Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Dec 12th 2017, 3:13 pm
#16
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Durham_lad are you happy with the automatic car that you bought?
We will be getting an automatic as well. I learnt to drive in a Fiat 500 with no synchromesh and I never did learn the art of double declutching. I realize there are far fewer automatic cars in the UK than over here but have no desire to use a gear stick again.
We will be getting an automatic as well. I learnt to drive in a Fiat 500 with no synchromesh and I never did learn the art of double declutching. I realize there are far fewer automatic cars in the UK than over here but have no desire to use a gear stick again.
Dec 12th 2017, 3:21 pm
#17
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Durham_lad are you happy with the automatic car that you bought?
We will be getting an automatic as well. I learnt to drive in a Fiat 500 with no synchromesh and I never did learn the art of double declutching. I realize there are far fewer automatic cars in the UK than over here but have no desire to use a gear stick again.
We will be getting an automatic as well. I learnt to drive in a Fiat 500 with no synchromesh and I never did learn the art of double declutching. I realize there are far fewer automatic cars in the UK than over here but have no desire to use a gear stick again.
Dec 12th 2017, 3:56 pm
#18
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Some good advice above.
Our son has never held a UK licence and he moved here in September. He has a Texas driving licence only and owns a 2nd hand automatic car here. We also have an automatic, my wife didn’t want to switch to manual. He got the car before his provisional licence and got insurance through Aviva who accept US drivers licences and no claims letters from US insurance companies and that has saved him a big chunk of cash.
As to IRAs I can’t comment on eligibility towards visa applications but you say “joint accounts” but IRAs are by their very nature individual retirement accounts and cannot be in joint names as far as I know. We lived in the USA for many years and each have IRAs in our own names.
Our son has never held a UK licence and he moved here in September. He has a Texas driving licence only and owns a 2nd hand automatic car here. We also have an automatic, my wife didn’t want to switch to manual. He got the car before his provisional licence and got insurance through Aviva who accept US drivers licences and no claims letters from US insurance companies and that has saved him a big chunk of cash.
As to IRAs I can’t comment on eligibility towards visa applications but you say “joint accounts” but IRAs are by their very nature individual retirement accounts and cannot be in joint names as far as I know. We lived in the USA for many years and each have IRAs in our own names.
Dec 12th 2017, 7:33 pm
#19
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Before you actually do move to the UK it will do well to check that the company that holds your IRAs will support you as an overseas customer. For example our son moved back this year so last year I had him open a regular IRA with $500. He already had a Roth IRA that he had been contributing to for years. Then as soon as he quit his job he rolled his 401k from his job into the IRA because I know from this site and my own experience that one of the restrictions for some brokerages is to not allow overseas residents to open new accounts even though they allow them to sell and buy within the accounts already established.
Dec 12th 2017, 7:41 pm
#20
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Hi durham_lad,
We've been mulling how to handle that IRA when the time comes. Thanks for your helpful input!
We've been mulling how to handle that IRA when the time comes. Thanks for your helpful input!
Dec 12th 2017, 7:43 pm
#21
Austin. TX.
Joined: Sep 2013
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
I disagree with Pulaski about the International Driver's permit (IDP). It is worth getting one if there is any chance at all that you might be travelling in a non-english speaking country. It isn't just a translation of your license, it puts all the information in a standardised format that everyone understands and in 10 different languages. Whether it will make your insurance quote cheaper in the UK is moot but it could possibly make it easier if you get pulled over for anything.
Dec 12th 2017, 7:46 pm
#22
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
I disagree with Pulaski about the International Driver's permit (IDP). It is worth getting one if there is any chance at all that you might be travelling in a non-english speaking country. It isn't just a translation of your license, it puts all the information in a standardised format that everyone understands and in 10 different languages. Whether it will make your insurance quote cheaper in the UK is moot but it could possibly make it easier if you get pulled over for anything.
Dec 12th 2017, 7:55 pm
#23
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Dec 12th 2017, 9:02 pm
#24
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Might get one just in case, then. I don't think they're very expensive at all ($20 via AAA if I'm not mistaken), so perhaps it's worth it.
Dec 12th 2017, 10:52 pm
#25
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
I have another question! Hurrah!
So, we are hoping we'll be able to buy a home in advance of arrival. If we don't, however, we'll want to stay with my dad, probably, until we find a home. I know there are ways to rent a house from abroad, but if they really require six months rent in advance and we don't live in the house for six months, is that refundable?!
If we stay with my dad, I suppose we'll have to provide his address as the address we'll be staying at. He rents, however, rather than owns. Would this mean we need some type of letter from his landlord saying that we can stay?
Naturally all this is very hypothetical and where we stay depends on how things unfold over the next few months...
So, we are hoping we'll be able to buy a home in advance of arrival. If we don't, however, we'll want to stay with my dad, probably, until we find a home. I know there are ways to rent a house from abroad, but if they really require six months rent in advance and we don't live in the house for six months, is that refundable?!
If we stay with my dad, I suppose we'll have to provide his address as the address we'll be staying at. He rents, however, rather than owns. Would this mean we need some type of letter from his landlord saying that we can stay?
Naturally all this is very hypothetical and where we stay depends on how things unfold over the next few months...
Dec 13th 2017, 2:31 am
#26
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Depends on the rental agreement, the most common type is an assured shorthold tenancy, which has to be a minimum of 6 months. So you would be committed to the first 6 months of rent and then typically able to end the agreement with one months notice. As a landlord I can't think of a situation where I would agree to a short term, unless perhaps for much higher monthly rent. The cost and inconvenience of tenant turn over would be too much.
Dec 13th 2017, 2:32 am
#27
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
For instance, you definitely cannot drive in Spain on a USA license (sic) without an official translation into espanol. The international permit meets that requirement.
Dec 13th 2017, 2:41 am
#28
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
Depends on the rental agreement, the most common type is an assured shorthold tenancy, which has to be a minimum of 6 months. So you would be committed to the first 6 months of rent and then typically able to end the agreement with one months notice. As a landlord I can't think of a situation where I would agree to a short term, unless perhaps for much higher monthly rent. The cost and inconvenience of tenant turn over would be too much.
If that is the case, then this could be great in your situation, not so great for landlord, but that's the joys of being one ;-)
Dec 13th 2017, 9:34 am
#29
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Re: Returning to the Uk after 12 years away!
I have another question! Hurrah!
So, we are hoping we'll be able to buy a home in advance of arrival. If we don't, however, we'll want to stay with my dad, probably, until we find a home. I know there are ways to rent a house from abroad, but if they really require six months rent in advance and we don't live in the house for six months, is that refundable?!
If we stay with my dad, I suppose we'll have to provide his address as the address we'll be staying at. He rents, however, rather than owns. Would this mean we need some type of letter from his landlord saying that we can stay?
Naturally all this is very hypothetical and where we stay depends on how things unfold over the next few months...
So, we are hoping we'll be able to buy a home in advance of arrival. If we don't, however, we'll want to stay with my dad, probably, until we find a home. I know there are ways to rent a house from abroad, but if they really require six months rent in advance and we don't live in the house for six months, is that refundable?!
If we stay with my dad, I suppose we'll have to provide his address as the address we'll be staying at. He rents, however, rather than owns. Would this mean we need some type of letter from his landlord saying that we can stay?
Naturally all this is very hypothetical and where we stay depends on how things unfold over the next few months...
He needed this letter to open a bank account, get his NI number and buy his house. So to answer your question, no problem if you move in with your Dad
Dec 13th 2017, 10:19 am
#30
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