rachieroo1980

Hey everybody! New to this!!

Im Racheal & have been living in brisbane now for over 3 yrs. Love it!!

My partners parents have visited us here several times and really love it too and are thinking of maybe retiring over here in 4-5 yrs. Anybody got any experiences of doing this & retiring out here? How did the process go? Was it easy to settle into life in Australia & make friends? Also any potential downsides? Would it be better to maybe just come over for 6 months at a time & if so anyone with experiences of that?

Thank you. Any advice would be great!

Rach x

quoll

My suggestion would be to get serious financial advice before they make the leap. Australia is not very kind to the elderly and they would need pretty deep pockets or a steady income in order to be comfortable in their old age. Remember that the pension is not universal here and you have to be very poor to get it. Also the UK pension is not indexed if you live here so what you see is what you get until you cark it.

My parents had an ideal retirement - 6 months here in a granny flat and 6 months at home (summer both sides of course) for 15 years. Then they considered all their options - financial, emotional, social and opted for UK in the end and apart from the odd day where Dad hasnt been able to play golf I dont think they have regretted it although they had a good time when they were here. Just another way of doing it and getting the best of both worlds.

ozzieeagle

I think they have to be totally self funded, which means quite a high level of financial backing. I would say the making friends and meeting people would be the easy part. Could they finance their own house, and their own retirement, because I'm fairly sure they would be only entitled to limited Australian concessions. I think you will find that the pensioners are looked after by the UK Government to a higher level than here in Aus. Two Major factors come to mind... The NHS and being able to access the UK pension plus a private pension... Neither of which would be applicable in Aus.

Most people I know that do this from the UK, spend a portion of time in the UK each year to qualify for the Major differences in allowances

I'm open to correction on the above, but afaik those are the facts.

I'm looking into this area myself... although I've worked most of my life in Aus.

Actually after seeing your post Quoll.... I thought I'd post a typical example of a Major difference in treatment that relates to my Parents.

They own their own house, and are quite well off having bought council houses in family members names, and selling them at retirement (after their Uncles and Aunts and their own Parents had died) Plus my father has a very large private pension paid by Bucks county council at very close to the current average wage, plus they get the government pension, plus other things like home care allowance as my father is slightly imobilesed. Well what really got me about this situation, is he has put in for a Council house ... Bungalow.... because he cannot manage the stairs at his house.... and blow me down, he is quite likely to get it... and keep all his assets... now that could never happen in Aus. Then throw in the fact that pensioners are very close now to being able to receive free bus travel all over the UK... and thats quite a world of difference in living conditions compared to here.

Grayling

Would they be able to actually get a visa?

Are they eligible for a parent visa? Do they pass the balance of family test?

If not, then can they afford a retirement visa?

G