with a 1-to-1 tutor, which has worked very well with their non-German speaking colleagues so far.

So I'm weighing up pros and cons and at the minute, Germany is way ahead. My partner will be moving with me, we don't own property, the company will ship everything over there for me. They will also provide us with a fully furnished apartment for 6 months - rent free

The reason it is cheaper is because Dublin is a decent capital city where people want to live, lots of nightlife and people and by compairosn, outside of Stuttgart in that region, Ulm is in the middle of nowhere. You are moving to the Germany-equivalent of Athlone, or not even. Rents are cheap in rural Ireland, just like rural Germany which is where you are going. It may suit you well, if you have had enough of city life and don't fancy the smaller Irish cities.

Most people in Ulm or region, would likely want to move to Munich or Stuttgart for the life. Likewise, the cost of living goes back up. You are not comparing like with like. Small town Germany is small town life, do not underestimate the change. Like I said, it might be a perfect fit for you. There are a lot of eays incentives to make the move. How many incentives do you need to convince someone to move to Dublin or Amsterdam?

You would have a decent "country" lifestyle though.

justback83

dissed doc wrote: »

The reason it is cheaper is because Dublin is a decent capital city where people want to live, lots of nightlife and people and by compairosn, outside of Stuttgart in that region, Ulm is in the middle of nowhere. You are moving to the Germany-equivalent of Athlone, or not even. Rents are cheap in rural Ireland, just like rural Germany which is where you are going. It may suit you well, if you have had enough of city life and don't fancy the smaller Irish cities.

Most people in Ulm or region, would likely want to move to Munich or Stuttgart for the life. Likewise, the cost of living goes back up. You are not comparing like with like. Small town Germany is small town life, do not underestimate the change. Like I said, it might be a perfect fit for you. There are a lot of eays incentives to make the move. How many incentives do you need to convince someone to move to Dublin or Amsterdam?

You would have a decent "country" lifestyle though.

Thanks, but I'm not sure if Ulm is comparable to Athlone!! This gave me a good laugh though

jester77

Well, he is right about rental prices. If you were to move to Munich, Hamburg or Frankfurt then Dublin prices would very quickly look very reasonable.

One thing to look out for is health insurance for your girlfriend. If she is not working and living with you, then most likely you will have to pay her costs if you are deemed to be earning over a certain threshold.

murphaph

jester77 wrote: »

Well, he is right about rental prices. If you were to move to Munich, Hamburg or Frankfurt then Dublin prices would very quickly look very reasonable.

One thing to look out for is health insurance for your girlfriend. If she is not working and living with you, then most likely you will have to pay her costs if you are deemed to be earning over a certain threshold.

Yeah health insurance is compulsory here. You have to have Bafin approved insurance to remain. The state pays this for residents who lose their jobs but it doesn't pay it for new arrivals.

shakin

I have applied for a job in Frankfurt, its an internal transfer hoping to be getting 40-45K per annul. Our work is done through English so no immediate issues there.

Would that be a comfortable salary to save and to live in Frankfurt after tax?

jester77

shakin wrote: »

I have applied for a job in Frankfurt, its an internal transfer hoping to be getting 40-45K per annul. Our work is done through English so no immediate issues there.

Would that be a comfortable salary to save and to live in Frankfurt after tax?

If you are single it would be comfortable, otherwise it will be tight. Also depends on what sort of accommodation you sort yourself out with. Frankfurt is not cheap, so accommodation could eat up a large part of your salary. You should try and get your company to cover your monthly transport ticket, that would be a big saving. Also get them to throw in German lessons, but they are probably doing that already. Even if work is in English, casual conversations will be in German so it would help to better integrate.

You won't earn enough to avail of private health insurance, there would be savings to made there if you could push for another 5-10k salary. When you are registering, make sure not to put yourself down as any of the main religions or you will be paying around 8% of your taxable income for that privilege.

As a single person not paying church tax you would be bringing home between 2085 and 2290. You can calculate here. It's well above the average German wage and you can have a decent lifestyle around Frankfurt with that.

shakin

jester77 wrote: »

If you are single it would be comfortable, otherwise it will be tight. Also depends on what sort of accommodation you sort yourself out with. Frankfurt is not cheap, so accommodation could eat up a large part of your salary. You should try and get your company to cover your monthly transport ticket, that would be a big saving. Also get them to throw in German lessons, but they are probably doing that already. Even if work is in English, casual conversations will be in German so it would help to better integrate.

You won't earn enough to avail of private health insurance, there would be savings to made there if you could push for another 5-10k salary. When you are registering, make sure not to put yourself down as any of the main religions or you will be paying around 8% of your taxable income for that privilege.

As a single person not paying church tax you would be bringing home between 2085 and 2290. You can calculate here. It's well above the average German wage and you can have a decent lifestyle around Frankfurt with that.

Thanks for that its a great help. I should have health insurance paid for by the employer, I assume there will be some BIK on that.

German lessons and transport costs aren't covered for anyone AFAIK, but I'd have no problem in paying for German lessons for myself, if I move there I definitely want to learn the language

I've been looking at accommodation, my current rent is really quiet cheap in Dublin, im just lucky through circumstances. But looking online the last few days its been tricky. Its a lot trickier than looking on daft! I would rather rent a room in a house/apt share, with 2-3 others as I have always done in Dublin. But I wouldn't like to spend more than €600 p/m on rent. Maybe that's not realistic.

jester77

shakin wrote: »

Thanks for that its a great help. I should have health insurance paid for by the employer, I assume there will be some BIK on that.

German lessons and transport costs aren't covered for anyone AFAIK, but I'd have no problem in paying for German lessons for myself, if I move there I definitely want to learn the language

I've been looking at accommodation, my current rent is really quiet cheap in Dublin, im just lucky through circumstances. But looking online the last few days its been tricky. Its a lot trickier than looking on daft! I would rather rent a room in a house/apt share, with 2-3 others as I have always done in Dublin. But I wouldn't like to spend more than €600 p/m on rent. Maybe that's not realistic.

Health insurance is mandatory here, public insurance is over 15% of your salary. If you are working for a company then they have to cover roughly half of this. So you will be paying 7.5-8% of your salary towards it. Private insurance is a fixed amount and is usually cheaper than public with better care once you earn 45k+, but there are also caveat's.

Sharing a room is not so common here, I don't know of any professionals that share, so don't know much about that side of rental, look for WGs when looking for room shares. But you should be able to get an ok apartment around Frankfurt for 600 cold. http://www.immobilienscout24.de would be the main rental site.

The best way of finding a place is through contacts. Use your company's intranet to find a place. There are always people moving.

justback83

So the move is now definite! I got the offer today!!! Have a lot to research now...is it difficult to lease a car when moving there initially?

shakin

justback83 wrote: »

So the move is now definite! I got the offer today!!! Have a lot to research now...is it difficult to lease a car when moving there initially?

Congrats! - Best of luck with the move

justback83

So apparently my company will cover pension insurance, is this normal?? Is there anything I should be looking out for in the contract?

murphaph

justback83 wrote: »

So apparently my company will cover pension insurance, is this normal?? Is there anything I should be looking out for in the contract?

This is normal. In Germany your payslip shows the individual amounts deducted for unemployment insurance, medical insurance and pension. You should note, that the German pension system will credit you for things the Irish system will not, for example time spent at University or even school past a certain age because you were not in a position to pay into the pot due to full time education! These periods can be added to your German pension credit record, but you need proof of such things. It's certainly worth doing and better to do it now rather than try to reconstruct the paperwork when it's time to retire! I need to do this myself, but I know it's possible.

Your car leasing might be problematic without a German credit history, but I am not speaking from experience so maybe it'll work out fine. You should get a BILL PAY phone asap and set up a German bank account asap (even though you should be able to use your Irish one initially just fine) as this information will flow into your credit rating. If you have a ready to go phone and just use an Irish account indefinitely you will have a hard time building up a credit rating here.

justback83

murphaph wrote: »

This is normal. In Germany your payslip shows the individual amounts deducted for unemployment insurance, medical insurance and pension. You should note, that the German pension system will credit you for things the Irish system will not, for example time spent at University or even school past a certain age because you were not in a position to pay into the pot due to full time education! These periods can be added to your German pension credit record, but you need proof of such things. It's certainly worth doing and better to do it now rather than try to reconstruct the paperwork when it's time to retire! I need to do this myself, but I know it's possible.

Your car leasing might be problematic without a German credit history, but I am not speaking from experience so maybe it'll work out fine. You should get a BILL PAY phone asap and set up a German bank account asap (even though you should be able to use your Irish one initially just fine) as this information will flow into your credit rating. If you have a ready to go phone and just use an Irish account indefinitely you will have a hard time building up a credit rating here.

Thank you - great advice here! The company is providing a fully serviced apartment for 6 months and it will be within walking distance to work so hopefully I'll be able to build up a credit rating within that time frame. The company is also going to assist me in setting up a bank account and insurance etc.

I'd know what my salary is but I'd really like to know exactly how much I'll be taking home each month. I have a call later today with HR - is there anything specific you think I should be enquiring about?!
Thanks again

jester77

justback83 wrote: »

Thank you - great advice here! The company is providing a fully serviced apartment for 6 months and it will be within walking distance to work so hopefully I'll be able to build up a credit rating within that time frame. The company is also going to assist me in setting up a bank account and insurance etc.

I'd know what my salary is but I'd really like to know exactly how much I'll be taking home each month. I have a call later today with HR - is there anything specific you think I should be enquiring about?!
Thanks again

https://www.nettolohn.de will show you your take home pay. Hold on to the receipts for any moving costs not being covered by your company, you can claim against then in your eoy tax return. 30 days is the standard holiday allowance in the professional world, although I think 20 is the minimum legal amount. Keep an eye on that. Also flexi time, core hours and notice period are important to know. Notice period is usually 3 months, sometimes more depending on position.

If HR are sorting out your registration, be careful how they handle your church tax, as once you are paying it is not so easy to get out and it is around 8% of your taxable income.

If you are young, healthy, and don't plan to stay in Germany out have kids here then look at private health insurance. You can easily save hundreds a month here. If you will start a family here, then get some professional advice about it.

murphaph

And if you're not sure about private or public health insurance then take public initially. It's easy to go public to private but difficult to do the reverse.

Edit: if you earn no more than the 45k indicated in one of your posts then you will not be eligible for private health insurance. You have to earn at least 50 something k to be allowed bail out of the compulsory public system.

random_guy

jester77 wrote: »

If HR are sorting out your registration, be careful how they handle your church tax, as once you are paying it is not so easy to get out and it is around 8% of your taxable income.

This.
Even if you are religious it's a fair chunk of money every month.

Although I think this is a trip you'll have to make to the Rathaus yourself.

Do companies do registrations for you? I've never heard of it but it'd be interesting to know.

As an aside:
A new colleague of mine didn't register in time (I think the time limit is 2 weeks after arrival) and got fined because of it. Around €20 if I remember rightly, appealed it, failed, got another €25 added to the bill.

Remember to register in the city!!!

justback83

jester77 wrote: »

https://www.nettolohn.de will show you your take home pay. Hold on to the receipts for any moving costs not being covered by your company, you can claim against then in your eoy tax return. 30 days is the standard holiday allowance in the professional world, although I think 20 is the minimum legal amount. Keep an eye on that. Also flexi time, core hours and notice period are important to know. Notice period is usually 3 months, sometimes more depending on position.

If HR are sorting out your registration, be careful how they handle your church tax, as once you are paying it is not so easy to get out and it is around 8% of your taxable income.

If you are young, healthy, and don't plan to stay in Germany out have kids here then look at private health insurance. You can easily save hundreds a month here. If you will start a family here, then get some professional advice about it.

I had this conversation with hr today, they're basically going to hold my hand throughout the whole process. I've been assigned my own case officer who's gonna get me there, register us, open bank accounts with us, sort out insurance etc!

justback83

murphaph wrote: »

And if you're not sure about private or public health insurance then take public initially. It's easy to go public to private but difficult to do the reverse.

Edit: if you earn no more than the 45k indicated in one of your posts then you will not be eligible for private health insurance. You have to earn at least 50 something k to be allowed bail out of the compulsory public system.

In over €60k so should be eligible for private health insurance. We don't plan on having kids so i think I'll look into private health insurance to see how much I'll save

murphaph

Is your gf going to have a job? She will not get private health insurance without one so she would be compelled to opt as a voltunary (bit counterintuitive that) member of the public system. The thing is, she needs to prove her entitlement to this by providing documentation from Ireland showing that she was covered under the HSE. There is a strict time limit in which to make this application! If you were married she could be covered for free on public insurance, but not private.

justback83

murphaph wrote: »

Is your gf going to have a job? She will not get private health insurance without one so she would be compelled to opt as a voltunary (bit counterintuitive that) member of the public system. The thing is, she needs to prove her entitlement to this by providing documentation from Ireland showing that she was covered under the HSE. There is a strict time limit in which to make this application! If you were married she could be covered for free on public insurance, but not private.

No - but she's looking st the moment. We are planning on getting married before we move over so this is good news about the health insurance!

justback83

murphaph wrote: »

This is normal. In Germany your payslip shows the individual amounts deducted for unemployment insurance, medical insurance and pension. You should note, that the German pension system will credit you for things the Irish system will not, for example time spent at University or even school past a certain age because you were not in a position to pay into the pot due to full time education! These periods can be added to your German pension credit record, but you need proof of such things. It's certainly worth doing and better to do it now rather than try to reconstruct the paperwork when it's time to retire! I need to do this myself, but I know it's possible.

Your car leasing might be problematic without a German credit history, but I am not speaking from experience so maybe it'll work out fine. You should get a BILL PAY phone asap and set up a German bank account asap (even though you should be able to use your Irish one initially just fine) as this information will flow into your credit rating. If you have a ready to go phone and just use an Irish account indefinitely you will have a hard time building up a credit rating here.

I've worked out that I would be paying €355.95 per month on health insurance if I went with the public system. Do you have any idea if I'd be better off going private??

random_guy

justback83 wrote: »

I've worked out that I would be paying €355.95 per month on health insurance if I went with the public system. Do you have any idea if I'd be better off going private??

You might not be allowed to go private. It's depends on what you earn among a few other things I think.

Probably worth discussing it with your HR or chatting to some insurance companies to see what their offers are.

Also keep in mind that dentists are often seperate and have seperate insurance. The public insurance will cover yearly checkups and extractions but that's about it.

justback83

random_guy wrote: »

You might not be allowed to go private. It's depends on what you earn among a few other things I think.

Probably worth discussing it with your HR or chatting to some insurance companies to see what their offers are.

Also keep in mind that dentists are often seperate and have seperate insurance. The public insurance will cover yearly checkups and extractions but that's about it.

I'm able to go private, I'm over the salary threshold...thanks anyway!

justback83

Good news - I'm getting private health insurance and my company will pay for half.

Just starting to get stuff organised now to be shipped over. Do you think it's worth the hassle of taking things like the TV (it's a great TV) or should I buy them there? Is anyone aware of any potential problems using a TV from Ireland in Germany? We have a lot of kitchenware as well (delph, cutlery, glasses etc). Should be bring it all? The company is paying for relocation so why not eh? Do relocation companies assist in securing fragile equipment before shipping?!

jester77

justback83 wrote: »

Good news - I'm getting private health insurance and my company will pay for half.

That's actually the law, they have to pay half. If you are self-employed then you pay the full amount yourself. Have they picked a provider for you?

But difference in coverage and costs, definitely warrants some time and study. Some providers require a medical, any existing conditions have to be declared and you cover all costs up front and later claim them back.

For example, I have to cover the first €800 of costs per year before I can make a claim. Mine also has a no claims bonus where I get x amount back per year if I make no claim. This amount increases each year I make no claim.

justback83 wrote: »

Just starting to get stuff organised now to be shipped over. Do you think it's worth the hassle of taking things like the TV (it's a great TV) or should I buy them there? Is anyone aware of any potential problems using a TV from Ireland in Germany? We have a lot of kitchenware as well (delph, cutlery, glasses etc). Should be bring it all? The company is paying for relocation so why not eh? Do relocation companies assist in securing fragile equipment before shipping?!

Ship everything over if they are paying, if your TV has a built in digital tuner then it will probably not work here. DVB-T is the standard OTA digital delivery, but most apartments will have cable included.

Fnordius

Coming late to this thread, I am actually considering the opposite: applying for a job in Dublin whilst still living and working in Germany. So I am willing to answer any questions about Munich as well as hoping to figure out if it's worth coming to Dublin. I mean, I love the city and the country, but I am an American and not Irish, and I do have a nice flat and a job here in Munich.
So go ahead, ask me anything about Munich (or Minga, as the locals call it) and either tell me to come or convince me to stay away.

yosser hughes

Fnordius wrote: »

Coming late to this thread, I am actually considering the opposite: applying for a job in Dublin whilst still living and working in Germany. So I am willing to answer any questions about Munich as well as hoping to figure out if it's worth coming to Dublin. I mean, I love the city and the country, but I am an American and not Irish, and I do have a nice flat and a job here in Munich.
So go ahead, ask me anything about Munich (or Minga, as the locals call it) and either tell me to come or convince me to stay away.

Having lived in both cities, my advice is to stay in Munich or move to another European country.

murphaph

Fnordius wrote: »

Coming late to this thread, I am actually considering the opposite: applying for a job in Dublin whilst still living and working in Germany. So I am willing to answer any questions about Munich as well as hoping to figure out if it's worth coming to Dublin. I mean, I love the city and the country, but I am an American and not Irish, and I do have a nice flat and a job here in Munich.
So go ahead, ask me anything about Munich (or Minga, as the locals call it) and either tell me to come or convince me to stay away.

Stay where you are. Dublin will be a big disappointment after Munich IMO.