I always had the idea I would go to Australia for a year out once I had finished my teaching degree. I was in the last cohort of students to be given a proper grant to study and never had a student loan and this could have been a viable option. Fate decided otherwise - during my final year I got together with my OH, graduated, found a job and settled down. The niggles never went away.
2 years ago we decided together that a brand new start in oz was what we wanted and set the ball in motion. Here we are today with a CO, meds next week knowing we are close to that dream.
I am considerably well paid for a primary school teacher - I know my salary will take a bit of a decrease once we get there, OH probably won't be on as much money either. With the mortgage we have at the moment we could be mortgage free within the next 5 years - down under we start again with having to borrow a fair amount from a bank.
That said we are prepared to take the chance. OH has retrained so he has more skills under his belt, I'm ready to work in any primary school that will have me to begin with and supply if necessary. We don't expect to be able to afford to live in the poshest areas, we've done rough here and know it can't be much worse over there. We don't have children but would consider it down under.
There is no way I am going to get to old age and wonder 'What if...?' I'm going for it and if it goes pear shaped at least I can hold my head up and say we've tried.
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Felicity + Michael - We're 'Pozzies' - Happy and Lovin' it!
Melbourne since September 07
Hy there,[*]Will they be able to afford a house of their own ? Probably not as the prices are just too high and if they had to wait for me to die to get a house you can guarantee that the goverment of that future time will have snaffled a fair proportion in death duties.
Australia has some of the most unaffordable housing in the OECD.
For example: You'll need to earn $145K per yr to afford an average price house in Sydney. Average earnings are somewhere between $50-60K (I think?). The other cities are not much better & the gap is closing.
I would guess the houseprice:earnings ratios to be pretty similar between Aus & UK. It probably seems very affordable when moving to Aus if you're already on the housing ladder.
Australia has some of the most unaffordable housing in the OECD.
For example: You'll need to earn $145K per yr to afford an average price house in Sydney. Average earnings are somewhere between $50-60K (I think?). The other cities are not much better & the gap is closing.
I would guess the houseprice:earnings ratios to be pretty similar between Aus & UK. It probably seems very affordable when moving to Aus if you're already on the housing ladder.
Fortunately i am on the housing ladder in the UK and am not looking at moving to Sydney read my post it explains some more
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175 Skilled Independant Granted 13th October 2008
Bye Bye Gordon Brown
Hello and good luck to everybody going through the process, whatever stage you are at. This is not meant to be a downbeat post, nor to put doubts in anyones head (I know, you probably all have enough of your own!). I just have to get this down if you know what I mean.
We have a good standard of living here in the UK. Two kids of 11 and 7.
For the last 2 wks I have been researching madly-job prospects, pay, living costs, property, schools etc etc. Although I cant get Oz outta my head I think it may be financial suicide for us. My OH is a joiner and extremely well paid by Oz standards (and no reason for it not to continue here in the UK). However his skills are in demand and would probably get a job, but at the age of 44 does not relish going to the bottom of the heap again for a huge paycut. I am a paediatric physiotherapist (actually I manage the dept) so again am very well paid. The problem with me is I would have to face some of the toughest exams ever to work as a physio in Oz and as I have been specialised in a very narrow area of physio for many years, this would mean probable retraining or at the very least hitting the textbooks for the next 6 months! I am 41 and this does not appeal. I would also have to freeze my rather good NHS superannuation scheme. I am happy to work at any job in Oz but am wobbling at the thought of effectively throwing my hard won career away even though problems in the NHS are well-documented elsewhere!
We have only £30k left to pay on mortgage so if we sold up would poss have £160 equity after solicitor and other selling fees but very little savings (probably due to that good standard of living!). This means that some of that equity and selling of other assets eg. ISA, other policies, cars etc would have to be used to fund the emigration and set-up costs in Oz which I feel is enormously expensive to live a poorer standard of life (money-wise) away from family and friends.
I see there are a lot of posts on here about the QUALITY of living being so much better in Oz regardless of finances and I appreciate this is fine and possibly would be for us if we were willing to take the plunge. Maybe this is last-minute panic for us as OH is 45 in November so this is really our last-chance saloon to get an application in under a 136 visa. So many what-ifs and potential for regrets further along the line when we are looking back in 10 yrs time from under a grey English sky! But also a big risk at our ages (financially) and we find it difficult to envision how we would retire with such a huge dent in the piggybank. I know we are only in our 40's but hey! Perhaps if we'd done this 10 years ago there would be more time to catch up (but wouldn't have considered it then.)
Is anyone else going through this agony and/or could offer any nuggets of wisdom? My mind changes from one day to the next and I can't seem to settle with a decision and move on. OH seems to have decided it isn't viable but I am still feeling that pull of an adventure before it is too late!!
Although these posts are a bit depressing,they are well in order to bring us all back to reality,although i am only at the begining of the slog (paying off mortgage etc)i still share the same fears as you,at 33 i have had my house nearly 2 years and have a mountain to climb yet to reach financial security(if there is such a thing).Over the past couple of weeks have been offered a job in sydney ,made the desicion ,handed in resignation and am now in the process of sorting out getting me,oh and 15month old boy over there. Maybe becuase i havent had the 2year VISA wait to contemplate the whys and wherefors of the situation its made the decision easier but i can honestly say i am worried about what my financial situation will be,we are pretty comfortable at the mo and this job will be a paycut and it doesnt look like we will get any of the tax credit family allowance etc we get now,add to that the fact that we will be without friends and family it all points towards a pretty scary time...BUT, lets not forget,if we had any confidence in what GB could offer us in our old age and our kids future we probably wouldnt even be thinking about going to the other side of the world.BOTTOM LINE- you will make it work if you really want to,and never underestimate the power of sunshine,fresh air,and a safe clean enviroment,money cant buy that,and the feeling of well being it brings will undoubtedly make up for the lack of material things we surround our selves with in the uk to make up for all the crap we have to put up with living here. I have yet to meet or here from anyone who regrets making the move. We all wobble it par for the cause,in fact im off to have a little freak out now....ta ta and good luck
I agree that it's easy to get caught up in the process of the visa and and wear rose coloured specs from time to time, I know we did at times. It's such a big move that I think it's only right that people ponder and consider everything, posts like these are what the forum wants, it gives a very balanced view of things and also helps us stop and take off the specs to look at the bigger picture. Not everyone here lives is a mansion type house, the wages are low and rental and house prices are expensive, it's right to take all this into consideration
Ali
__________________ I am toopositive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated!
We emigrated to Sydney last September, my husband is 60 and I'm 49! As I've said before in other posts OH has lived in Oz most of his life and has family here but after spending 5 years in UK with me we still took a gamble in that he didn't know whether at his age he could find work but we decided to take the plunge! We were fortunate that we could stay with family when we first arrived so we could take out time looking around to see what and where we could afford to live and also OH found a job which he likes and we are really glad we made the move. Life is SO much better here than in England and I can highly recommend it to anyone who is waivering on the brink. For anyone with a young family it is ideal place to bring your kids up, they will have a much healthier lifestyle as so many activities to do outside. Good luck....
Your are right to consider the financial side of things. The truth is that you will probably take a considerable cut in income. We have.
Having said that, if you plan for it and cut your cloth accordingly it doesn't have to be a problem. The benefits can easily outweight the disadvantages if you do you reasearch as many people on here have already proven.
Good Luck
This was a dilema for us when we first started to consider Oz.
My husband is a self employed plumber and I'm a contact centre manager. We enjoy a comfortable life here in the UK, in a nice house with nice cars etc. However it's not always been that way, when we first married we had nothing! We have worked hard for the last 12 years to get where we are and we did worry about giving it all up.
We then sat down and listed our priorities in life, what really makes us happy. Spending time together and with our son came out on top. Yes it's lovely to have the money to be able take him out for the day, buy him toys etc, but at 6 thats not whats improtant to him. What he wants is to spend time with us. We both work full time and my OH works most weekends as well, family time is very rare. This is what Oz can give us! For me that will always be worth more than money.
We are lucky, we will have a nice lump sum from the sale of our house to help us set up in Oz. But we have decided that we will downsize in order to be mortgage free. This is turn will allow me to work part time (or not work at all) and my OH will not have to worry about trying to earn a huge salary, working weekends etc. Lots of people already there have commented on how days out for the family are free, another saving.
We do realise that if we wanted to return to the UK then it would be very hard, and I think thats what scares us a little still. We will work at making Oz work, but you just never know what might happen.
Like others have said, the decision can only be yours to make. Everyone is different and only you know what will best suit you and your family.
