Marisawright

This website is a great resource on all kinds of money matters, including how to get a credit card (which is extremely difficult when you first arrive in the UK, so don't cancel your Australian credit card, you'll need it for your first year or two) https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ Opening a bank account in the UK is a pain in the neck. You can't open a British account from Australia. In fact you can't even open one in the UK, until you have proof of a residential address in the UK (i.e. a lease agreement or a utility bill like electricity or gas). One tip to speed up the process: a month or so before you move, change your address with your Australian bank to your family's address. Don't use "c/o" them, just write the address as if it's your home. Then change your options with your Australian credit card, so that they send you paper statements in the mail, not digital ones. That way, by the time you arrive in the UK, there'll be a credit card statement waiting for you. You can take that to a British bank and use it as proof of your residential address. You will have to tell a white lie, because they will ask you whether it's your permanent address and you'll have to say yes. Even then, you may not be able to actually transact on your British bank account for a couple of weeks, until your card arrives.

Well that's a load of old rubbish. Ubank requires the same identity to open an account as any other Australian bank. Sounds like the ATO trying to divert attention from the fact that it was THEIR system that was hacked. The bank account could've been at any bank.

Not relevant to the OP who will need to rent something when they first arrive in Australia.

If @palaceboy1 is referring to customers getting scam emails and text messages from banks, then yes, you are right. Anyway, that's not scammers "using" the bank, that's scammers pretending to be the bank. They can do that with any bank.

Say what? More info please?

But that's even less likely to get a reply. Real estate agents work for the landlord, not for the renter. They don't see it as their job to help you, I'm afraid. I wouldn't expect to get any advice out of them myself, and I'm in Australia. Cheery and InnerVoice have given you good advice. Best of luck.

I don't know how it works in your part of the UK, but in Australia you can't just contact a real estate agent and say, "show me what you've got". You need to search online, find out if they've got something you think might be suitable, then contact them to request an inspection of that specific property or properties. In Australia, that means searching on domain.com.au or realestate.com.au. However if you're not able to inspect the property (which you obviously can't, since you're not in Australia), then there's no point contacting them. They won't lease anything to you without an inspection. In some states, it's actually illegal to do so. If you have family in Brisbane who can do the inspection for you, that would be one solution. But obviously you'll need to trust them to make the decision. Otherwise, do what most migrants do: book a AirBnB or a holiday let for your first 4-6 weeks and start looking for a 6-month rental as soon as you arrive.

Really? I had no idea.

Here's the relevant info. https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/before-you-go/who-you-are/travelling-pets

Indeed. It's not just the flight, it's the quarantine.

Personally I wouldn't put my dog through that.

But the way the TTR works is that you salary sacrifice into your superannation, and then draw an income stream at the same time. Would an overseas employer be willing/able to pay your salary directly into super before tax? Wouldn't it depend on the taxation rules in your chosen country?

Yes, that is absolutely true. You just have to show that you've given up work. They don't care if you subsequently changed your mind and go back to work. However I'm with you, I don't see how you could do Transition to Retirement while overseas, because your employer wouldn't pay into super for you.

The same rules apply whether you're in Australia or overseas.

@Alan Collett is your go-to person for tax. You need someone who understands how both tax regimes work. I've never seen anyone else even mentioned here. NI contributions -- you can apply to pay Class 2 contributions because you'll be working. However it would be worth deferring a decision until you know whether you're going to settle in Australia or move elsewhere. You won't lose anything by doing that, because there's a facility to back-pay up to 6 years of missed payments and it's no more expensive. Occupational and private pot pensions -- @Andrew from Vista Financial. However AFAIK there is nothing you need to do now. It would be very unwise to transfer them to an Australia pension scheme (superannuation) until you're 150% sure you'll never ever return to the UK, because there is no mechanism to transfer Australian pensions to a UK pension scheme, period. So once the money is in an Australian fund, it will be stuck there until you retire (and the British taxman will take a big chunk of it in tax when you cash it out, if you're living in the UK at the time).

However, that's irrelevant. Extras cover doesn't count towards exemption from the Medicare levy. Also, you can get Extras cover on its own, without the hospital cover. So you can't count it in the arithmetic at all.

Definitely go for the spousal visa. Only certain occupations can qualify for a work visa. Check Seek.com.au to get an idea what job vacancies are like. The bigger question is whether you want to make the move. It's stressful enough to migrate to a foreign country, 10,000 miles from home, when you're really keen to move. If the wife is dragging you and the kids over, it's a recipe for a lot more than tears. I don't envy you, it's not easy when you have a 'mixed marriage' as one of you isn't going to feel at home, whichever country you choose.

Andrerw beat me to it. I was going to say, why not move it to the retail fund instead? There is only one that can do it, and it's fairly new, so maybe the adviser wasn't aware of it. I suggest having a chat with Andrew.

Have you had advice from a professional who understands both tax regimes? As I understand it, you're proposing to transfer your UK pension into a SMSF, but as you're already at preservation age, you'll cash it out almost immediately and invest in something else. There will be costs associated with setting up the SMSF and then more costs associated with submitting tax returns for its brief existence, and then more costs associated with closing it down. I would be checking very carefully on the costs of all the various options available to you.

If you are so close to retiring, why wouldn't you leave your money in your UK pension until you can access it?

SMSFs scare me too! However you won't be able to cash any of it until you get to your preservation age, whatever that is in your case.

I think you've got that wrong. Enrol in Medicare once you've got the visa. It's the private insurance they want evidence of, as Alan says.

Do you mean you're waiting for a response from Medicare before you pay the 2nd vac? Why?

You are absolutely right, but that does mean they'll need to stay in Australia until they're 60 at least (and it's very likely the government will increase that age as time goes on, so who knows how long they'll have to stay in 20 years' time?).

I have no idea, I didn't get that far.