bluequay

The Reject shop and Cheap as chips are normally a much better place for this sort of thing, also don't be surprised if every 2 weeks that same can is on "special" for $4. One thing we have always found in Australia is you can't go to the shop with a list expecting everything to be the same price as last week like it is in the UK, prices are all over the place! so you just stock up on the non-perishable stuff when it's on special, and choose your proteins based on what is cheap that week You are so right about the fruit and veg as well, it also lasts much longer as well as tasting much better!

Containers\moving quotes is the next thing on my list after the house goes up for sale next week!! Please let me know if you find any good options

That's great news, sounds like a very productive trip

@Cheery Thistle How did your trip go? Has it given you a clear plan going forward?

Yes you can but you won't get the annual cost of living uplift if you move to Australia as it doesn't have a social security agreement with the UK. It is frozen at the amount you received when you leave.

I believe their UK state pensions will be frozen if they move back to Australia so no more cost of living increases.

You can open an account with HSBC from the UK if you want to. After that it's 2 clicks on the app to open a savings account. Pays 4.25% with the bonus which isn't great but it is accessible.

I hadn't realised about the non-dom IHT issue, we are moving before April 2025 so assume we would be under the existing rules, so need to not be resident for last 3 years and 15 out of the last 20. So the Mrs and I will need to survive for 5 years

The fees and exchange rates look good. The trust pilot reviews are mixed. Would I go with them over Wise to save a couple of thousand $ but with a lot less peace of mind? Probably not.

https://www.hsbc.com.au/international/open-an-australian-bank-account/ The HSBC Everyday Global Account

I opened an account in January and I have no UK HSBC account so they may have dropped that requirement.

You don't need a $100K to open a HSBC Australian account from the UK, you can do it with $1. They are happy with a UK address and even send your debit card to that address. It takes about 3 days to open the account and 14 days for the debit card to arrive.

To be honest I would be delighted to find a school in Australia as good as the one my children currently go to. Based on Simon's and others experience we are clearly very fortunate to live in area where all of the schools are excellent, even if they do shake you down most weeks for some extra cash via cakes sales or similar

I've just read through the thread twice to be sure and there is nothing that negative about Australian schools, nobody has stated they are terrible just that they have the same problems schools all over the world have.

@Cheery Thistle We are moving to Adelaide as that is my wife's home city. Good luck with your move too. I suspect people won't be falling over themselves to employ a 50+ software developer in Adelaide so If I can secure a job and need to move early, or stay contracting here for a bit longer than we will have make the move in stages. As you say though everybody's situation is different.

@Cheery Thistle Splitting up the family temporarily is never ideal, but when you have jobs to find, houses to sell and kids to settle into school then sometimes it is necessary. We have discussed all the possible scenarios as we want our kids to start school in Australia at the start of the next school year (Jan 25) so that they can have the best chance of settling in. It would be very fortunate to get the house sale and jobs tied in to that date, so the key is flexibility and there may be a bit of short term pain to get to our final goal

Rather than pulling the plug, Why doesn't one of you head over there and try and get a job? If you have something tangible to move to it will give you a lot more security.

@Cheery Thistle I think it's more of a thing in Australia than in the UK the same way health insurance is more common. You can even get a tax deduction for the premiums.

I have no idea, it might be an idea to speak to a financial advisor about what you could theoretically borrow based on your ages and projected salaries before you make the move. I don't want to put a damper on things but I would also have a good think about how you would feel carrying that kind of debt mentally, as it is very different from the position you are in now.

With these figures and your ages, (No offence intended I'm over 50!) I would budget for some kind of income protection plan, as if something happens where one of you can't work then you will struggle to pay the bills.

With your timescales I would speak to a migration agent asap. They will be able to give you a better idea about whether the 101 would likely be granted by September. The migration agent should also be able to give you the details of any bridging visa they would get if you choose to apply onshore, and whether your son will be able to attend school on the bridging visa. They would possibly have to wait until after their visitor visa expired so that could be 3 months without school from your arrival time.

How old is your son? Would a Working Holiday Visa be an interim option, so that he can stay and work?

This is all sadly very true, most high streets around bristol have deteriorated and even the ones that don't have empty shops have lost their essential services like banks, post offices to be replaced with charity shops and coffee chains! In addition renting is as hard in the UK as it is in Australia at the moment, a friend recently had to move rentals due to his landlord selling up and it was very hard to find somewhere, lots of places subject to bidding wars without even being viewed. The Llandoger Trow is still open though

It might be worth trying to open a UK account with HSBC they are pretty good at cross border accounts.

That's not how probability works, based upon the latest figures you are have a roughly 1 in 9 chance of being the victim of a crime in both places.