Dream job available.

Definitely true.

A very sensible position. And I would guess you are not married.

 

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Nope, but the house held my grandmother & mother just fine till they passed away. Its a 3 bed/2 bath.

 

I was really surprised at the salary as well, especially since it must be expensive to live near the museum.

 

I'm enjoying retirement you can have it.

 

I'm originally from the UK, now living in the US for 30+ years, and still find it hard to comprehend the quality of life vs household income(s) in both countries. Comparing something like salary in isolation is meaningless, and adding in just a few of the additional variables like housing costs, health costs, college costs, etc really isn't going to help that much either! You really need to account for all the differences, and even then I suspect most people would guess wrong on whether a UK salary/location X makes you better off than a US salary/location Y or not!

 

Have you seen what's happened to bike prices lately?

Okay, I guess prices haven't gone up that much, but it's really hard to find one in stock. There was a BIG run on them in the early part of the pandemic, combined of course with supply-chain disruptions. I'd be more impressed if the Museum indicated that they could move you up the waiting lists...

 

...in '68-'69 my Dad bought me a used 5 speed with a smaller front tire and much higher sissy bar for $25.00....now they are selling for around 2-3 thousand..

 

My neighbors son works at a bike shop, and this is all true. Electric bikes were the hottest seller for a time, but due to the supply-chain disruptions, he's had his hours cut because they have low inventory. And they start at $2,000. Not sure what normal bikes go for, never asked.

 

I am a retired State Government CPA Auditor. I was making $53K when I retired. My retirement is $36K and Social Security is about $24K. My total is $77K a month before Federal and State Income Taxes which is about $50K. My wife is a retired High School Teacher. While working, she grossed about $50K. Her retirement is about $40K and her Social Security is about $28K. Her total is $68 before Federal and State Income Taxes. Both of our homes are paid for. We have a 2003 Toyota Corolla CE, a 2007 Toyota Camry LE, a 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD, and last but not least, a 2015 Toyota Camry SE. We are not in debt for anything. My wife and I primarly use a VISA for our purchases, which is paid in full each month. We donate 10% of our gross each month.
When I graduated from high school, my father told me, "You're on your own son."
I was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, went to Artillery OCS and made it through without getting myself killed by the enemy or members of my Squad. I got my Bachelor's degree into accounting, and my MBA in Marketing.
As my father said, "You're on your own." I was able to go to college on the G.I. Bill and bought my first house with it.
I promised myself, I would never be as poor as I was growing up. My father was a Staff Sargent. He made enough to feed his family of 4. I got my clothes from the Army thrift store. My mother patched my clothes. I wore a pair of loafers that had a hole in the sole and I got cardboard from a cereal box from the trash to put into the bottom of my shoes.
Now, would I take a job at a museum for the amount of money offered? Not on my life. Having worked at a State University, I saw what the professors made that had the Doctorate.
I know that for many of you, and for me, we enjoy working with coins. It is a great pastime, but the cost of living in Great Britain is not even close to the way we can live in the United States.
I know the topic was about taking a job at a museum with a meager salary, but most of the citizens live better in the U.S. They are now paying $22 an hour to employees of Chick filet. My first job in 1965 only paid $1 an hour.

 

This offered compensation may well be standard for a senior position in even a major museum, whether in the US or the UK. Of course I knew that already when I introduced the subject; my comment wasn't meant to be entirely serious. But I can assure you that the people who work in museums, at least the ones I've known, aren't at all happy about it. Especially when people in administrative and fundraising positions make multiples of their salary. And that's why I made the point I did.

From what I understand, the cost of living in London, particularly for housing (whether buying or renting) is similar to New York City. In other words, incomprehensibly expensive to people who live elsewhere in the US or UK, even in some large cities. Nobody who doesn't already have significant savings (or is provided with housing gratis) could afford to live in either London or New York City on that kind of salary, in the manner expected of the head of a department at one of the most prominent museums in the world.

In terms of space, nobody in New York City or some other large cities in the USA would be surprised at how small houses and apartments are in London, or would expect more. So the generalization about what "Americans" expect is highly inaccurate. My 1 1/2 bedroom (a/k/a "junior 4") apartment in northern Manhattan is huge by the standards of that borough -- about 900 square feet -- and I can only afford it because I live way up here, far from what people think of when they think of Manhattan. It's more than large enough for me as someone who lives here alone except when my son stays with me. (The only problem is that with my thousands of books, there's little or no room for any more, which is why for the last few years I buy fiction only in Kindle form; the only hard copy books I still buy are non-fiction. Like books on coins!)

 

The real estate costs (rent/purchase) in the major cities are astronomical. For example if I wanted to rent a 1B 550 sq foot apartment in SF now I'd pay $4200-4500 per month. Hence, how a person is expected to play a leadership role, be a scholar, and oversee a department on that salary is hard to believe.

 

That's even more than current rent in New York City. Which of course is much larger than SF, so there's much more available inventory to choose from. The last time I checked, the average one-bedroom in midtown Manhattan or the "good" neighborhoods downtown rents for $3,500-$4,000 per month. I could never afford that, and couldn't have afforded it before I retired. I pay much less, living where I do.

 

The average tech worker makes around $150,000 per year, so divide by 3 and that tells you what landlords expect to receive, most leases have a stipulation that no more than a third of one's income can go towards rent. They were giving folks things like one-month free rent during the heart of Covid but have stopped those incentives for the most part. Most young people get tired of living in SF and buy homes in the surrounding boroughs once they go through some time of exit event when they can sell their stock.

 

I have seen many New York City leases; none had a provision about maximum rent vs. income. It's usually calculated the opposite way, as minimum salary required for a given rent, but it isn't put in the lease. Landlords here generally require proof of an annual salary of a minimum of 40x monthly rent -- which equals a bit more than 3 times annual rent, I believe -- before they'll even consider renting to you. Which creates a big problem for people who are unemployed, or even retired, and living on savings. No matter how substantial their savings may be. I was unemployed when I first rented my current apartment seven years ago, and had to pay a year's rent in advance, plus a broker's fee and security deposit totaling an additional three months of rent, in order to get the landlord to agree to let me have it.

 

Yeah that's a big problem, I mean the fact that you had to pay up front. If anything the house situation for single family homes is worse than the rental market. The house two doors down from me was put on the market by the owner 10 days ago. On Zillow, it had 17,500 views and 4,200 saves. Sale is now pending and literally more than a hundred people showed up for the open house. Anyway, I'll shut up and not get off topic. Back on topic, it seems to me like the Museum could offer a housing allowance on top of the salary. They do this at Berkeley so that professors can actually live in town, at Stanford they actually have a "professorville" neighborhood offering free rent to academics. It would seem wise to do this in London.

 

I lived in London from 2002-2004. It was my first duty station in the Navy. I was given a monthly stipend of almost $3,000/month for housing plus almost $700/month for utilities. That afforded me a small 1 bedroom flat near Leiscester Square, central London. I also received almost $900/month for Cost Of Living. In addition to my base pay, I made probably close to what this job is offering. I lived ok but I did have to watch what I spent my money on because it didn't go far.

 

Indeed. Based on the 40x monthly rent standard, someone with the stated salary could afford to pay 1,700 GBP per month for a "flat" in London. I suspect that that would be difficult to find, if a small one-bedroom flat in Central London cost $3,700 USD per month (with utilities) almost 20 years ago, as per @furryfrog02 .

 

Wow, this thread has gone everywhere.

FWIW, I'm currently a software engineer. Because my mother is Luxembourgish, I have citizenship there, so I looked into moving when "he-who-shall-not-be-named" was in power. The realism was the following.

• Housing wasn't really the concern. Lately, my neighborhood near Seattle has inched above Manhattan in prices, so even though Luxembourg is pricy - it wasn't a far stretch from here.
• Salaries were a major problem. Tech workers in Europe simply make less - a lot less. One of my colleagues actually lost money while he lived in Stockholm. The cost of housing+living+child care exceeded his salary. He finally moved back when a good chunk of his savings were gone.
• Then of course expenses were high. Restaurants are more expensive, as are groceries.

So, we haven't moved - yet. FWIW, I've had numerous discussions with friends who do live in Europe. Their reply to the above is that it's difficult to quantify in dollars some of the advantages:

• Working hours are far less. The 60-70 hour work weeks common in the US are practically unheard of there.
• Medical expenses are handled
• There's far more at your fingertips such as parks, gorgeous towns, and culture
• While trying to stay clear of political discussions, there are certain cultural aspects of the US that are far rarer in Europe.

Personally, I have some idea of this since I did live for about a year in Europe (split between Riga, Latvia and Berlin), but as a student. At the time, a tiny apartment seemed normal to me. Had I not become spoiled by the large houses and yards in the US, I'd probably be comfortably living in one.

 

Got this one in the bag.

Let's see, high school term paper, employee of the year - coffee break, a transcript of my ten days in law school, a written testament of character from the restaurant proprietor where stayed for hours rather than attend law school classes, an impressive photo of very neatly stacked boxes, letters of support from my resident dust bunnies, an old letter of recommendation from a boss who eventually fired me.....

It's a cinch!

Footnote: Galpin Ford in LA had a great restaurant attached to the dealership in the 1970s. They had great breakfasts. That's where I spend most the 10 days while enrolled in law school. The French toast was much more interesting, and rewarding, than that boring class on torts.

 

It would be interesting. Do they take unpaid interns?