ginger Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Hi all, just posting in here as me and the missus had a lengthy discussion this morning about the 'long term' future of the family. I came over nearly 1 year ago on a 457 visa (we are on the goldcoast and love it), we are looking at getting PR as it is defo better to live here as a resident rather than on the 457 due to benefits, cost of child care etc....anyways we just wondered how you sum up where your future lies. There are pro's and cons to Aus and the UK. It's the 'unsure' element which scares me. Any thoughts... UK - Pro's - NHS (at least we know that if we get cancer etc... there won't be any massive costs in the future) Dental - way cheaper, I do not have health insurance here as we just cannot afford it for a family of 5) Family - this is a massive pro but I am willing to live away from them but the cost of seeing them is immense (cash wise) Pubs - genral nightlife is better House buying - I could afford a fairly nice house on a lower wage Secondary schools - free schooling is much better Aus - Pro's - better life at the momenst for my young children but not sure about the future Work - my working life here is better, I am busier and happier (this was the main reason we came here) Life experience - to say you have taken the plunge is great but may wear off with time My biggest worry is the cost to buy a house here with water rates etc... I earn 80k a year and we don't have a car finance or a high priced rental yet money is still pretty tight. If I were to buy a house or buy a car I would be worse off here than the UK and that worries me. I just wonder where the kids have a better chance at life and affording holidays etc...The cost of dental work here is crazy and I here bad things about the cost of scans etc... if in later life you need them. At the moment we love Oz besides the pull of family and friends the UK has little to offer but 3 or 4 years I would love to know where our future lies. Any thoughts from those who've been in a dilemma and have moved back to the UK for good and are happy and any thoughts from those who've made a go of it in Oz and are happy would be great.......we are primarily a family who has always survived on 1 wage top allow my wife to bring up the kids but it is hard financially. thanks ginger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcorners Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Hi Ginger, Similarly to you we have also been here a year, and I think it is at this stage that you start wondering where your future lies and it's human nature to want a decent long term plan. We have tried making plans in the past and also often weigh up pros and cons about where we're living versus UK etc. What we've learnt is that usually given time the answer to these types of dilemmas becomes clearer. It's hard but sometimes it's easier just to accept that you don't know where you're going to end up. That's probably much easier for me to say not having children to consider - I imagine the future can be a whole lot more worrying when you do have kids. Something which you may want to consider is the possibility of you and your family getting citizenship in 3 years. You're obviously happy here at the moment and over the next 3 years you could just see how things go. Then once you have citizenship maybe that would be the time to re-assess, decide if you're still happy here or not. At least then you would all (particularly your children) have the choice to come back one day. We have decided to try and stay until we get citizenship. We are ping-poms, this is our second time here. We moved back here because of the mining boom but I can honestly say I was happier in the UK. We had less money, but life seemed much more enriched and diverse. So we decided we'll earn a good wage here for a few years then move back, either once we have citizenship or if the mining boom crashes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Nothing much to say other than once you get off that 457 and onto PR, your future will be much brighter due to the constraints it puts on benefits and the costs of healthcare/schooling. Health: I've had a prostectomy, quadruple by-pass, throat polyp removed, hernia repair, all at no cost in the public sector and with little more than a few weeks wait. Dental: been here 17 yrs and never needed any treatment...........look after your tooty pegs and the cost will look after itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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