Question

what topics should i cover in my pot for russia's cost of living.

Answer 1

Cost of living is the cost to allow one to maintain a certian standard of living. To calculate cost of living in Russia consider the following points :-

• Analysisng the existing cost of living indices using measures like Consumer Price Index and Wholesale Price index. It should however be noted that employment contracts & pension benefits can be linked to a cost-of-living index, which is usually the consumer price index (CPI). This should be checked and analysed. We should also undesrtand that salaries are typically adjusted annually. These may again be tied to some cost-of-living index that varies according to geographic location if the employee moves.
• However, the widely faced problem is called bracket-creep and can occur in countries in which the marginal tax brackets themselves are not indexed. This should be addressed as taxes play a huge role in undesrtanding standard of living conditions in any area.
• Also the Economist Intelligence Unit releases a semi-annual survey that compares over 400 individual prices comprising 160 products and services. These range from food,household supplies , recreational costs, transport costs etc
• The survey allows corporate executives to create compensation packages and indices which are required to maintain a western lifestyle. The survey also has the feature to compare cost of living between cities. The report can be found here - https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/worldwide-cost-of-living-2020/
• One should also account for stipends or additional pay given to employees who are being temporarily displaced and may also be referred ascost-of-living adjustments or cost-of-living allowances. Such adjustments may give a real life picture of the cost of living scenario from one region to another. Meanwhlie permanent employees do not face such fluctuations and follow linear patterns in their day to day costs.

In short summarise the following points

- Calculation of CPI and how it differers from region to region

- emphasis on basket creep which referes to the absence of tax in the calculation of cost of living

- Report summary of economist intelligenece unit - https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/worldwide-cost-of-living-2020/

- The correlation between temporary workers pay and cost of living. Also the effect of pensions and employment contracts in general

- How the climate affects the costs in different regions and how it is accounted for in the final indices