flumper

Hi

We're off to see our financial advisor tomorrow but can anyone help with a question about a unit trust held in our names on behalf of our daughter? We set it up for her and pay monthly into it but don't know what to do with it. Should we cash in and transfer it over and start again? Is there an equivalent in Australia?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Anastasia Beaverhausen

Good question. I was wondering about the child trust fund scheme the UK gov is setting up at the moment. Can it be transfered to Oz?

wongstonn

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you on this one.

If I understand correctly, there are plenty of unit trusts in Australia, except they are not called unit trusts, they are called 'mutual funds'.

Assuming you are going to declare your holdings then you should be aware of the Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) tax rules that the ATO uses. There was an extremely good thread on this subject from about a month ago that went into much useful detail. If you rummage about the ATO website enough you will find some rules that make distinctions between foreign held funds under AUD50,000 and those over.

On that basis, I'm choosing to keep my funds in the UK. Partly as I am now more comfortable with the tax implications, but also because my fund provider, Fidelity, has no presence in Australia.

There are also the free factsheets available from:

http://www.collettandco.com/factsheet.cfm

If anyone could find that 'old' thread again, it would be really useful, though.

Of course, nobody can really make your decision whether to buy or sell for you. Nonethe less, I hope this response is vaguely useful.

Neil

wongstonn

Try these:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...&highlight=ISA

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...&highlight=ISA

island.girl

hi. i was wondering the same about the child trust fund i didnt know if we might be able to keep it going in england and then when my daughter is 18 we can get it as will be worth more then converted into dollars.? maybe thats a silly idea as she is the only one who can get the money and she will be in oz.hopefully!! didnt know if it is worth setting it up in that case as were hoping to not be here for much longer.

flumper

Hi Wongstonn

Thanks for the info went to see our IFA today he suggested cashing in and starting again in "OZ" but will get advice from "OZ" adviser. Looks complicated and our house sale doesn't go through till we are in "OZ".

Cheers

wongstonn

Hello Flumper

Just nmoticed from your sign-on that you're off to Melbourne. My family are off there too - flights booked for May 3...heading for Frankston South. Which area are you headed for?

Neil

flumper

Hi Neil,

Funny - we'll be setting off on the same day! We have friends who live in Gisborne - out near the Macedon mountains and we'll stay with them for a few weeks until we get settled but its not the location for us. We were thinking somewhere from St Kilda down to Mornington or on the other side of the bay - Geelong. We have a 5 year old daughter so need to consider schools, good community and things to do and of course the availability of jobs. Have done a fair bit of research on trips there and the internet but will wait until we are there for a real good look about.

Have you been out to Frankston? What's it like?

Nicola

wongstonn

Hi Nicola

Funny - we have a 3 1/2 year old daughter so not so unlike to you.

We have been to Melbourne twice. Aside from Melton we do not know much about the west side of the area, though judging from comments from a couple we met at yesterday's Sandown meet - Geelong seems agreeable.

Our two 'recon' trip to Melbourne tooks us first from the CBD out thorugh an assortment of suburbs eventually to Lilydale, and second to the southern city limits areas of Narre Warren, Endeavour Hills and the areas around Frankston on the cusp of Mornington. We briefly drifted into Mt Eliza (lovely!).

Frankston South, on balance, impressed the most. Mostly new build stuff at reasonable prices, but near to Frankston which on our trip seemed to have the best shopping centre, and had the best train link given the distance. We have subsequently found out that Frankston high school is the best state school in Victoria. A friend that lives in Melbourne told me Frankston has a great beach - but we didn't see for ourselves. Frankston itself was patchy with some run down areas.

So what is driving your family down that that part of the world?

Neil

Bordy

They have done a lot of work around Frankston beach over the last year, its looking pretty good. Has a long pier you can walk out on as well.
Not so sure about the shopping centre, theres a few around I'd say was better than Frankston.

wongstonn

Bordy

I've heard rumours about the unearthly times you post. What time is it over there, and what kind of job do you have to be posting at this time? You live Mornington way too, don't you?

flumper

Hi Neil,

We have friends there and visited first time 4 years ago on a 'Round the World' trip and were smitten then went again last year. Was a bit of a fact finding holiday. We want to be near the beaches/ocean too and I guess all the same stuff everyone else is looking for!

We're going to have a good look around when we arrive to see where we want to settle. Mornington area gets good feedback on this forum but we don't know if it will be too far from CBD.

What's your reasons for going?

wongstonn

Hi Nicola

We're going down partly for a compound of reasons, some financial. My wife, Pat, is not British (she's Hong Kong Chinese, we met at university several years ago) and she's never wanted to live outside the south east of the UK even though I was happy too. Even when she went to my native Yorkshire - and although there everyone was actually really nice to her there - she always felt that outside the SE people always looked at her as though she was an odd one out which, I stress, is not some kind of politically correct code for acused racism.

The great British climate also contributed - mostly in her view. Hong Kong is a little warmer than Blighty.

And the financial aspect, Well, although I have a very respectably paid white collar job in IT (for a Scottish bank!) in the SE, I think it is the lot of my thirty something generation to deal with mega high mortgages. We had a choice of a sky high mortgage debt for a so-so property with a long, long commute to work, and risk not being outsourced (no chance!), or try something different.

Of course, one only takes on an endeavour such as moving abroad when one has an optimism for the future. And of course Australia has its good and bad points as does the UK. For us, maybe anywhere in the UK wll be racially more tolerant than Melbourne. But a commute from somewhere like Frankston South to CBS will, we think be okay, I won't have to put up with the stresses of my current job role to pay a mega-high mortgage. We want a second child and want space for them to grow. We feel we can integrate and have no problems our children doing so.

If it doesn't work, then as least we tried. We scratched that itch.

.......still, I'm drinking as much rioja as I can before I never see the stuff again!

Neil

flumper

Neil,

Mmm - know what you mean about high mortgages, the rat race etc even in Glasgow. Some days it could take me 45 mins to drive 7 miles - I would have been quicker walking (well maybe not!!). That is not to say Melbourne is any better by the sounds of it! My husband is a Plumber and I am a Credit Manager but fancy something different. The idea of being mortgage free is very appealling. Although having experienced the Melbourne weather changes its still heaps better than the West of Scotland!

Its good to be adventurous and try something different and you have the right attitude to make it work. Best of luck to you.

Is red wine not supposed to be good for you?.... in moderation!! We were trying to squeeze in a quick trip to Barcelona before we go but its not to be....shame! Having a break en route in Singapore (going with Emirates) and eventually landing in Melbourne on 14th May.

Bye for now
Nicola

wongstonn

Hi Nicola

I promise I do not live on the BE bulletin board, but at this evening I am filling in an inventory of personal effects ready for shipping, and frankly any distraction will do.

Wish I could go to Singapore, as does Pat. But with the in-law relatives in Hong Kong there is only one route to go, via HK. 'tis the nature of living away from ones loved ones. Besides, HK is an utterly fantastic place, and I'm getting an interview suit tailor made there. Will have a detour into Taiwan on route too. Will be landing in Melbourne on 15th May.

Don't chew your gum conspicuously in Singapore!

Neil