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!!
Hy there,
I do not think there is anyone on this forum who does not have some concerns about leaving the UK for a supposed better life in Australia, if you didn't you wouldn't be human.
My concerns are i am 40 this year and i have to move fast, i wish to emigrate with my partner and 2 boys aged 6 & 4 but i do so for hopefully the best reasons. I wrote a page of questions down on an A4 sheet and tried to honestly answer them, it didn't take long. My main concerns are these,
What kind of future does the UK hold for my boys when they leave school ? Not in my opinion a bright one, over crowded schools will mean less concentrated education resulting in limited job opportunities.
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.
Law and Order, Just what the hell is going on in this country when we have stabbings and other murders etc reported in the news as commonplace incidents, you only have to go back 10 years to remember most incidents like this were reported as a Newsflash.
I had many questions of which these are only a few but i do not wish to get to the situation in 15 years time and look back with an " What if " in the back of my mind.
Yes you seem comfortable financially from what you say and there are many people on here who are as well, but my current attiude is " This is not a trial run " if i get the go ahead i will leave the UK with a big smile on my face. You see the thing is you can always come back ...........true you may not have the style of house you left but if i had to go back for any reason ( and believe me i would be kicking and screaming all the way ) i would walk straight into the housing and benefits office of the county of my choice and do like every Refugee from every war torn eastern european country does and Claim The Lot. Get back on my feet and try again.
I don't mind moving to another country as i will pay into the system but its people smuggling themselves into and basically dumping themselves on the UK's doorstep that Will be theruin of this country. The money they earn undermining the minimum wage is all channelled out of the UK to their homeland so not a lot goes back in the UK pot. I say put your fears slightly to the back of your mind and look more at the Positive elements Australia could offer you.
Just a quick note here and perhaps a daft one but worth bearing in mind.........The Brainboxes of the World estimate that Global warming will seriously affect the land masses of the World within the next 2 generations, ie my Grandchildren. With the current influx of people to the UK per year where will they all go when the UK's coastline dissapears backwards ? Aparrently East Anglia will become a flood plain ? So i know where i would rather be ? how about you ?
__________________
4th August 2008 Meds done and £650 lighter
I would look at it this way: If you commit say £6,000 now, you would be able to hire a good firm of Agents, get everything ready and get the all-important visa application submitted before Hubby turns 45.
The whole process is likely to take 15-18 months. You would then have to validate the visas via a holiday in Oz within about 9 months of the grant.
However, you could comfortably get away with not moving to Oz until about 3 years after the grant of the visa.
The worst that can happen is that you will decide not to go in the end, and if you decide to let the visa lapse, OK, you'll have wasted some money.
However, if you don't give yourselves the option pretty soon, then from 5 years hence and for the rest of your lives, you might be saying, "If only...."
How about drawing up a list of pros & cons? Jot it down while you have a coffee (or better still a glass of wine, since its Friday) and see which list is the longer, perhaps? Then repeat the exercise on another day when your mood is a bit lighter, and see whether you get the same list twice?
Nobody can tell you what is right or wrong for yourselves and your own family, but don't feel alone, hunny. EVERYBODY on here either has been or will go through ALL the same doubts and fears as you. Of that you can be 10,000 certain.
We got our visa last year, both hubby and I were 42 when we got the visa and both in very well paid jobs. I was a top G grade in nursing. We have hired a company who have looked into transferring my nhs pension and it is possible, mine was complicated by the fact that I was already doubling my years and had mental health officer status so was eligable to retire at 55 (with a pretty good pay out). Our children were 11 & 7 when we moved here in January.
For us it's early days but we feel we have made the right move, the quality of time we spend together as a family has been enhanced by being here and being able to do things together, we spend more time out doors and generally feel more relaxed after working all week
Only you can decide if you want to move, and like Gill says, you could apply for the visa and if you get it then you have a little more thinking time to decide.
Hi i jist thought i would reply to Heywood Monkey. If you spend severall years out of UK
You wont behable to claim any benifts or house. you would have to prove you can sppport your self . I f children need to go uni you would have to pay overseas prices for them to attend. I found this out on the B E fourm. i think this is totally unfair after all the years
of paying stamp tax etc. Their is also alt more difficultys i carnt rember.
Sorry to put a damper on things. But on a high note i think if your like me wont be a problem as i dont intend to come back to the uk.
Forgot to mention i agree with Ali if you apply for the visas you will have time
to do your research on aus. And also see how you feel about moving to Aus.
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!!
I could have written this post myself but deep down I know that I would sooner regret something I have done than something I haven't. Life isn't a dress rehearsal.
We always planned to go travelling at some point but our first child came along, then a second and we put it on hold until they grew up. We were only 23 when our son (now 14) was born so figured we'd still be young enough then. We have done well, have a nice detached house, fairly well paid, if unexiting, jobs and a lovely family. What more do we need I hear people ask..........well a bit of an adventure for starters. I can't stand the thought that I might spend my whole life and live and die in the town where I was born.
I would miss family and friends but the most important ones, my husband and children, will be coming with me, so we will support each other through good times and bad. It may work out, it may not but at least I can say we tried.
It all came to a head for us when our little girl, an unexpected surprise, came along 2 years ago. I was 35 when she was born and realised that we'd be in our mid 50's when she grew up as opposed to our mid 40's. We decided to do our travelling now, with kids in tow.
My FIL saved all his life so he could have a comfortable retirement. He retired early at 54 and put the money away for a couple of years, he was dead from cancer at 56.......it doesn't half make you think.
Sorry for going on.......I know exactly where you're coming from and it is one of mine and even more so my husbands main reservations......but I know where I'm going.
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!!
Hi Tanya
Just this day found this forum. AT LAST! My computer has been red hot searching and searching, head doing somersaults, waking up early hours of the morning dreaming I have actually arrived in Aus but no still in my bed in sunny Lincolnshire ha ha ha!!! After spending two years in France and being on the forum there I know how addictive these forums can be but very very helpful for advice, etc.
You have doubts, understandable. I grew up and spent 18 years as a child in East Africa, three years in Switzerland and spent two years living in France. You are both younger than I am and my husband I am 57 and my husband 54. We have toyed with the idea of going back to France but my son and daughter live in Aus. I have gambled best part of my life and always encouraged my two children to do the same by this I mean "go for it" then you will never have any regrets. Just think what a wonderful life your children will have growing up (as I did) in a warm climate, freedom, etc. So many more opportunities for them. We are of a materialistic age, do all the things we have matter, I don't think so. We are hoping to sell everything and start again. So what's a kettle, toaster, furniture, etc., all can be collected again. Life is more important and quality at that.
GOOD LUCK by the way we would like to go to Perth or Queensland. Not sure yet.
Hi i jist thought i would reply to Heywood Monkey. If you spend severall years out of UK
You wont behable to claim any benifts or house. you would have to prove you can sppport your self . I f children need to go uni you would have to pay overseas prices for them to attend. I found this out on the B E fourm. i think this is totally unfair after all the years
of paying stamp tax etc. Their is also alt more difficultys i carnt rember.
Sorry to put a damper on things. But on a high note i think if your like me wont be a problem as i dont intend to come back to the uk.
Hy there,
Like you i don't intend coming back to the UK but as you pointed out You wont behable to claim any benifts or house. you would have to prove you can sppport your self
How is is then that any Tom, Dick or Harry can get into this country for the first time, claim anything and everything yet i wouldn't be able to even though i have paid into the system ?
It's Crazy and unfair, i know the grass isn't always greener etc but i cannot wait to go. The sooner i see the back of the UK the better, it is fast becoming the toilet of Europe and we all know what happens to a toilet.
__________________
4th August 2008 Meds done and £650 lighter
I think we all have the worries are we doing the right thing,My hubby is 40 this year and we decided if we dont do it we will regret it and i know that we are doing it for the right reasons a better start for my children more time together for us as a family...........we know that we will take a pay cut and we have no morgage her in the uk but its the quality of life thats important to me.
All my friends cannot belive what we are doing as we have lived her all our lives and know so many people but i cannot imagine being here in 30 years time same old same old........when we come back to visit i know that nothing much will have changed just got older.
All the best in what ever you decide for you and your family
