Kelpie

On 21/11/2020 at 06:58, ali said:

It's a public forum, the poster hasn't broken any rules.  People can only reply to the information in the posts

What a pity that both a forum mod and admin support the trolling and derailing of a thread. 

7 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

A bit harsh, all University courses have to be sanctioned, verified and peer-accredited, so you would have been given the degree and learning and you signed up for (no more and no less). If it didn't match what you expected, that is on you not the institution.

Again, still have no idea why you are replying to this thread when you don’t know what what was communicated to us. 

54 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

@Kelpie, I just noticed this reference to superannuation.  Do not, under any circumstances, pay extra money into superannuation while you're on a temporary visa.    If you ultimately end up back in the UK, you will lose almost half of it in tax when you come to withdraw it. 

Thanks @Marisawright.  I’ve come to the conclusion that a bog standard savings account and overpaying my uk mortgage are probably the best options. 

10 hours ago, Amber Snowball said:

Doesn’t surprise me in the least about the uni. My son found himself on a double degree that 3 years into it a lecturer stated they didn’t know why the uni runs it because it doesn’t lead anywhere. That wasn’t in the brochure!

I bet they left that nugget out the prospectus. 

4 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

Not sure why you are blaming your university. They would have been crystal clear in their course syllabus about what it was and what it meant

The fact you chose a degree that doesnt meet your needs is your fault not theirs surely???

 

Not sure why you bothered to post on this thread when you have no idea what was or was not communicated to those of us in my year’s intake or have anything nice or useful to say. 

On 16/11/2020 at 07:19, Wanderer Returns said:

Not at all. It's when most people miss home the most.

Thanks Wanderer Returns.  I'm definitely still flip flopping between staying and going but whatever I do it would seem sensible to have a nice buffer of savings behind me.

37 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

If you're missing home, then go home. Yes, things will have changed, but the fundamentals are still there.  If you're feeling homesick, that feeling will never go away - in fact it will get stronger and stronger - until you go home. 

I don’t think it’s unusual for people to miss home in their first year of being away especially during a pandemic with the travel restrictions and social distancing. I was lucky to end up in WA so the restrictions weren’t too bad at all. If I’d been in Victoria I may very well have left by now. 

49 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

I don't know how long you've been here, but if it's more than 10 years then the home you're missing doesn't exist regardless of current restrictions. When we went back to look after my mum in 2014 I really thought that we might stay, but I couldn't find the love for the old country any more. British society has changed so much, and not for the better in my opinion. Despite the crappy weather, unaffordable housing and other social problems, Britain was always an interesting and fun place to live. Now it feels like all the joy has been sucked out of the place - or maybe I'm just a boring old fart that hasn't changed with the times?! 

I agree; it's not foolish to start saving for a deposit as one day you'll want to buy a place, whether it's here or elsewhere.

I’ve only been here since January so I’m still finding my feet and building up a social network. Quite a few of my colleagues came to Perth by way of Aberdeen and they’ve been lovely, one used to live right next door to one of my closest friends there. None of them would go back to the uk now. 

2 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Sorry to learn that your situation is not the best, but the look on the bright side, you're employed and you're here in Australia - where the sun is shining and the birds are tweeting. You could be back in the UK, which presently has no redeeming features! Stick with it - things will improve  

I keep telling myself things will get better.  The home I'm missing doesn't really exist anymore with all the restrictions. 

15 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

 

If you're on a 482, then you'd be a fool to buy a place. For a start, you'll have to  apply to FIRB for permission (and pay a few thousand in fees).  Then you'll be whacked a Foreign Buyer's fee on top of the purchase price.  On a $400,000 property, it's an extra $30,000.  

There's no guarantee you'll be able to transition from the 482 to a permanent visa - the refusal rate is very high even now, and likely to get harder after Covid - so if you end up having to go home and sell the property in a few years, there's a risk you won't be able to recoup all those fees.  

Yet more reasons why I wouldn't buy a place now even if I did have the money.  Just because it might not make sense to buy somewhere now doesn't mean that it is foolish to start thinking about a deposit now.

Ideally I'd be here on a 494 but my university didn't bother its arse getting my engineering course accredited for a 3 year period.  If I started 3 years earlier or one year later I'd have met the requirements for a 494 but they didn't so here I am on a 482 although my visa agent thinks I've got a very good shot at the GTI so I'm looking into that.

1 minute ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Haha! You can't beat British humour. Personally I'd be happier with avos than a new iphone  

Where are you living and where do you want to buy? If you can afford to buy somewhere now without the full 20% deposit, I'd be inclined to try and get on the ladder. By the time you've saved up that deposit, property prices could've increased beyond your reach. We're renting on the Sunshine Coast and my current concern is that there will be a big hike in property prices here when people realize that working from home isn't just a passing phase, and there will be a mass exodus from the cities to the coastal regions.

I'm in Perth and I have an idea of areas I'd like to buy in if I were to stay.  At the moment things feel to uncertain to buy, not that I could because I am skint.  I don't know if I'll settle in WA or indeed Australia as I'm here on a 482 at the moment.  My savings have been completely decimated by the move and I suspect I should have asked my employer for a larger pay rise for coming here.  Woe is me!  

13 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Disclaimer: this isn't intended to be financial advice. I invest in EFT funds through the Vanguard platform, which are available in the UK and Australia - and they've performed well over the years. Equities are a longer term investment and they can go down as well as up of course, but funds are a less risky option than individual shares. In the short-term the Westpac under 30 savings account pays 3% up to $30,000, which isn't too shabby. And I'd stop buying avocados if you haven't done already!

I had to cut back on the avocados in order to buy my new iPhone 12.  I looked at Vanguard in the UK where I could have an ISA with EFT but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much in the way of tax efficient savings and investment wrappers in Australia.

15 hours ago, Skani said:

The Oz government introduced a First Home Super Saver Scheme a few years ago.  You can check here for details including eligibility:

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/first-home-super-saver-scheme/

I looked at this before and I thought there was a upper income limit but I might have been getting confused with the home builder grants.  I'm a bit nervous about tying money up in my super in case they change the rules but I'll have another look as it seems the most tax efficient way to save.

1 minute ago, Tmduk said:

By putting money into a savings account

Helpful 

What's the best savings or investment vehicle to save up the required 20% deposit (I know you can get insurance if you can't quite manage the 20%)?  What with the low oil price and COVID I'd be amazed if there's any equity left in my Aberdeen property so I've resigned myself to starting from scratch again.

On 21/10/2020 at 05:04, JoeMcC said:

Hi, 

we currently own a home in the UK and we are living in Oz. We currently have a resident mortgage on our home with a permission to let agreed by our mortgage provider. Our fixed rate period is due to expire soon and our mortgage is about to get really expensive. Can anyone recommend an expat mortgage company that doesn’t require you to work for a multinational company? 

 

thanks,

joe

I'm in a similar position.  I've got consent to let for now and my fixed rate ends October 2021 when I'll then be on the SVR + 1%.  I've seen Liquid Expat Mortgages recommended on the MSE forum so I'll be giving them a try myself next year to change to a BTL mortgage which should hopefully be less expensive.

Thanks for the replies.  I had suspected that you need to do the leg work yourself in Australia unlike in the UK where the new provider does everything.  I'm wondering if it's even worth changing supplier as I don't want to end up with no internet for days on end. #FirstWorldProblems

How easy is it to change nbn provider?  Is it like the UK where you choose a new provider and they deal with the switching or do you need to cancel one, choose a new provider, and hope that it all aligns? 

1 hour ago, Andrew from Vista Financial said:

All pretty valid points above

Just to let you know though that Australian regulated Financial Advisers are banned from taking commissions on Super and Investments and have been for quite some years, so if providing advice in these areas an upfront fee does have to be disclosed and agreed upon prior to any advice being provided.

 

Regards

Andy

Thanks Andy. The fees for the super were disclosed upfront. It’s just the income protection insurance I’m struggling with but I think I’d rather just add what I would be paying in premiums to my rainy day fund. 

18 minutes ago, Ken said:

I think you'll find that the approach to Income Protection that the Insurance industry has is that you have to complete a medical questionnaire and possibly take a medical too. If the result of that shows that you might need Income Protection Insurance within the next twenty years then you can't have it. If on the other hand the result shows that you don't need Income Protection then they'll sell it to you.

 That is so true 

@Corrina If you're thinking about Perth, or Western Australia in general, then as well as a visa to enter Australia you also need a G2G pass to enter the state.  I think Tasmania is the same.

I'm here on a 482 visa so my employer has picked up the tab for most things but I still managed to underestimate the costs of moving to Australia especially when it came to my pension/super.  As I might not be here long term I have managed to do some good Wombling to pick items up free or cheaply off Gumtree.  There are "Buy Nothing" Facebook pages in WA (don't know if you get these across Australia) where you join your local group and people give away stuff they no longer need for free to someone in the local area.  We also have verge collections throughout the year where people just dump what they no longer want on the verge and a couple of days later the city then comes to take it away.  A lot of it is crap but occasionally you find a gem especially if you wonder round the posher suburbs.

Based on my experience of financial advisers in the UK I'm very wary of financial advisers full stop.  I'm sure there are some good ones out there but their cards have been marked ever since I got my first mortgage and the financial adviser then tried to load every type of insurance under the sun on to me because I had a budget of £X a month and my mortgages repayments were only going to be £Y so I could "afford it" even if I didn't need it.  Grrrr.  Sorry I digress.

It's not a self managed super and it is one that was chosen with a view to possibly moving back to the UK in 2-4 years time.  I'm also the first employee of my employer's Australian entity so neither of us really know what we're doing and are playing it by ear.  I hadn't really considered the impact of moving to Australia on my retirement planning when I agreed to come over.  In fact I hadn't really considered the financial impact full stop and then along came covid but I still have a job, I'm healthy and I'm possibly in the best part of the world for this pandemic so it's not all doom and gloom.  

The quote for the income protection insurance is $375 a month which sounds very high to me.  I could put that money into account along with the rest of my rainy day fund to see me through any periods of illness plus I have income from another source so I'm leaning towards saying, "thanks but no thanks."

I'm in Australia on a 482 visa for 4 years although I do have a visa agent looking at alternative visa route for my to get my PR.  I saw a financial adviser about getting my super set up and the FA put forward the idea of getting some income protection insurance outside of my super and it was mentioned the premium would be tax deductible. Personally I don't see why I would need it as a) I have no dependents and b) if I lose my job then I wouldn't be able to stay in Australia anyway with my 482...would I?

I get that there is a benefit to having private health insurance because I'd be charged the MLS if I didn't but is there any benefit to someone in my situation having income protection insurance?  I've always said no to FA in the UK who tried to sell me income protection insurance in the past and unless there's a compelling reason not to I'm going to do the same down under.

I am undecided about taking my car to Australia.  It is currently on a PCP deal so I would have to pay off the remaining finance (£19650) in order to sell the car in the UK or take it with me.  Alternatively I could voluntarily terminate the contract and hand the car back which I think will cost me circa £2,000.

What I need from you:

- year of manufacture 2017

- make, model & variant Range Rover Evoque SE Tech TD

- body type (coupe, convertible, etc) Small SUV

- engine size & fuel type 2.0 litres and diesel

- transmission automatic

- drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc) 4WD

- mileage circa 24,000 miles on the clock

- any special features, options or modification tow bar and reversing camera

- does it have aircon Yes

- realistic current UK market value £21,770

- Australian RedBook value I can only find SE is the closest version on there and it is slightly lower spec than mine and cars the same age are advertised for $67,551

- Australian market value (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/search.aspx - search for the closest matching vehicle) Again SE is the closest match but slightly lower spec and private sellers are asking $51,000 to $51,990

- which Australian state/city Perth, Western Australia

12 hours ago, FOL said:

Sure you don't need a car. You can work from home, have groceries delivered and just watch TV when you have time off.

Ha ha. That's exactly what I was thinking. 

I'm going to be working in the CBD and I think my employer envisages me living in East Perth or somewhere else very close to the CBD.  That's something that needs to be ironed out because in my mind it is up to me where I choose to live and in what type of property.