fergal007

I think there is a mechanism to retrieve your userid and password. Although they do tend to send codes out in the post, not sure if they would send it overseas.

I will look into it further , thanks again

This mob will be able to help with motorhome insurance http://www.duinsure.com/motor_insurance

Hi Amibovered, I had a look at them today, but their quote website is " under construction" at the moment. Have you used them?

Thank you Marisa , for some reason I seem to be thinking that you can open a basic current account with Lloyds at the counter? I will take your advise though.

Thank you Bristolman, I will make sure I bring back my Proof of NCD from here, I have some old UK ones too.

Hi Bungo,

Thank you for the advise, I did use the Government Gateway in the past for SA tax returns, but I have no idea what my User ID and passwords are now!

Hi everyone,

It has been a few years since I have been on PIO!, I am moving back to the UK after 4 and half (hard but successful) years in Australia. I need any advise on the below issues please.

(1) I am planning on buying a motorhome in the UK on my return and heading across Europe for a few months career break, my problem is that I can not seem to able to change my previous UK address on my driving licence on the DVLA website (to my friends address, who resides in London as I will be residing with him once my break is over). I am an Irish and Australian citizen with a valid UK driving licence, but have not been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.

(2) Insurance seems to be a problem as I have not been a resident in the UK for 12 months ( or in some cases 185 days) , Can I get my friend to insure the motorhome and be put down on the policy as a named additional driver and still be covered to drive the vehicle?

(3) If i purchase such a vehicle, surly if my name is on the V5 as the registered owner at my friends address, will I be then able to change my current UK driving licence to reflect this?

(4) Can I tax the vehicle using my current UK driving licence , although it currently shows my old rental address? (the DVLA records still show that i have a valid UK driving licence at the old address).

(5) Banking!!! What bank is the best option for someone who has no credit history back in the UK, not that I need credit or want credit, I purely want to just open a simple bank account to allow me to transfer some funds from here to there, and to have it in place when I return from Europe to allow payments from an employer (once I go back to work). Lloyds seem to have some basic accounts, and I can provide payslips from here if they should need any proof of income, has anyone else had this problem?

Any information would be great

Bit torn about what to do here. Just got my 6 month review from the ACT government and trying to decide whther to reply. I've set out my job-search struggles upon arrival and eventual move to Darwin for a job in the NTG in another thread but to cut a long story short, I moved for a job offer due to a lack of work in Canberra. The form itself does ask where i am now living and reasons for moving away from the ACT if i have moved so i could give it to them straight, but should I? As far as i am aware there is nothing the ACT government can actually do to punish me for moving, and my job area is no longer on the wanted list so its not even as though it could affect other people in my position trying to move from the UK, but i find myself hesitating. I really had intended to do the 2 years i committed to, but of course i had no idea how hard it would be to find work before i got here. In some repsects though i was a little embarrassed about how much i struggled to find work so i suppose i would have to admit that, on some level, i failed to do what i came here to do, i.e. survive and thrive in Canberra.

 

 

Grateful for any views frankly

Mate I just done my last one for VIC and I now reside in Sydney, I told them of my job struggles 6 months after i landed in Melbourne. They said I was obliged to remain in the state for 2 years BUT if I had to move for work purposes then so be it.

Just fill it out and state that you reside in Darwin as lack of work opportunities in the ACT has forced you to relocate. They wont say anything. Trust me, I can PM you the e-mail they sent me to give me the nod to leave VIC.

If this is the way you feel, then why bother getting citizenship?

I have spent a lot of time and money to get here, so I need to make it a worth while operation, who knows, I might have kids in the future who might look back and thank dad for their Australian passport? Australia is a great country, but i feel its going down the wrong road, its been an experience and will continue to do so.

Hi, we're a family of four, daughter age 7 and son age 2, and we're undecided as to whether a move to oz is worth the obvious upheaval! My wife and I visited for a month pre kids and loved it, but we're not sure whether a move is better for us than staying in UK.

We have a good life over here with great friends and family but the thought of moving to oz is never far from our minds, now more than ever with all this Isis stuff going on and the British government's inability to see the danger on our doorstep.

Has anyone got any opinions on this either way, we would really appreciate your advice, thank you!

Its just as bad over here with the recent raids on homes. TBH i would just stay put if I was you, your life seems fine there? Just buy a holiday home in Spain! they are quite cheap these days

I have been here 2 and a half years, and will stay for another 2 till i get my citizenship. Its been tough for the most part to get a decent job, Australia in my eyes has become too "Americanized" and regardless of your visa status,immigrants (no matter where they are from) seem to be looked upon as some sort of "second class citizen". The whole "lifestyle" argument is quite debatable, I live a block from the beach, but hardly get down there as I have to work so much

Be warned if your a construction or engineering professional you will be expected to do massive hours on a salary, 6 days a week for the most part 10-12 hour days. The health care system and many other services are being privatized at an accelerated rate (due to the current government)

I am astounded at the open corruption in politics over here, its like its job description! The cost of living is very high, though wages are high, but I know family's that earn 2-3k a week combined, yet after all payments are made don't have much left in the kitty. I am quite lucky that I am single with no debt, but I would think life for an average family would be quite tough? big mortgage repayments, childcare, food etc.

Australia unfortunately is running down the road of unbridled capitalism, with no thought for the social consequences and this will become a major problem in the future.

I am enjoying my time here for the most part, no country is perfect, but my hart tells me Europe is where i belong (eventually) :tongue:

Too right, and - for me - there will still be surf rolling in and the bush is not going to go anywhere (dirt bikes, 4x4).....

Sounds like a great plan surfndirt! If it all goes **** up, I am loading up my van and going on a long term surfing holiday! Thinking of buying a XR 400, I will camp in the bush for a few years till it all blows over fair dinkum! I am sure I could live on the dole for a while over here LOL!!! (just kidding)

Again, it's not really that hard a formula people.

 

Rent where you want to live and buy where you want to invest. Esp in Oz at the moment - it's the best advice anyone could take.......

 

And before you ask - I do have skin in the game here in Aus, still doesn't mean I don't live in reality though..... Fergal comes across as a very clued up person - esp where they are living (best spot in Mellers).

 

Buying a 600,000 shack akin to the kind of thing me and my pals used to make in the woods back in Teesside in a boring suburb of one of Australia's cities is about the daftest thing you can do with your money. Peach, have a read up on assets and liabilities in this context - clue, that wooden shack in Altona is not an asset. Generating passive income from well considered investments (mix) including well chosen residential real-estate (US, UK, Euro, limited areas of non bubble Oz areas) is the key. Volunteering to become an Aussie debt slave is not....

Jesus your right about the whole debt slave thing, I was talking to a site manager the other day he told me his mortgage monthly payments was $3,500 a month! His wife works part time and I would assume he would be on 100+k a year. But to hell with that $3,500!!!

That's fine as long as in your more doddery years you can maintain an income high enough to pay you rent. Every year you have a mortgage, you get a year closer to not having one....

I am planning to buy a small house outright with cash next year, all I will need is money to feed myself, I will try to make the house as self sustainable as possible, ie well insulated, small wind turbine,solar panels and rain water harvesting and storage. I may even try my hand at olive farming

As long as you plan in retirement to be able to live rent free, that not buying into the 'nonsense' will pay you great dividends.

Peach, I dont think I would every want to fully retire anyways, my grandad farmed the land all his life till he was 92, he kept busy to keep him fighting fit he was dead right as he seen many people die a lot younger than him, he reckoned the idleness got to them LOL!! He popped his clogs at 94 after a brief bout of colon cancer, but he died a happy man, not materially rich, but rich with life stories and its ups and downs. He raised 6 kids and they saw him off on his last day, bar a chocolate in his top pocket and a smile on his face

He warned me to stay away from the banks as they will rob you in the end! only go to them if your desperate, and to live within your means! I learned a few things off the old man!

Now there's someone who considers the macro, real world...... Best advice I have seen on here for a while. Regards Euro land, you aint got long people - I'd give it max 12 months before it starts it's long re-bubble march.... :-) Listen to Dusty - they know what they are talking about!

I disagree, Spain was late dealing with the crisis, they have not hit the bottom yet another 18-24 months and it will bottom out. Greece is still a right mess and looks like it will need a another bailout in the near future, another 5 years of pain there. Ireland has bottomed out now, but will take many years to recover property price wise. Every economy goes up and down, its the economic cycle. Australia is not immune to it either, and from what i can gather the last bloodbath was in the 90s here when interest rates were between 14-17%!

Australia also carries the the grand title of " of most indebted country per person in the western world", that's worth bearing in mind. What goes up must come down!

One great reason not to buy into the whole "mortgage" nonsense in my opinion!

by the time you retire, this place will have fallen off the edge and had a bit of a rough run of it so compared to the rest of the world it will be fairly cheap like it was a few years back.

best thing to do is buy a house in Europe now and watch it appreciate, sell up then move here

I want to buy it to live in it someday, once I leave here for good I don't think I will be coming back all my family are back in Europe. I have traveled around a lot of the world , so I have seen what I wanted to see. Europe is the hart beat of the world anyways, so much culture and food, so close together

HESTA aren't bad. I think you would need at least 1,000,000 - that is conservative.

Jesus, everyone's saying a million bucks! I wont be retiring here, its a million today, two million tomorrow! fair dinkum!

You'll have to wait till you're 65 first

Knowing my luck I will probably be dead by 65 :mad:

Don't think you understand what super is..

 

It is money held in an account in your name. It is not held centrally anywhere where the government can get it or 'privatise' it (whatever that means).

You can decide how it's invested. You can put it in shares where it's at the mercy of the stock market or - if you don't want the risk you can put it somewhere super safe (like in cash).

 

It's entirely up to you where it's invested - you decide what sort of risk you want to take with your money so YOU are accountable if the stock market crashes and you lose the lot.

 

If your employer continues to put $9k a year into super for you, then (assuming a modest 5% growth) you'll have over $600k in 30 years time. That probably won't be quite enough to retire comfortably - but it's a darn sight better than nothing.

Hmmmm looks like the same wolf to me please take a look at the link and inform me on the difference. http://guides.wsj.com/personal-finance/retirement/what-is-a-401k/

No the government doesn't run the super funds. Various companies run them. That's why you can decide whether to transfer your super to your new fund when you move jobs. Or take on a self managed super fund. My OH used to have one with Colonial. We've both now got one with Unisuper. Two completely different companies.

Who are theses company's and who do they answer to? if it all goes **** up, (which it will at some point)

Don't think you understand what super is..

 

It is money held in an account in your name. It is not held centrally anywhere where the government can get it or 'privatise' it (whatever that means).

You can decide how it's invested. You can put it in shares where it's at the mercy of the stock market or - if you don't want the risk you can put it somewhere super safe (like in cash).

 

It's entirely up to you where it's invested - you decide what sort of risk you want to take with your money so YOU are accountable if the stock market crashes and you lose the lot.

 

If your employer continues to put $9k a year into super for you, then (assuming a modest 5% growth) you'll have over $600k in 30 years time. That probably won't be quite enough to retire comfortably - but it's a darn sight better than nothing.

Cheers NickyNook, I have an Australian Superfund, I have spread it out 3 ways, high, medium and low (i think), maybe I should put it all in low risk? If I was to move back to Europe will they pay my super into my European account? 600k will buy a lot of jamon,cheese and beer in Spain

Super funds are already private... What kind of retirement are you expecting back in the UK?

UK retirement = Sainsburys home brand baked beans and cheapo white bread full of nasty preservatives!

I'm aiming for a million as a lump sum and think the $535,000 seems way too low in my opinion.

 

If you can invest $1M at 5% a year you get $50000 a year interest which should be enough to live comfortably on.

 

It really depends on the lifestyle you want to lead in retirement.

And the biggest factor, will you own your own home and be debt free at retirement.

 

But personally I don't think the figure you quoted is enough.

 

Also I think it is crazy to just rely on your employer contributions to Super to get you there. I have always matched my employer contributions. So if they put in 9% I salary sacrifice another 9%.

I currently live relativity debt free (10k on a car loan for another 2 years) and don't plan on taking anymore debt after that, I don't own a home yet, but hoping to buy one for cash in the near future back in Europe. I have no kids (well not that I know of yet) LOL!! if i salary sacrificed another 9% I would have to live on SPC beans and cheapo white bread full of nasty preservatives!

I live within my means and save half of my monthly income, every month

Super funds are already private... What kind of retirement are you expecting back in the UK?

I wont be retiring Peach, I will keep going till the bitter end I love work anyways wouldn't have it any other way, suppose if it gets bad enough, hopefully euthanasia will be legal by then!

So who runs the Superfunds so? I thought the government did? please enlighten me!

Hi everyone, I noticed the MX in Melbourne last week stated that an "average" person would need $535,000 to retire at the end of their working life in Australia. This amount seems about right with the current cost of living today here, I know I wont be retiring here! my company currently pays about 9k a year into my super, I am 33, do the maths! it does not look good! I know the government are going to bump it up to 12% in the near future, but even at that, the cost of living in in 30-35 years time will be much higher!

Do you think the government will privatize the Superfund in the future as the population gets older and the funds dry up? Is it even worth paying into? (I know its compulsory) I don't think it should be. I think its a big scam TBH, like the 401k in the US that many people lost their life savings when the stock market crashes, and there is nobody held accountable! I feel Superannuation is the same wolf in sheep's clothes! Maybe I am over skeptical!

In other news, while driving to work today a doctor was being interviewed and i picked up oh him where he referred to prescriptions for "consumers" being 10x the price of what people pay in the UK. I could not believe that patients are now being referred to as consumers! Do you think the healthcare system here will become as bad as the US in years to come?

I would love to hear other peoples views on the subjects