Expense in Michigan with Family

I have got my H1B, H4 (for my family) approved. Currently, company offering me 50K/annum. Is this salary ok in michigan to stay with family? Shall I able to save money there?

There is no yes/no answer to this as expenses vary from family to family. Few things you should know or figure out:

  • your take home salary: There are online calculators available which will tell you how much federal and state taxes you will have to pay based on your dependents and tax filing status (most like married filing jointly)

  • other benefits: Talk to your employer about health benefits. If they put the major insurance burden on you, then it will be added expense (especially when you have dependents). If they take care of it, w/ minimal premium on your part, then its good

  • expenses: Look at sites like craigstlist to see rental openings in your area. Lot of them upload pictures along w/ locality and this can give you a rough idea of how much your monthly expense will be. In addition, there will be recurring expenses for gas, cable, internet, phone etc. Also know what the sales tax in Michigan is as some states like CA have it as high as 9%

You may not be able to save much initially due to lot of expenses that occur in the beginning. Even later, savings may not be that much w/ this salary. Good news is that H-1 allows you to change employers and move to better paying jobs.

Thanks Saurav for your support!

Hi Saurabh,

Can you provide links to some of those calculators?

You can use the ADP calculator - Salary, Payroll, Tax and 401k Calculators | ADP