Stop by Paragon’s booth, 504, to register to win an iPad and get some fun beach-themed giveaways!

Filed under: Blog Post, ERC, Events | No Comments »

Two Paragon staff members have been invited to participate in Worldwide ERC^® committees.

Elaine Martin of Paragon GeoImmigration has been invited to join the Program Planning committee for the 2013 Global Workforce Symposium held in October. The committee will meet in Washington D.C. to develop the program content and then each committee member will take ownership of one session for the Symposium.

Kristin Eubanks of Paragon Global Resources has been appointed to the Worldwide ERC^® Communications committee. The Communications committee’s primary purpose is to offer recommendations for maintaining and enhancing the association’s messaging to members through existing communications vehicles to: increase member awareness, satisfaction and retention; support the global growth initiative of the organization; and build the brand of organization.

“Both Elaine and Kristin are perfectly suited for these positions and their appointments speak volumes about their levels of experience and expertise in the areas of immigration and communication. They will be welcomed additions to the committees and will represent Paragon well,” said Joseph Morabito, President and CEO of Paragon.

Martin is the Managing Director of Immigration Services for Paragon GeoImmigration, responsible for the management of Paragon’s global network of immigration providers delivering immigration services in more than 150 countries.

Eubanks is the Director of Global Marketing and Communications at Paragon Global Resources, where her role includes managing marketing, communications and proposal activities for all of Paragon’s entities.

About Paragon Global Resources

Paragon Global Resources is the parent company of various wholly owned subsidiaries including Paragon Relocation, Paragon Decision Resources, GenEquity Mortgage and Paragon GeoImmigration. Paragon Global Resources strives to be the premier partner of choice in the global mobility, human resource, mortgage and real estate service industries by providing innovative programs, value-added support, superior customer service and thought leadership to our clients and the customers we serve.  For further information, please visit www.paragongri.com.

Filed under: Announcement, Blog Post, ERC, Press Release | No Comments »

A Guest Blog Post from Stephen Crispin, CRP
Vice President, GenEquity Mortgage

Overview

It is widely agreed upon by economists that home loan interest rates are going to rise. What is not agreed upon, however, is when rates will rise and to what level. To be clear, there are signs currently that rates are on the increase as evidenced by an increase on the average 30 year fixed rate from a low of 3.29% in November of 2012 to a rate of 3.70% in early March, 2013 (according to Mortgage News Daily). While rates are still well below the 52 week high of 4.09%, recent reports of economic strength suggest that rates are on the way higher. Near term, the impacts of this are not expected to be significant. However, longer term, assuming rates continue to rise, the impacts will be felt more severely by relocating employees and their families.

What does this mean?

Home Selling – By virtually all measurements, the U.S. residential housing markets look to be improving. Home values are increasing, albeit from depressed levels, and list to sale times are decreasing. This has been fueled by the previously referenced low interest rate environment and economic strength. However, as rates continue to rise, one of the pillars of strength driving the housing markets will be slowly removed. This may result in a lengthening of marketing times for your employees as they try to sell their homes.

Home Purchase – For the past several years, relocating homeowners have been the beneficiaries of ever lowering interest rates. Consider the transferring employee who was moved in March of 2007 was able to secure a loan with a 6.25% interest rate. That same employee, being moved three years later, was able to secure a rate at roughly 5%. A subsequent move in March of 2013 would allow that same employee to receive a rate of roughly 3.75%. Most of the relocating homeowners over the past 10-15 years have enjoyed this rate differential. But, as previously noted, this trend is likely to reverse, making homeowners reluctant to accept assignments. To entice homeowners to accept moves in this environment, employers may need to offer incentives to these homeowners.

The incentives need to be carefully considered to not only achieve the desired benefit, but to be fully compliant with the ever changing regulations emanating from Washington, D.C. Dodd-Frank legislation has, among other things, created the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is in the process of enacting a number of new regulations which impact the mortgage markets. The regulation that is most impactful to employee benefits is the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule. It is widely acknowledged that the vast majority of loans made will need to be compliant with QM. This rule states that in order for a loan to qualify as QM the total fees charged to the borrower cannot be in excess of 3% of the loan amount. This applies whether or not the fees are reimbursed by the consumer’s employer. With that in mind, let’s review some possibilities for incenting employees to move:

• Reimbursement for Discount Points – A discount point (a one-time fee of 1% of the mortgage amount) paid by the employer will allow a reduction in interest rate from as low as one-eighth (1/8%) of a percent to three-eighths (3/8%) of a percent, depending on the specific factors of a loan, for the life of the loan. This will help mitigate the mortgage interest differential. Caution is needed, however, when offering discount points due to the QM rules 3% fee cap. Since governmental fees (recording fees, transfer fees, etc.), closing costs (Attorney, Lender’s Title Insurance, and closing/escrow fees, etc.) can make up 1-2% of the loan amount, the Discount Point benefit will likely need to be limited to 1% so that the employee’s loan still qualifies as a QM loan.
• Buydown – A buydown is when a lump sum is paid up front to temporarily reduce a borrower’s interest rate for set period of time. Examples of this are a “2-1-0” or “3-2-1” buydown. A tangible example is as follows: A borrower who has secured a 5% interest rate and a 2-1-0 buydown. The amount of the first 12 payments will be as if the interest rate was 3%. The amount of the subsequent 12 payments will be as if the interest rate is 4%, and all ensuing payments will be at the note rate of 5%. The CFPB has not specifically addressed this per se, but there is no basis for excluding these from the 3% cap rule. Due to the high cost associated with a buydown, this benefit would in the vast majority of instances result in exceeding the 3% cap thereby resulting in the loan no longer qualifying as a QM loan.
• Mortgage Subsidy – Employers have the option of designating a set amount, generally expressed as a percentage of the loan amount, as a mortgage subsidy to reduce an employee’s monthly payment. Example, a 2%, 3 year subsidy would result in an employer paying 2% of a loan amount. This amount would be used to offset the employee’s mortgage costs for 3 years. In the instance of a $250,000 loan, the cost to the employer would be $7,500. The employee would then receive $208.33/month for the first 36 months of the mortgage to offset their costs.

The bottom line is that the next few years are likely to bring about substantial changes in the mortgage market and those changes have far reaching effects on corporate relocation.

Filed under: Articles, Blog Post, The Best Thinking..., Uncategorized | No Comments »

In our never ending process of improvement, Paragon is exploring using video technology to allow our Relocation, Immigration and Mortgage Consultants, Account Managers and Sales team to better communicate with our customers, clients and prospects using both telephone and visual technology to better display information. While we already have video capability to connect our offices for conference calls, this desktop concept, perhaps a first for the relocation industry, will forever change the way we do business. The goal is to enhance the ability to build relationships by turning an often distant call into a face-to-face interaction. In a people-to-people business, the more we can develop our relationships, the more successful we will be in providing complex relocation services. This is an exciting development for Paragon as well as for our clients and customers.

At the same time, we are moving to expand our mortgage business, perhaps through a series of acquisitions in addition to organic growth, to increase GenEquity Mortgage’s presence in the marketplace. Our current emphasis on corporate mortgages in the relocation space is being expanded to include retail mortgages and will grow dramatically in the next five years. This will include licensing in additional states to expand from our current 16 states to 35 or more as we see business opportunities. In addition, we are rolling out the PGR Home Caregivers real estate services to support Senior adults, allowing them to stay in their homes as long as possible. These services include property management, reverse mortgage, dealing with household goods to prepare for a move, if necessary, and home marketing assistance to sell the current home if and when it is time to go into assisted living. In 2014, we will expand this subsidiary to include actual personal home care services to reflect the needs of the 78 million Baby Boomers that are retiring in the United States at the rate of 10,000 a day.

On the international front, we continue to explore better ways of doing business. We are currently supporting expatriates in more than 70 countries, though our reach extends to more than 150 countries through our company locations and affiliates. In doing so, we are implementing money transfers to provide expatriates their benefit reimbursements and supplier payments around the world and often in multiple currencies. This is no easy task; but, we do it efficiently and with few errors thanks to the audit processes we have in place to ensure accuracy.

Standing still is the equivalent of going backward. One thing is for sure – no matter what external challenges we face, Paragon never stands still. We are always focused on the future, process improvement and moving forward. Change is inevitable. Making change happen is a Paragon trademark.

Filed under: Blog Post, Paragon Press, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »

In celebration of Earth Day, 16 employees from Paragon’s Coppell office participated in Clean Coppell, Keep Coppell Beautiful’s annual city-wide cleanup event.

For the third year, employees picked up litter at a designated area, this time at MacArthur Park located near Paragon’s Coppell location. On April 5, employees wearing volunteer t-shirts meticulously combed the park picking up approximately 17 bags of trash while generating immense satisfaction and sweat.

“It was a gorgeous day to do this type of work; but most importantly, it was good to give back to the community,” said Craig Selders, President, Paragon Relocation.

Clean Coppell is held every year in conjunction with the Great American Cleanup and Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off events. Volunteers are invited to do their part by completing a litter cleanup, creek cleanup or by participating in the Coppell Nature Park’s workday or completing another beautification or improvement project of their choosing.

About Paragon Relocation

Paragon Relocation is the premier partner of choice in the global relocation management industry providing innovative programs, value-added support, superior customer service and thought leadership to our clients and the families we relocate. Our mission is to provide an extraordinary customer experience, one family at a time.  Paragon Relocation has been providing relocation services for 26 years and offers services in 150 countries. For further information, please visit www.paragonrelocation.com.

Filed under: Announcement, Blog Post, Community Service, Events | No Comments »

Paragon is excited to announce our year-to-date customer satisfaction numbers are on the rise with our overall end-of-move transferee satisfaction 5 Star Service rate coming in at 97% and our interim survey satisfaction rate being 97.4%. Enforcing our commitment to our new mission statement of providing an extraordinary customer experience, one family at a time, Paragon Consultants have continued to delight our transferees.

Additionally, Paragon offices across the globe are developing a healthy competition to see who will reign as the customer service office champion. Currently, our offices in Warrenville, IL and Hong Kong, China are neck and neck, averaging satisfaction rates as high as 97.5% and 98.7% respectively on the two surveys.

Paragon is thrilled to be able to provide this level of service around the world.

Filed under: Announcement, Articles, Blog Post, Paragon Press | No Comments »

A Guest Blog Post from
Craig Selders, SGMS, SCRP
President, Paragon Relocation

So what is the current state of the economy and the real estate market?  And how does this affect relocation policy?
The U.S. economy has taken quite the beating over the last few years and, by some accounts, now seems to be improving. This improvement can have a positive effect on the willingness or desire of corporate employees to relocate for the benefit of the company.

U.S. economic indicators are encouraging, but we are by no means out of the recession.  Fourth quarter 2012 annual GDP growth rate was actually not a growth rate—it was -0.1%.  This is the first shrinkage in the GDP rate in three years.  Economists believe this is mainly due to a decrease in military spending, which was down 22%, representing the biggest drop since 1972.  The full year GDP growth rate in 2012 was 2.2%, compared with 1.8% in 2011.  A “normal” GDP growth rate is 3% or greater.  Although private industry added 1.2 million jobs in 2012, the unemployment rate is still too high at 7.6%. Additionally, a large number of the unemployed have taken themselves out of the market, so actual unemployment is higher.

But is the economy poised for growth?  In many respects, it depends on the consumer. The consumer spend is approximately 70% of GDP, so if consumer spending decreases, then the overall economy will feel the pain.  The good news is that consumer spending did increase in Q4 2012 by 2.2%, and since interest rates are low, spending and borrowing have increased. Sales of new and existing homes are up; as are automobile sales.  Borrowing is up, which means people have more discretionary income, feel better about the economy and their jobs, and are willing to take on new debt.  So signs are encouraging that the consumer is spending, which drives the economy.  The bad news is that the payroll tax has increased by 2%, which means disposable income is down.  This could translate into less spending, which so far in 2013, we have not seen.

To put things into perspective, from 1950-1999, average GDP growth rates were 3.6%, and unemployment averaged 5.7% during this period.  From 2000–present, GDP has averaged less than 2%, and unemployment 6.3%.  What does this mean? Simply that post World War II development and spending does not continue forever, and we now see less advancement in GDP growth rates, even though we see some efficiencies and advancements in society such as robotics and technology…but not enough to fuel solid growth.  We also see excessive government debt and a fragile banking system, all of which can have macroeconomic impact on the economy.

So how does this translate into the real estate market, which is so critical to the potential relocation of company employees?  In this area of the economy, there is finally some good news. After being in the doldrums the past three years, we are beginning to see the fruits of improved real estate markets:

• According to the S&P Case Shiller report for January, 2013, for the 20 composite cities across the U.S., the average appreciation gain was 8.1% over the past 12 months.
• According to the National Association of Realtors, the average home price in the U.S. in 2012 of $173,600 was up 12.3% from 2011.
• At the end of December, there were 1.74 million homes for sale in the U.S., the lowest since 1999.
• New home sales in January, 2013, were 29% higher than January, 2012.
• On average, homes are selling in 71 days vs. 99 days one year ago, per the Wall Street Journal.
• And, distressed sales are down 35% compared to last year—a strong sign that foreclosures are clearing the market; however, distressed sales still represent 23% of the total market.

Some of the cities that were not doing very well are now doing exceedingly well. For example, Phoenix, which got hit very hard by recessionary factors and houses lost a great deal of value, had the highest year-over-year gain of 23.2%, for the 12-month period ending January, 2013.  Phoenix also had 540 “flash” sales in the past five months—or homes selling in 24 hours or less—which is higher than any other city in the country.  So we are seeing strong appreciation in some markets.  Others—such as Atlanta and Detroit—continue to improve but still lag in the market.  And yes, Las Vegas is coming back as well with a 12-month appreciation rate of 15.3%.    All 20 cities on the Case-Shiller report showed year-over-year gains—the first time this has happened in several years.

What does all this mean relative to employee mobility?
According the Worldwide ERC®’s 2012 U.S. Transfer Volume and Cost Survey, 91% of corporate respondents cited real estate issues as predominant reasons for resistance to transfer.  But this may change in the next survey.  As home values begin to return to more normal levels, equity positions will increase, and people can sell their homes more rapidly.  This means they will be more likely to relocate since they will be in a financial position to purchase a new home in the new location. It also means that some of the issues of the past may begin to wane—such as large loss on sale payments; longer duplicate housing payments;  less need for longer term temporary housing stays, etc.

But it also means there may be at time in the near future where it is back to the fundamentals of relocation policy.  The inability to move due to negative equity positions may be replaced with the more commonly known issues such as family resistance to moving; moving to higher cost locations; and spouse/partner reluctance to leave a job.  Addressing these important issues will be critical to solving near and longer term relocation challenges.

As can be seen, many macroeconomic factors in the U.S. economy are improving, which has led to an improvement in the U.S. real estate market.  Demand is strong for housing in many markets, and in some markets we are seeing multiple bid situations.  This means that real estate and housing in general will become less of an issue for transferees than over the past three or four years.  In times of change, it is advisable to update mobility polices to ensure contemporary issues are properly addressed—and corporations mitigate the reluctance to transfer.

Filed under: Articles, Blog Post, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »

A Guest Blog Post from Susan Myers, GMS
Director, Global Client Accounting

If your team is anything like ours, you’ve wrapped up your year-end deliverables and switched focus to tasks set aside over the last few months.  But before saying goodbye to another year-end, stop and invest some time in process improvements that will pay significant dividends a few months down the road.  Pull your mobility and payroll teams together to take a hard look at what’s behind the curtain.  If you’ve outsourced the disbursement and payroll function of your relocation and assignment management program, engage your vendors in this exercise as well.  Don’t forget to link your tax provider into this project to get the most out of the effort.

To start, it’s important to ask a few questions of all stakeholders to get the information and ideas flowing.  Some key questions should include:

• How much time was wasted redoing work because teams found they didn’t fully understand the transaction data being passed?
• What portion of the work required was completed through manual efforts?
• Did you have what you needed at the time allocated to complete the task?
• And most importantly, when you combined all data and efforts for tax preparation, how many W2cs will you produce?

What you find will likely surprise you.  And, the answers should give you a clear picture of areas that may need improvement.

If you are dealing with an international assignment population, establish a single coordination point for tracking and preparing all assignment related W2cs.  Make sure you understand why the W2c was required.  Categorize the reasons and attack the issues now.  We often hear payroll teams talk about 100+% W2c rates for their international population.  However, this situation can be avoided by simply identifying where the data is and who will be accountable for managing collection and reporting throughout the year.  Once this team member is identified, they should make sure the data is being reported correctly and any questions or issues are escalated in a timely manner.  If possible, make host country reporting a routine monthly process.

If analysis shows errors came from manual process breakdowns, investigate the possibility of automating the reporting and wage update.  Additionally, let your provider know when you don’t process the file exactly as provided.  The simplest of changes can make a big difference.  If you can’t automate, make sure teams are reconciling between all stakeholders throughout the year.  Since resources are at a premium, your relocation vendor should support the payroll reconciliation of interfaced data.  When examining the data, don’t just identify the differences, fix them.  And, encourage your payroll team to take the time to balance each quarter.  If done right, year-end will be simply another payroll pass.

Throughout the process, strong communication will be the key to your success.  And while communication is clearly a basic requirement in project management, it is not always easy when dealing with virtual teams across time zones, languages, and cultures.  To combat confusion, create a master project plan and calendar now.  Be detailed and stay connected to everyone accountable for a piece of the project throughout the year.  If you have outsourced, ask your vendor to take on this role.  You’ll find when all parties are communicating toward a common goal, issues are minimized.

Most importantly, committing time to review your year-end process now will mean less time and cost down the road.

Filed under: Blog Post, Client Advisory, The Best Thinking..., Uncategorized | No Comments »

COPPELL, Texas – January 29, 2013 – Paragon Relocation, a leading provider of global relocation management services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Nancy Shaunessy as Director, Global Relocation Services. In this role, Shaunessy is responsible for managing client relationships as well the key members of the customer service team working in our Dallas regional office.

“Nancy’s prior experience and expertise will bring great value to our organization,” said Craig Selders, President, Paragon Relocation. “She is a welcome addition to Paragon and will be instrumental in implementing our mission of providing extraordinary services to our clients.”

Shaunessy has worked in the relocation industry for more than 25 years. Prior to joining Paragon, she worked at Cartus as a director of client services. She also worked at EDS as a senior consultant and team leader.

Shaunessy holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University.

Filed under: Announcement, Blog Post, Press Release | No Comments »

Paragon Relocation, a leading provider of global relocation management services, underscored its commitment to its core value of community involvement through a number of charitable initiatives. As part of the employee donation matching program, Paragon has given a total of $10,871 in financial contributions to a variety of charities in 2012.

Employees in Paragon’s global headquarters in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and global customer service centers located near Dallas, Dublin and Chicago supported numerous charities through donations and supplies including the Boys and Girls Club, the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy Relief, the North Texas Food Bank and other global organizations.

“Our employees are committed to helping organizations that impact their local communities and also those in which their co-workers and our clients are located,” said Joseph Morabito, CEO of Paragon Relocation. “I am proud of the efforts of our employees in supporting such worthwhile causes.”

About Paragon Relocation

Paragon Relocation is the premier partner of choice in the global relocation management industry providing innovative programs, value-added support, superior customer service and thought leadership to our clients and the families we relocate. Our mission is to provide an extraordinary customer experience, one family at a time.  Paragon Relocation has been providing relocation services for more than 25 years and offers services in 150 countries. For further information, please visit www.paragonrelocation.com.

Filed under: Blog Post, Community Service, Paragon Press | No Comments »

Paragon uses the UCLA Anderson School of Business Economic Report each year as our benchmark for strategic planning purposes. UCLA is saying that there will be slow or little growth in the U.S. and Europe in 2013 along with continued high unemployment. Interest rates will remain low in the U.S., though economic stimulus from lower interest rates does not seem to be driving much economic activity. The only glimmer of light in this report is that real estate home prices in the U.S. have stabilized and appear to be going up a bit. In addition, there are headwinds coming out of Washington D.C. related to new taxes, regulations and health care that are causing a lot of uncertainty, so that many businesses sitting on a lot of cash have adopted a “wait and see” attitude rather than moving into new investment.

So, at best, we can only be cautiously optimistic about 2013. Even so, we are proceeding with our strategic plan to expand around the world, just recently adding expansion in China and Singapore to our list of office locations. Further, we are now implementing Destination Services in Germany, rather than using an affiliate, as is the case in many other countries. Based on work in progress, we should be able to make other country expansion announcements in 2013 as we extend our reach around the world.

Specific to our mortgage subsidiary, GenEquity Mortgage, while we have provided corporate mortgages in the relocation arena for years, we have closed our first mortgages for the general public, on our way to becoming a large retail mortgage company in 2013. As we also continue to grow Paragon Relocation, Paragon GeoImmigration and Paragon Decision Resources, we are also rolling out PGR Home Caregivers in 2013 to provide services for older adults. We will be able to provide senior customers and their families with a single point of contact, a Paragon Care Coordinator, first to deal with various real estate-related and household goods management services; but eventually to provide home care services to allow seniors to remain in their homes as long as possible. This particular subsidiary will provide Paragon additional entry into the retail space to assist the general public with a variety of services.

The only thing that is certain in business is continuous change. There are many factors we cannot control. Yet, they can impact short and long term business goals. The good news is that Paragon is financially sound and that has always allowed us to weather any storm. And, we have the management talent and ability to move swiftly to deal with the internal and external issues we face to make certain that we always provide high quality global relocation and other services for our clients and customers. As we bring 2012 to a close, let me say thank you to our clients and customers, who are responsible for Paragon’s growth and development. In addition, I must thank our employees and supplier partners who work diligently to provide outstanding services for our clients and customers. They are the foundation of our company upon which everything else is built.

Filed under: Blog Post, Paragon Press, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »

The Heritage Foundation has recently published an interactive map rating the quality of economic freedom for countries around the world based on a number of factors. This map can help you make business decisions at-a-glance of what countries might offer the best opportunity for growth and expansion. In addition, understanding the business environment on the ground might help decide which countries would be the best to send employees to on assignment to maximize the value of the benefits offered.

To use the map click here: 2012 Economic Freedom Heat Map.

Filed under: Blog Post, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »

We have addressed how social media is effecting the relocation industry on this blog several times. Recently Facebook.com, the leading social networking site, released an interactive map of connections between people in different countries. Some of the connections are pretty interesting. In many instances the most common connections are between people who have immigrated from their previous country to a new country. In addition, as you might expect, many connections are made between countries that do a considerable amount of business together which relates to the relocation industry.

To read about and use Facebook’s World Friendship Interactive Map click here: Mapping the World’s Friendships.

Filed under: Blog Post, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

One way to calculate Cost-of-Living (COLA) in a different location when taking a relocation is to simply compare the cost of the Big Mac in that location after currency is converted into your home currency. The Big Mac Index COLA comparison is a good one for simple calculations because McDonald’s are everywhere. The economist.com created the chart below of the Big Mac Index plotting the cost of Big Mac’s around the world.

The Big Mac Index – What’s the price of a Big Mac in…?

How much does a Big Mac cost you? Let us know in the comments here or on Linkedin!

Filed under: Blog Post | No Comments »

Cost of living differences are a major issue when considering an international assignment. For an employee to have an equal standard of living in their new location companies will often provide additional compensation based on a formula of the differences in cost between the old and the new location called a “Cost-of-Living Differential”. Today to get a sense of the differences in cost between locations we are going to start a continue a series of posts called “Cost of Living Snapshots” to compare the cost of living in different locations around the world at a glance.

With today’s comparison we analyze Geneva, Switzerland, which is one of the largest cities in Switzerland behind Zurich and is one of Europe’s largest financial centers.

To gather the cost of living data we use, Expatistan.com. Expatistan.com is something we’ve written about in the past. It is a free web-based collaborative tool that lets users enter local prices to compare with other locations around the world.

What does it cost to live in Geneva, Switzerland?

Geneva vs. San Francisco: The overall cost of living in San Francisco, California is 31% less than Geneva, Switzerland. The cost of a pair of 501 Levi’s is 174% more in Geneva than in San Francisco, while cold medicine in Geneva is 44% more than what it costs in San Francisco. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Geneva vs. San Francisco.

Geneva vs. Shenzhen: The overall cost of living in Shenzhen, China is 129% less than Geneva, Switzerland. The cost of a 900 sq. ft. furnished apartment costs 232% more in Geneva than in Shenzhen, while a Volkswagen Golf is 20% less than what it costs in Shenzhen. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Geneva vs. Shenzhen.

Geneva vs. Moscow: The overall cost of living in Moscow, Russia is 57% less than Geneva, Switzerland. The cost of the daily menu in the downtown business district is 137% more in Geneva than in Moscow, while a 40″ flat screen TV is 5% less than what it costs in Moscow. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Geneva vs. Moscow.

Geneva vs. Hong Kong: The overall cost of living in Hong Kong is 11% less than Geneva, Switzerland. The cost of a combo meal at a fast food restaurant is 258% more in Geneva than in Hong Kong, while a liter of milk costs 37% less than what it costs in Hong Kong. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Geneva vs. Hong Kong.

Filed under: Blog Post, Social Media, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »

Cost of living differences are a major issue when considering an international assignment. For an employee to have an equal standard of living in their new location companies will often provide additional compensation based on a formula of the differences in cost between the old and the new location called a “Cost-of-Living Differential”. Today to get a sense of the differences in cost between locations we are going to start a continue a series of posts called “Cost of Living Snapshots” to compare the cost of living in different locations around the world at a glance.

With today’s comparison we analyze Miami, Florida, which is known for beautiful beaches but is also known for being a gateway to Latin America.

To gather the cost of living data we use, Expatistan.com. Expatistan.com is something we’ve written about in the past. It is a free web-based collaborative tool that lets users enter local prices to compare with other locations around the world.

What does it cost to live in Miami, Florida?

Miami vs. San Francisco: The overall cost of living in San Francisco, California is 19% more than Miami, Florida. The cost of a pair of 501 Levi’s is 18% less in Miami than in San Francisco, while cold medicine in Miami is 1% less than what it costs in San Francisco. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Miami vs. San Francisco.

Miami vs. Shenzhen: The overall cost of living in Shenzhen, China is 41% less than Miami, Florida. The cost of a 900 sq. ft. furnished apartment costs 57% more in Miami than in Shenzhen, while a Volkswagen Golf is 40% less than what it costs in Shenzhen. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Miami vs. Shenzhen.

Miami vs. Moscow: The overall cost of living in Moscow, Russia is about the same as Miami, Florida. The cost of the daily menu in the downtown business district is 26% more in Miami than in Moscow, while a 40″ flat screen TV is 18% less than what it costs in Moscow. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Miami vs. Moscow.

Miami vs. Hong Kong: The overall cost of living in Hong Kong is 32% more than Miami, Florida. The cost of a combo meal at a fast food restaurant is 73% more in Miami than in Hong Kong, while a liter of milk costs 13% less than what it costs in Hong Kong. Check out the full costs comparison breakdown between Miami vs. Hong Kong.

Filed under: Blog Post, Social Media, The Best Thinking... | No Comments »