durham_lad

We are in a similar situation in that I pay voluntary NI contributions but that does not cover me for NHS but I have a US PPO plan from BCBS that covers us while traveling abroad, including the UK. In fact when we travel I go onto the BCBS website before we leave and make copies of the doctors and hospitals that are in the BCBS network for the cities we will be staying in.

For the UK I can see the hospitals that are in network for BCBS but no doctors are listed so we would just have to go and pay then file a claim. Last year some friends of ours that are on the same BCBS plan as us had to go to a doctor in Austria and they paid at the time and claimed it back when they got back to the USA. (They were only on holiday for a couple of weeks)

Kitsune

Well now, that's an interesting suggestion. We do know where we want to live in Cornwall, but had not considered renting there to try it out first. Could be that becomes part of the plan. Thank you.

Kitsune

Great info. That's going in the big Cornwall Move binder. Thanks.

Richard8655

Also agree that this is good info, durham_lad and Kitsune. I don't know if both of your particular BCBS plans provide this, but many if not most BCBS plans offer a feature called BlueCard Worldwide. It's not a physical card, but a facility you set up with BCBS if you're going to live for an extended period in another country.

Through their partner company AXA Assistance, they establish an electronic payment connection to your overseas doctor and hospital of choice, so you never have to manually file claims (paper or electronic). It's done for you by AXA Assistance and BCBS. But I'm not sure if you have this or may already know about it. But it's very helpful in reducing claims bureaucracy if so.

durham_lad

I wasn't aware of this. Good info, thanks.

Pistolpete2

I know that this sounds a bit weird but you could consider the Cornish side being in the winter period if you are prepared to continue with Texan summers. You could consider winter-lets (below).

As you probably know, the western end of Cornwall is both milder and somewhat dryer in winter and Cornwall can be more attractive in itself out of season when the roads are less clogged and haunts less jammed.

We have relocated to Dorset from the Caribbean and are happy to abandon very busy touristy Weymouth at this time of year and having 'done' one winter feel well-equipped to handle #2.

We have taken winter-lets in holiday-let accommodation in Weymouth on a six-month lease basis and the properties come fully-loaded (apart from bed linen and towels) (meaning TV licence, WiFi, cutlery are included and maintenance issues are dealt with very promptly as the property must be in very good condition going into season) and are decidedly reasonable compared with normal market residential rents for such properties. We presented our lease as address evidence when registering for the NHS.

Many holiday-let properties are extremely-well located so that it is often feasible to exist without a car which may or may not be attractive.

This all makes it very easy to shut things down and move on to the summer plans.

Many properties are rented in this fashion year after year through holiday let agents and building a relationship with one makes it far far easy with paperwork and charges after the first time around as you are then pre-cleared for credit and other typical start-up fees could also be lower.

Looking at Cornwall - area around Penzance/Newlyn/St Ives - on Rightmove there is currently a very good supply of winter-let properties in the area with availability from September onwards and now is the normal time to market them, when the late season holiday bookings become clearer. Typically winter lets start from late September to early November.

The fact that winter let properties are often put out to let well ahead of time also makes it far easier to make plans going in as compared with normal residential rental properties which are available NOW. We have found this a crucial issue which is one of the big reasons we have stuck with winter lets for now.

We have been advised that some Weymouth residential owners choose not to live in the town over the busy summer period and move to their places on the continent or wherever at that time. We are hoping that this provides an opportunity, for just the six summer months of next year, to do an easy six month summer lease, again, virtually fully-loaded.

durham_lad

We like to escape the summer heat and humidity of Texas. This is currently the weather where we have our place in Texas

Kitsune

This is news to me! Very, very helpful. Going into the binder. Thank you.

Kitsune

One of my UK sisters-in-law always asks us why we don't have a tan. Never fails. But it would never occur to me to sunbathe here. I think you'd have to live here to understand?

It's v.e.r.y humid and hot in Houston. The summer air coats lungs like a plastic dry-cleaning bag. Sun blazes down full-on, blistering paint and frying lawn grass brown, like sliced onions.

We've adjusted, and don't mind it, but summer is not outdoor time for us here.

Kitsune

Ah, this is an eye-opener. I had looked at residential lets on offer now, just to see. Wasn't happy about the cost or quality available. But winter lets sound like another avenue entirely. We are fond of walks in the off season. Christmas in Cornwall...sigh. Great idea, great advice, thank you!

Disenchanted

Kitsune, thank you for posting this, I am also 2~4 years out from doing this and was contemplating a similar post. I too will be looking to have a place in Cornwall, on the North coast side. Have you considered a Holiday Lodge? Some have to be vacant in Jan/Feb, some don't, it depends on the conditions the owner has permission for. If you will be "wintering" in Texas then the vacant period of a holiday lodge would not be an issue.

I have been mulling over selling our Los Angeles home, however, a neighbor recently rented out their 2 bedroom house for $3500/mo. I have the ability to easily convert my 3 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom house and a 1 bedroom studio so now I'm torn between keeping the property and renting it out or selling it. Any others (durham_lad, 1234robin ) looking at doing anything similar have any suggestions or warnings. Tax complications etc etc. The intention is to leave the property to our kids, should we maybe form a trust???

I am the expat, USRA, wife is USC. I said once I went back to the UK I wouldn't come back here, but that may not be practical, so should I apply for USC to be on the safe side? What tax implications does it alleviate/cause? I know it's easier to tell them where to put their Green Card than it is their US Citizenship.

I will have Civil Service and SS pension here as well as Privte UK pension and UK State pension there, rental income here if we keep our property. What is most advantageous tax wise, pay all to IRS, pay all to HMRC, split it based on where it comes from, can I even do that based on IRS/DofT rules????

durham_lad & Richard8655, thanks for the info on BCBS, I have this with my city job currently, but does it still work with Medicare if the provider is BCBS?

Anyway, hopefully we'll collectively come up with a consensus of how to proceed advantageously. I will be eagerly watching.

Richard8655

Disenchanted,
Nice post with interesting background on your situation and plans. Other members here who are more recent expats than me may have more thoughts on the relocating aspect.

I'd just quickly add to the medical coverage topic that Medicare does not provide coverage outside the U.S. But if yours is a Medigap (Medicare supplemental) policy, it just might and best to check the policy.

The other consideration is whether to keep the Green Card or become a USC. Although guaranteed easier access back to the US comes with a US passport, I've been reading more and more about US expats who decide to live permanently overseas renouncing their citizenship. The main reason is the tax implication.

No matter what the tax circumstances are, US citizens (unlike most other countries) are required to file returns every year no matter where they live. All income must be declared. For many expats, the tax forms are so complex they have to hire tax accountants. Many got fed up and simply renounced. So I think that might be a factor in this consideration.

holly_1948

Cornwall is expensive, West Wales is relatively inexpensive and has similar climate, beaches etc.
Summers in Britain and winters in Florida sounds pretty much ideal to me.
A Florida condo in a gated community with a garage where you can store your American car out of season would be close to ideal.
As others have intimated, NHS entitlement requires nominating Britain as primary residence.
You can do USC in USA 6 months and one week a year and UKC in UK 6 months and one week a year and so be together for 50 to 51 weeks a year.

Jerseygirl

Owning homes in several countries is expensive. Lots of things to consider...who will look after the place when you are not there for months on end? What about a car? If you live in an apartment you will have to pay maintenance fees for the months you are not there...plus gardening , heating etc. will your home/contents insurance cover you when the property is empty for several months?

The apartments we looked at to buy all had very low maintenance fees. These do not cover major repairs or renos...that means all the owners have to chip it thousand of pounds each if that occurs.

Yes taxes can be a nightmare...especially if you are a USC and have various forms of income/investments from both countries. Another thing to consider is healthcare. What country are you going to be a resident off?...if it's not the Uk then you are not entitled to use the NHS. Will you still pay Medicare so you can access this when you are back in the US? Travel/health insurance for the country you are not resident in...as you get older this becomes more and more difficult to obtain...and expensive. One major illness and you could well find yourself uninsurable.

durham_lad

Good post Disenchanted, and some good advice in the following posts.

I will add a couple of things. I have done sort of the same thing as you are suggesting with your US house. When we came to the US we kept our UK house and rented it out for 6 years but were glad in the end to sell it. This was 1987 to '93 so we had to do all comms via letter, fax and phone, so it would be easier these days. However, we needed an agent to manage the property so that was an immediate 15% in costs, and we found it a real drag to keep up with, authorizing repairs and requests from the tenants through the agent etc. Filing taxes was also more onerous as we were paying all taxes in the US.

If you do decide to rent and not become a USC then unless you come back to the US from time to time your green card will expire, and you will became a non-resident alien with rental income from the US and I have no idea how the tax on that will work out.

What we have done now is sell our US house and move into an apartment complex so we can "lock and leave". We tell the front office when we are leaving and they look after the place for us. Our son lives close by and collects our mail each week or 2 from the mail box. Rarely is there anything of importance as we have everything managed on-line. Yes, it is expensive to be paying an apartment lease for 12 months when we only live in it for 6 months, but it works well for us. (this is our 6th year of leaving it for 6 months while we travel - we are currently in Canada after leaving home on April 30th and will not be back until October). Our son also switches cars and drives ours to and from work etc 1 week in 5 or 6, so we also pay car insurance and tax year round, but it ensures we have a working car on return. (this was in 2011, 2013 and 2014 when we left the car while traveling in the UK, Europe and Australia. We have our car with us on this trip)

When we start the England/US thing next year we plan to lease initially and buy a house within a year or 2. We will be living in the same small market town as my sister and she and my BIL are only too willing to look after the place while we are in Texas. Anyhoo we will be starting that experiment next year so it is going to be an interesting experience, either good or bad, but definitely interesting!!

I can also say that once I get to 65 in 5 years then I will be on Medicare, with a BCBS supplemental insurance plan through my employer until age 70 and I'm nearly certain it will not cover us while out of the country, since Medicare will not cover us out of country.