Slean Wolfhead

That is a good option. I reckon we've got 15 years working in Australia to build up another pot, but if the British value is predictable, we can adjust the Australian input to suit. Is the British pension index linked now that you're drawing from it, or does it remain fixed from the date you first drew down?

Whatever's best really, no preference. If it can go somewhere else that gives benefits or flexibility (or prevents potential problems if being banned from removing from the UK), we'd examine that option. We're set on Australia but might want to try New Zealand one day, though this might just be an aspiration rather than a plan.

It's quite unusual, they were at first insisting that we tell them which QROPS scheme we were transferring to, before they would give us the value. I had to explain repeatedly that we hadn't chosen one yet, but just needed the figures to help calculate if it was going to be worthwhile. Then waiting for details from previous employer that hadn't been forwarded, plus some info they needed from HMRC. I'm sure they're not stalling on purpose, but who knows eh?

Has anybody got experience of making voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 NI contributions to make up gaps up to the 30 year requirement for state pension benefits? As I read the HMRC website, I can make up to 6 years of backdated Class 2 contributions at around £2.90 ish per week because I was previously "ordinarily" employed in the UK up to the date I emigrated. Can anybody confirm what "ordinarily" means? A full time job with an employer for more than three years prior to emigrating and full Class 1 contributions made to the date I left? The other alternative is Class 3 contributions at around £15 ish a week, but these are obviously more expensive and give less benefits, in the unlikely even i had to return to the UK. I just see people on here talking about the more expensive and less beneficial Class 3 contributions and wonder why you can't make Class 2 contributions instead?

Hi, is it clear yet whether the April 2015 "ban" date is for completion of transfers, or for new transfer requests to be submitted? We have two Local Government final salary scheme pensions, currently in deferred benefits state..about 25 years contributions each. We've been waiting for 6 months for the cash transfer values to be calculated, before we can investigate with professional advice as to whether it's a good idea to transfer to a QROPS or not, either in Australia or somewhere like Cyprus or Malta. We're permanent residents and are not looking to return to the UK.

I've just spent a month back in the UK and the vibrancy was brilliant, the abundance of busy pubs, chip shops, kebab houses, plus the weather was great. The human interactions are better than anywhere in Australia, let alone Canberra...which can be pretty cool and distant because it's so spread out and clinical. That in turn affects the local economy and availability of services....there just isn't the density of people in Canberra to support British and European style availability of goods and services, but then neither does anywhere else in Oz have that ability either. Would I ever go back and live in the UK? Not a chance. I saw more traffic jams in one day than I've done in two years here, couldn't park the car anywhere, get in or out of supermarket car parks. I couldn't even get on my parents drive because cars were parked over the road stopping the turn-in. A mate drove from Cornwall to Birmingham and it took 9 hours on the M5, another went down to Devon this weekend and didn't get there til 3 in the morning because of Glastonbury traffic blocking the motorway solid. The parks looked tatty, bin collections were all over the place, the footpaths are falling apart, potholes are just a part of life now, town centres are full of "poundlands" and charity shops. Supermarkets were brilliant for boxed goods using euro transport networks....but the quality and variety of fresh goods and meats, especially beef, chicken, fish, pork and lamb weren't a patch on Australia. They simply don't have enough of the top quality to provide to the everyday population. It's not going to get any better over there. Building work has picked up and a few guys are earning again, but the money goes into their pockets for kids clothes and not to support the public infrastructure or services. It's definitely going down the American political route of a greater rich - poor divide. If you live in the south east, London or the countryside, you'll be ok. Provincial towns, especially in the Midlands and North are just stagnating and concentrating on cosmetic spin to pretend it's improving....there's not going to be any opportunity for a lot of these people to raise their living standards or become successful or rich. And i think that's the way the Government wants it to be....a successful London supported by the rest of the country, who they really don't give a toss about. I did have a good time though, not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I was at the Botanical Gardens one night talking to a guy, warm summer evening, wine and tapas on the lawn, musicians playing, kangaroos bouncing around, brilliant sunset then a moonlit walk with torches looking at the wildlife. Complete silence. He said to me, "If anybody asks you what Canberra's like, just tell them it's a shithole. We don't want too many outsiders finding out about this place and wrecking it". I'm thinking of getting a kayak, then sticking it on the car roof and having a row in the lake on the way to work, or on the way home. In the middle of the city. The way I see it...if i want a taste of Sydney or Melbourne they're 40 minutes on the plane. Can either of those offer what I can get in Canberra...not a chance.

And remember that you will retain a personal tax threshold in the UK before you need to pay any tax.....so if you're a couple you can split the rental income against both your tax returns. If you've only got one house you probably won't be liable for any tax, but if you own additional properties you might.

And you need to keep an eye on this in case they change the rules as they're talking about doing. Best to keep it topped up now if you have the cash, rather than wait and then see them stop it when pensions change.

I'm only doing it now to convert money for goods I'm buying in the UK on a future trip, but I'm still not a natural in dollars. It takes longer for me to work out the true value of things, when in sterling you were so familiar it was an instant calculation and decision. Surprisingly electronics seem cheaper in Oz, even if you claim the VAT back when leaving Britain.

Is that per week, or per month?

A suitcase each to travel with, then left a lot of old clothes at parents. We had 40 Kg each to travel with and it was still about 5 kilos short. It's an adventure though...gets you used to arriving in Oz and going into temp accomodation for a month or so.

He forgot to add....for baristas.

I disagree with that, it's too easy to ignore. Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday to Armistice Day on 11th November, I don't know why they moved it to a Sunday other than it was a non-working day and could coincide with Church? Armistice Day for most people is 2 minutes silence and a cannon shot in the City Centres, they used to have to email us at work in case we forgot it, and somebody always talked on the phone right through it...a real non-event. If you wanted to know what happened it will be on the TV news that night! I don't know when they scrapped the actual stopping of everything for 2 minutes, but i remember as a kid that everything stopped, including traffic lights? What I like about Anzac Day is the engagement. They started in Canberra at 9.30pm the previous night with an overnight vigil at the War Memorial, then read aloud soldier's letters home from 4.30am onwards, then the Dawn Service, ceremonies at 10.30....then everybody meanders off for breakfast. You get people camping out all night with chairs and blankets, food and flasks.....they really put the effort in. Shops open in the afternoon, but it's a day of appreciation and sport, huge attendances across sporting codes in the afternoon and evening with minutes silence and buglers before every game. At the Brumbies last night there were a couple of Navy guys in uniform picked up by the cameras...spontaneous round of applause from the crowd. Since they allowed descendants of dead soldiers to march and wear their ancestors medals there's been a huge boost. A girl from work drove home 100 miles with her 4 yr old so they could walk down her home street wearing her Grandad's medals. It's much more than just having a day off work, more like Veteran's Day in the US where it's remembrance and a celebration.

I guess Australia is the safest tour for any Royal, I remember Prince Philip saying once that it was an easy trip, because "some of the other places they send me to are bloody awful". They were due to be there at 10.30, but they turned up at 6.30 with torches, then returned at 10.30. I laughed at the girl on ABC who said they'd be leaving at 12.30 for the airport, but would probably have to go back to Government House "to pick up their bags". As if they were normal people who collect their own luggage....

I'd get a Weber as well. We have the medium Q210, it can cook for 8 and very fast with the lid down. Also you can roast joints or chickens in it, add a bit of smoke. I don't bother with the special trays, only the weber brush for cleaning. Just get a kevlar sheet for about $10 for things like fish, or you can do a full breakfast on one of those including fried eggs, mushroom and tomato. Just been camping and there were loads of Q100 and 200's on the campsite, so consider if you want portability as well ? The Q300 series is family sized with a double burner, but pretty hefty.

It's not a question of blame and saying that if one lot got away with corruption, so should the next lot. When you get into power on a ticket saying you're going to clean up corruption, it's best not to be corrupted yourself.

If was $3000 that isn't now available for your kids health treatment you'd have a different story. The trouble with stories like this, and there seem to be loads of examples of bright blokes over here suddenly getting amnesia when it comes to them being corrupt, is the public then think it's an acceptable example to follow and then we have people like you condoning it because it's "only" $3000. That's more than ludicrous, it's insane.

I think Quoll was talking about her own experience about wanting to go back to the UK but having to stay because she'd made a life here, hence the constant warnings of how bad it can be if you don't feel as if you like it. I was only speaking to a guy the other day who's been here 4 years, done very well at his job and loves it here. He's going back to the UK because his wife misses her mum too much, who's now becoming very frail, so she wants to "be" there...no other reason, it makes no sense economically or long term for their future. He's disappointed because as every family does, they discussed the ramifications a long time ago before they left their English careers behind and have worked incredibly hard to make it work here, and from what he says about where they're going back...it's a bit of a dump and he's had no luck in finding work in the grim North. Nowt' so strange as folk when it comes to emotions.

In fact, here are a few http://www.downunderlive.co.uk/event-birmingham.php http://www.workingin-events.com/australia/ http://www.australiamagazine.co.uk/?cat=20 http://www.workingin-events.com/events/opportunities-overseas-expo-birmingham-13-14-july-2013/

It's horrendous, dirty smog, really bad for you. Guangzhou, a city of millions of scooters banned the lot...you can only use electric ones now. Trouble is, they then bought millions of cars from a starting point of almost zero so it's worse. My mum and dad always get respiratory problems when they visit my brother and it's put them off any long visits.

Not actually correct, the NEC and motorcycle museum in Birmingham were regularly used for emigration expos for Australia (and Canada), and often different states were represented with lots of private employment agencies there. The adverts were on billboards, buses and trains and local TV. They ran this round the country in various big cities. Sometimes these were combined with official Govt. recruitment campaigns for specific projects and jobs (nurses, social workers etc..), but often they were more of a lifestyle exhibition and then you could sign up with an "expert".

Probably less than having to deal with people who run onto serious trouble.

There will be droughts, but the point was that even with El Nino drought there will be no water shortage for 7 years, which should taken us through another La Nina wet cycle....so it's better prepared than it's ever been. It's very hard to predict, with the jet stream being forced south over the UK this year causing all the low pressure and flooding, all climate patterns may be changing and the UK might get this every year from now on, which really buggers up a lot of the country where we've built on flood plains and not invested in water management. I wouldn't worry about Australia's water too much, it's a lot simpler to deal with for smaller populations but on a much larger scale. The farmers may have a problem though.

Very true. The UK stories are mainly about London which is sky high. If you check the sold figures for the regions, nothing's changing much yet. As ever, the media and estate agents are hyping it up based on nothing, especially north of Watford. I've just sold a UK property after 6 months on the market, but it went for below "market value" for an easy sale. I've looked at the sales amounts for the last 6 months and they don't even match the stories of the same website that's promoting rising sales, there's just no evidence for it. The "market value" is overstated, houses are only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for them. If you can't sell a house, it's worth nothing. A good tip to prove the end of a recession is the tipping point when house builder's share prices start rising, far more accurate than politicians who have a vested interest in trying to make up good news even if it's untrue. Regionally, there is so much land banked by builders that's just sitting there....when they decide it's worth expanding and building again then I'd be sure.