cost of living?

[jandel]

Hi, my wife & I have the opportunity to move out to Australia to live ‘near’ to our only daughter & husband. We have our own house to sell which would give us the option to buy [or rent] and leave a small reserve. My question is what sort of annual income would be required to have a moderate ‘lifestyle’. Does it vary greatly from state to state? We are both retired on UK state pension – which we know freezes, (but doesn’t grow much anyhow) plus annuities. As I have said we are not extravagant with main hobbies walking, swimming, surfing - me – and running a small car. Oh we do like to eat of course but dining out is usually just birthdays etc.

[chris_mac]

Originally Posted by jandel

Hi, my wife & I have the opportunity to move out to Australia to live ‘near’ to our only daughter & husband. We have our own house to sell which would give us the option to buy [or rent] and leave a small reserve. My question is what sort of annual income would be required to have a moderate ‘lifestyle’. Does it vary greatly from state to state? We are both retired on UK state pension – which we know freezes, (but doesn’t grow much anyhow) plus annuities. As I have said we are not extravagant with main hobbies walking, swimming, surfing - me – and running a small car. Oh we do like to eat of course but dining out is usually just birthdays etc.

Hi Jandel

Welcome to Poms In Oz

A similar thread is already running about this subject. Please link below.

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migrat...st-living.html

Best wishes

Chris

[racht]

I couldnt say how much you would need although, one thing I have noticed is that food is more expensive in Perth then Melbourne. When we first came over we spent the first two weeks in Perth and were astonished by how expensive certain things were, however came over to Melbourne and they were pretty much the same as the UK. Possibly cos they have to get items across the country to Perth (just guessing, dont know this). So, it depends on where you live as to how much it coosts.

[jandel]

Originally Posted by racht

I couldnt say how much you would need although, one thing I have noticed is that food is more expensive in Perth then Melbourne. When we first came over we spent the first two weeks in Perth and were astonished by how expensive certain things were, however came over to Melbourne and they were pretty much the same as the UK. Possibly cos they have to get items across the country to Perth (just guessing, dont know this). So, it depends on where you live as to how much it coosts.

thank you, looks more likly to be Queensland - north of Brisbain rather the original plans for Perth area.
regards

[ABCDiamond]

Originally Posted by jandel

Hi, my wife & I have the opportunity to move out to Australia to live ‘near’ to our only daughter & husband. We have our own house to sell which would give us the option to buy [or rent] and leave a small reserve. My question is what sort of annual income would be required to have a moderate ‘lifestyle’.

Without a mortgage, $50k a year would be OK, and maybe even good. People get by OK on less than that. I know people who live on half that, but I also know people who NEED twice that to "survive" !

We all have different needs, and spending habits.

We are a family of three, living just east of Brisbane.

Our food and grocery shopping averages $142 pw
Electricity $36 pw (no Gas)
Rates $24 pw

Excluding Holidays, Mortgage/rent, we spent an average of $1,000 pw last year, but our two biggest costs were :
$175 pw for running 2 cars
$170 pw Private Education costs including special trips, and computer.

[itskaren]

Originally Posted by jandel

Hi, my wife & I have the opportunity to move out to Australia to live ‘near’ to our only daughter & husband. We have our own house to sell which would give us the option to buy [or rent] and leave a small reserve. My question is what sort of annual income would be required to have a moderate ‘lifestyle’. Does it vary greatly from state to state? We are both retired on UK state pension – which we know freezes, (but doesn’t grow much anyhow) plus annuities. As I have said we are not extravagant with main hobbies walking, swimming, surfing - me – and running a small car. Oh we do like to eat of course but dining out is usually just birthdays etc.

I still cannot get over how expensive everything here is (Melbourne). I would seriously consider the move if you only had a pension. I was working in A&E the other day and I looked after a man in his 60's (both English) and the wife was in tears. He started to have a few health problems and is was costing them a fortune. I am not sure why but because they were retired they were not fully covered by medicare. They ended up selling their home in Australia and are now in rented. They both regret the move.

Food for thought ... Good luck.

[ABCDiamond]

Originally Posted by itskaren

I am not sure why but because they were retired they were not fully covered by medicare. They ended up selling their home in Australia and are now in rented. They both regret the move.

Food for thought ... Good luck.

If people come over on a retirement visa, they need to have private medical insurance.

Retirement Visa (Subclass 410)
Australian Government benefits

This visa is specifically designed for self-funded retirees, therefore you are generally not entitled to financial assistance or welfare support from the Australian Government.
Medicare benefits

Medicare benefits are usually not available.

[cazbeckham]

Jandel

Firstly welcome to PIO.

What visa are you coming out on?

We came out last October 08 on a Contributory Parent Visa and OH retired early in UK 3 years ago so we only live on his company pension (not eligible for our UK state pension yet) and we live on about £1200 per month (exchange rate for tranferringto $ will change but we have a monthly direct debit set up with HIFX which brings this amount of money over every month so we get roughly just over double that UK pension in $) and we live good on that.
We run a Toyota Prado Grande (which we bought when we got here) we have a lovely house - bigger than we had in UK - and live in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast and everything is great.
Should you want to look at where we live and surrounding area then log onto here and download our slide shows Beckham Digital

Also anyone else interested in looking where we live can also follow the above link.

Good Luck and if you need further info please do not hesitate to ask

Caz