·:[ Arik’s blog ]:·
• • • • •

As you may or may not know, I’m relocating to the US. Specifically San Francisco Bay Area.

My company’s new offices are in Palo Alto, so I’ll probably be living nearby.

I’m scheduled to fly over this Friday. It won’t actually be relocation, because I don’t have my US work visa yet, it’s in the works - I’m still an employee of the Israeli company, and it’s considered a business trip. I do intend to scope the area for places to live and acquaint myself with the new surrunding.

I will probably have more to write on this in the near future, so stay tuned.

Hello all

I’ve been to an E&Y tax consultant, about taxes I have to pay and when I have to pay them. I wrote a few pages up, and I’ll eventually put them up here, but not today.

On other news, my departure has been delayed for an undetermined time. The reason is a big big project I am working on here, which I need to finish and babysit for a while. I’ll know more accurate dates in a week’s time.

That’s all for now.

Hm… let’s see.

I got an official proposal from the US company.

It’s okay. The pay is good, except for the following hitch: It is
highly possible that I still need to pay my taxes in Israel. Taxes in
Israel are around 50%, while in the states they are around 20% (for my salary level).

I was told I’ll get to talk to a tax consultant before I sign anything, so I’m not worried in that respect.

In unrelated news, my relocation plan has changed. I’m still going to
Boston, but only for a few months, in which I’ll be working with a
sales person, and hire a person to replace me. After this period, I’ll
move to San Francisco, where I’ll eventually stay.

In yet unrelated news, I’ll go around April 1st.

It’s all so fluid.

– Arik

I had a talk with our CEO regarding my relocation. Basically it breaks down to two phases:

• In phase one I will be living in a ‘corporate apartment’ or a hotel,
  let’s call it the trial period. During this period I will have to
  decide if I want to go through with the relocation and whether I want
  to stay in Boston. This phase will take a ‘month or two’.
• In phase two I will get a ‘relocation budget’, out of which I will get
  myself settled and buy essentials for the prolonged stay in Boston.

So I guess that’s it. Not the rough landing I supposed it to be - I’ll
have some time to get to know Boston before I decide on anything. Which
is a good thing, right?

This whole thing goes way out of my comfort zone, which makes me a bit anxious and excited.

– Arik

Things I would like to get:

• Maintain my current number of annual vacation days
• Transfer my current (>30) vacation days to the US or get reimbursed for them
• Get to travel to Israel once every quarter on avarage to visit family / friends
• Get my parents to Fedex me my snail-mail at the company’s expense every 2-3 weeks
• Get a car for the periods of time I am in Israel
• Get to consult an int’l tax professional before I go and after I come back

Fair? Did I miss anything?

– Arik