Nanna

Many thanks to everyone. 

Actually we are arriving in a few weeks.

That is not the case.  

We were discussing that till we saw the currency exchange predictions for the next 2 years or so.  So as the song says, it's now or never.

But thank you

Watching the exchange rate forecasts for the next fews year isn't helping!!

I have never been indecivive before and of course money factors into life/lifestyle at any age/stage in life.  It's not about spending in its about spending it to enjoy life in the best way possible.

I did read further in the site that as non UK residents we pay a gain on any profit we make since 2105  - our house has doubled in value since then.  

We also pay UK tax on the rent, agency fees for looking after the booking  and property/ tenants rent insurance ( I think that totalled over 20% if the gross annual rent). and tax in the U K .  We then pay the higher value between the UK 20% tax and the Australian 35% tax as we would also receive  Australian wages, state UK pension and a small UK private pension taking us both over $45000 per annum.  

Our house, altho seafront and 4 beds would command £1800 - £2000 PER MONTH.  so factor in all the above and its never easy! If @Alan Collet knows different and can answer within 24 hours from now it might save us making a horrendous mistake.

3 hours ago, Nanna said:

Thank you but we need to be physically UK residents and it would have to be our main home  to avoid tax according to gov.uk and of course we would be Australian residents.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/capital-gains-tax-for-non-residents-calculating-taxable-gain-or-loss

 

Thank you but we need to be physically UK residents and it would have to be our main home  to avoid tax according to gov.uk and of course we would be Australian residents.

11 hours ago, FirstWorldProblems said:

So in the realms of what is possible, how do you want to spend those really good years?

Being happy with no regrets! 

Hi and thank you.

The flight is gruelling and gets worse each time especially as we leave Australia never knowing when we can meet again.

One of the reasons this began was because we all worried about when only one of us is left or we needed the support of our family as we age so that is a factor in the mix.  Our sons so want us there just in case !  

It's very early morning and I don't sleep now as it is occupying my brain too much.

But as I am more obsessed with them I am asking hubby to decide as he is a bit less emotional altho he would like to live there if it wasn't so damned expensive and we didn't lose so much security.

So 2 days to go to sign on this house or not.  Either way I will cry, scream and I don't feel I will ever recover whichever way it goes. 

3 hours ago, Nanna said:

I suppose the difference on petrol is Australia is so vast that you travel further distances (?)

We are never on the same page at the same time  sadly.  So maybe I need to let hubby decide - altho that could cause resentment in years to come.  

How do you want to spend the years you have left where you are still vigourous, energetic and able?

Well if life was perfect I'd travel everywhere possible and have  a house in both countries. So that's not possible 

9 minutes ago, FirstWorldProblems said:

All decisions like this involve compromise.  For most people the compromise is easier to live with that the one you face.  The benefits of one choice clearly outweigh the other choice and whilst there is often a degree of sadness in that compromise it's something they can live with.  Your situation clearly involves a far greater degree of compromise whichever one you choose.  I think you are beating yourself up because you don't want to get this wrong.  But there isn't a right and wrong choice to make here.  You're not gambling on red or black where one option is going to be wonderful and the other one a disaster.  Whichever you choose is going to leave a hole for you - there will be elements of your life that you are unhappy with.  That really is terribly unfortunate but if you can reconcile yourself to that, it might help you make the choice.  There is no "wrong".  You won't be admonishing yourself down the line for your decision because you know they both involve really tough elements.

 

Couple of other factors I would throw into the mix here.  You've probably considered these already.

My kids grandparents are late 60's.  My kids are aged 15, 18 & 23.  They love their grandparents, but I've watched as that relationship naturally changes as the kids get older and start to build their own lives.  We just waved the MIL off at Heathrow to return to Sydney after her annual couple of months visiting.  My wife and I felt a mixture of guilt and sympathy that she spent most of her time alone this trip.  When we started doing this the kids were little, we needed help over the holidays and she got to spend wonderful, concentrated time with the kids.  Every waking minute actually. They built a much better relationship than they have with my father who is only 45 mins away as a result.  But this time the eldest has a full time job, the middle one has a part time job, a girlfriend and can drive now and the youngest has a friendship circle and other things she wants to do.  Whilst they made time every day with her, an hour or two out of 24 isn't a lot.  So MIL spent a lot of time watching TV alone.  When you move there, will you get to spend the kind of time with your children and grandchildren that you hope to? 

As I embark on my mid-life crisis, I find myself endlessly trying to gaze into the crystal ball and I am driving my wife batty as I contemplate out loud:

•  "how many years do we have left?"
•  "of those years, how many will be be physically able to do the things we currently value/enjoy doing?"
• "should we just crack on and bring forward our plans to head back to Australia but with it all the compromises that means to our plan?"

None of us have that crystal ball and hopefully we are all still travelling the world and hiking trails in our hundreth year.  But many of us won't.  Reduced mobility and living with multiple health conditions is on the cards for most of us.  How do you want to spend the years you have left where you are still vigourous, energetic and able?

 

What if your kids in 2026 decide the UK is more beneficial? Won't that be difficult?

They certainly don't worry about the money and live in beach front homes in very expensive suburbs.  We would go from a beach front home UK to something more expensive for far less , not where we would want to be, living a restricted lifestyle??!!  The reason we decided to move was because I am missing them so much and hate the cold but do I put us in a property that's more expensive than ours here, not as nice ,   be less financially well off, be restricted on travel because of finances and exchange rates and your cost of living  -v- staying in our beautiful beach front home,   financially security,   travel anywhere we want when we want including to Australia each year to be with our beautiful family for a few weeks - because I miss them SO MUCH! My husband  bless him will do whichever I choose but I can't choose as I have said before.  It irks me that I would have restricted my husbands choice of travelling but if we don't do it now we lose our residency.  HELP!!!  2 days to go before I have to sell my home.  The only reason  they would return to UK would be to visit us if we were unwell.   They are beach lovers with children that surf  paddleboard  fish etc.  We are 70!! Love walking the beach and biking and being with them  but is that enough for ever more???? Does that fulfill me?  In the short term no.  In the long term I need to be with them.   .  If only they lived in a place that offered me more  and whats so upsetting is if we say no they will be devastated and we lose any future opportunity.  All comments SO Welcome!!!    Hubby wonders if we should fly in for 6 months, remind ourselves, then if we decide its not for us we still have everything here and if we decide it is we go thru this all again - provided the Australian government grant us another RRV.  That's questionable.

OMG - all friends here say we are crazy to even consider the insecurity.  The family in Australia say just get here and we will sort it. 

1 hour ago, ramot said:

We are retired from UK, and have lived here comfortably for 19 years.  Have no idea if food is 24%more expensive here, but possibly other things are cheaper here and it evens out? Petrol for instance, 

I suppose the difference on petrol is Australia is so vast that you travel further distances (?)

9 minutes ago, ramot said:

If I can be bothered, I’m tempted to take a till receipt from Woolworths and Aldi back with me to compare prices when I go to UK for a month soon.  It would be interesting to really compare some prices of everyday items. 

If you compare Aldi and Tesco here to your equivalent in Australia,  particularly bananas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, capsicum  sausages, veg, razor blades  etc they are SO much cheaper in the UK.  UK also has Super Saver which is so cheap for cleaning products .  Good job Australians earn more because the difference in food alone is over 24% overall more expensive in Australia.  We buy 3 capsicums for less than $1.50.  

Thank you so much for that.  I will give that a go later.  And thank you everyone for trying to help.  Amazing !!  

Thank you for that. I have actually seen a few properties but it really really annoys me that they either put no price at all or POA or something similar so you have no idea how much any property is. On a different note I was just reading on the return to the UK chat something that made me laugh.  A family visited other family in Australia and when one of the children asked what were they doing today the response they got was "we are going to the beach" to which the child said " what again!?"  and in all honesty I can see where that's coming from. Mind you  Australian beaches are wonderful but I definitely need more than that and if I was not so obsessed with my children and grandchildren I would quite happily stay where I am.  I have had an opportunity to check out your food prices household goods personal items and they are definitely without doubt much more expensive than here.  A neighbour has just told me his only child lives outside Brisbane but the money he saves by Living in the UK in a beach front apartment rather than in Australia pays for him and his wife to visit her every year business class flights!  Food for thought.  

The body corp in the suburbs near our family is often $18000 per year which would reduce our purchase price potential and unbelievably some of the properties have rules that say you must vacate and rent it out for a period each year (usually Dec/Jan) -  some say you can only reside in them yourselves 90 days per year!

We dud consider the retirement village aspect.   Great social life etc. All properties at present sold within a reasonable distance from work and family.  Believe me I think I have covered as many bases as I can.   Oh and I've just downloaded the Coles App and used my families log in details.

According to friends there they spend $250-300 a week without alcohol.  We spend $200 equivalent in UK eating really well and with alcohol.  Believe me with all this stress that's becoming  a daily habit!

Thank you.  I ghave tried, unsuccessfully  most of the time as Coles says it picks  up I'm not in Australia so access is denied.

And Woolworths does not give prices of everything only where their products are sourced.

Nice quote.  Anyone any ideas on weekly food prices for  a very energetic couple?  

No more than $1.5m. With no body corp and not an apartment.   

The waiting list is endless and probably for far more serious reasons than mine - although to me mine obviously feels very serious and I'm in a dark place.  However, does anyone live in the Tweed area know of any community suburbs with beautiful parks and near the sea that don't cost the earth and aren't full of old properties or high rise ?

Well the counselling session turned out to be a useless waste of £250.  She was highly qualified on anxiety, ocd (which i apparently have as im obsessed with my kids) and depression but all she kept saying is i need to make the decision.   Oh PLEASE! £250 to be told what i already knew!! Do you think i dont know that!!!

But i dont know which way to go.

  I love my house here, my life, my friends, my financial and medical comforts, travelling in a motorhome, cruising BUT IM NOT WITH MY KIDS!!! And I hate the cold. Food is so cheap here compared to Australia . We spend equivalent of $200 including alcohol a week and eat like king and queen.  Distances are not huge. Travel is easy. Im near London, Europe and the whole world BUT .......

or i fly there, live in a suburb i wouldnt choose to live in and not near the sea,   live in a house costing more than my beautiful home everyone wants, in one there that no way compares to my sea front home here ,   medical and  financial issues, nowhere different to travel to due to money issues and not affording a motorhome (and ive already travelled Perth thru the Nullabor to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and all thru to Cairns) having to work part time to pay bills, not too many friends there close by , BUT  THE ONE BONUS - I HAVE MY KIDS AND GRANDKIDS.

This is hell on earth for me and my heart breaks each way. I ended up in A and E with an anxiety attack and had to be sedated.  Thats not good.  

My son, bless him, says we are to choose which lifestyle is right for us and he will love us whatever we choose and try and meet up each year somewhere -  but i want both.   I sound like a spoilt brat and i can assure you that never was the case as a child - quite the opposite due to money issues and an absent father - but maybe thats why i cant let go easily here. I have everything but no KIDS OR GRANDKIDS. Thankfully i have a wonderful Hubby but even he is stuck on this one.

Tuesday is now final decision day and whats most difficult is i want to be there when im old but want freedom and movement now while i can.  Again i cant have both.  I know many in the world would love this dilemma/choice but i wish i didnt have it.  

Anyway enough of my ranting and back to the wine.  We have just eaten a supermarket takeway $14 for 2 people and its always gorgeous  and wine for $5.   

Wishing you all a happy life.