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....

It's commonplace....as always, the skill is getting through the door and then getting the chance to prove yourself. Having sat on a few panels now as an observer, I'm pretty good at spotting when somebody has been setup for a position and it is shocking to see someone floundering and unsuitable, but you know they're going to fix it for them. In Canberra, it's normally family connections. I've worked on projects without a proper plan, so you have to compartmentalise and do your own specific documents and you're forced into these awful silo's to protect yourself with documentation...because people are quite happy to try and blatantly stab other people in the back after setting them up to fail. Very questionable ethics in some areas. I remember one specific "laid back" project manager who bulled his way through to implementation without a clue, had loads of gaps that he just ignored...then was last seen on Go Live day actually sprinting to his car and driving away never to be seen again. His sister was married to the Director apparently. You gotta laugh sometimes.

A bit like the old free range Goan pigs then.....made for very tasty meat though :smile: I haven't got a problem with Basa, makes a great fish curry. I guess the business expansion frightens a lot of countries and you're going to get propaganda and protectionist comments to protect the local trade. Oz can complain all it likes about food standards, but the two worst cases of dirty production and animal cruelty I've seen for years are both pretty close to where i live now....almost 3rd world conditions being applied to animals going straight into the local food chain.

Basa, as i understand it is a freshwater cat fish, normally from Vietnam, so it feeds on the bottom of rivers? I think it was unfavourably taxed in the USA where it was competing too well with their own native catfish, then the UK was suddenly flooded with it (and Oz it seems). I like it...it's meatier and you can cook it without it falling to pieces or flaking, but it's competing in an established market where some other producers are going to be upset with the competition.

It will be yes (hopefully), not been here that long and I did all the settling in stuff while my partner had the job lined up (she was sponsored for the VISA's).

You're well qualified and would tick all the boxes. There are a lot of PMO's here who are out of work, but shortages in Business Analysts, and Testers/Test Management...but then you'd run into the citizenship issue as the projects are normally related to public service transformation, which isn't insurmountable but would preclude work in sensitive areas such as Defence, or Customs which i think ATOS specialise in? Unless ATOS can help with a waiver and transfer you to the Aussie partner...have you explored that as an option?

Ha...pretty disastrous and soul destroying at times. I've eventually been offered a good job after 4 months of trying but have been waiting 5 weeks for the paperwork now and it's frustrating...business processes are very slow in some areas, plus it's a new financial year and people are juggling new budgets and waiting for approvals. Until i get the contract in my hands I'm not counting chickens, and if it doesn't arrive I may well end up actually counting chickens on a farm or something ! Canberra's a funny place and probably dissimilar to Sydney..mainly public service which requires citizenship for employment as a general rule, they do let a few permanent residents take contract or "non-ongoing" work but other VISA's don't seem to get a look in (I've got PR). Agencies, so far have been in general, awful..hardly call you back, don't want to help. It's possible to get work through agencies with a citizenship waiver for some jobs, but some agencies are not interested in doing the paperwork so just tell you that you're not acceptable, but then another agency will say that you are . It's difficult to work out who's telling you the truth.....do they just want the applications to prove they're good at recruiting, is the job there or not, and are they even interested in you? One PR has managed to get good contract work with the Federal Govt., but her partner couldn't get a job after 100 applications so i think has gone back to college and will be changing careers. Part of the migration process is the ability/opportunity to change careers so I hope it works out for them. Nevertheless I got a good rundown on their experiences so it's lowered expectations. Just getting a foot in the door to be able to prove your worth is the key initial outcome, or as they call it here...a "fair go" ! ITIL is taken quite seriously here and used in selection criteria (even if it's not well practiced in the actual job)...at least a foundation certificate is very useful.

Career break scheme, unpaid leave?

Yes...but until the balance of the lease is paid up, we don't actually own the vehicle so have no ownership documents. When they arrive..the date that we took ownership will be less than 12 months before we arrive.

Just a silly question about ownership of a vehicle if anyone can help.. Is this owning the vehicle for more than 12 months your personal ownership, or can it be construed as a lease deal which has been settled by buying out the lease. ie...registered keeper for more than 12 months, but only legally owned within the 12 months. TIA.

Brilliant...thanks. I'll look into the pricing.