Originally Posted by sonlymewalter (Post 9652317)

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

Ironically I normally advise to give it a go but in your case you've got a great support network family wise which with young kids is vital. I think you'd miss this as emigrating can be lonely till you make friends and even then, blood is thicker than water...takes a long time to find *real* friends who you can count on just like it took years in UK...

Tax..no different here so no reason to think it's easier...

Immigrants taking over...no different here in fact you'll be one of them if you come:blink:...difference being Aus is big enough to handle the extra whereas UK is overgrown, so I get that bit.....

Housing in Aus .....expensive here and no longer the cheap advantage it was bringing UK pounds over. The older houses in UK are generally made with proper stone and quality built whereas here they are generally quickly built, single brick. Lovely and big, spacious and different, but no better than UK.....

Your husbands job...sounds like he's doing well for himself in UK. Don't be one bit surprised if he comes over here and no one gives a damn how good he is or how qualified. It's a tough market out here at the moment and plenty of highly skilled people are unable to secure jobs and that includes those with Australian experience, never mind those without. For some reason no matter how much more experience people gain in UK, the Aussies don't give a shit. The recruitment market usually prefers Aussie experience over overseas experience and this has jolted a few immigrants thinking they are highly skilled and will be valued as such. Doesn't work this way here I'm afraid....more "who you know than what you know"....

Lifestyle for the kids....yep....I think (IMHO) Aus has far,far more to offer than UK overall. Personally speaking the UK is the arse end of the world and what was once a beutiful, positive, growing country is now overgrown and bankcrupt and is so far gone it's not funny. I had a fantastic lifestyle in UK and came to Aus for no other reason to try something different and for all it's faults (and it has many including the above) - it's been the best move ever. It's been very, very hard starting again - Aus is very different - but absolutly no regrets. Having said this we came when the exchange rate was much better and there was no recession...

So......personally speaking you don't look to have a good enough reason to move other than you fancy something different. If that's what you want then do it and be prepared for things to be hard as , but like I say the exchange rate and job market aint that good here right now so think about how this will affect you guys and emmigrating is not easy, especially with small kids and no support network...

Good luck whatever you decide as this will be your decision and what's best for you and your family which is what counts at the end of the day.

All the best mate:thumbup:

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl (Post 9653433)

I know nothing of the tax system in Oz but I do know that initial figures can be deceiving. One of the countries you mentioned on your list was the US. Income tax may appear to be less there than the US but there are lots of hidden taxes...sales tax (same in Canada only higher there you add 13% onto everything you buy including clothes). Depending where you live property taxes in the US are expensive...we pay around $20K per year...our house in the UK is around $2K per year. Utility bills are high in the US...including cell phone plans. Then there is healthcare...no NHS system here or cheap prescriptions. Medical bills are the no. 1 cause of bankrupcy in the US.

I've lived in the US for over 15 years and visit the UK often...the UK is still a great place to live. The things I miss most about the UK is family, friends, people understanding my sense of humour and the UK way of life...the life I took for granted for so many years.

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack (Post 9653480)

What does your hubby think?

A lot of words devoted to taxation and politics.

What do you actually want, and what is the real pull, or push?

Are you at a loose end?

Come because you know what you want and can achieve it, not for politics.

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9651970)

..we have a beautiful, brand new house opposite a field of cows (although there will eventually be 700 houses on it! ), my mother-in-law lives down the road and helps out a lot with the kids, my mum helps with my shopping on a Monday and I have a nice network of friends (not many, but quality is more important than quantity...). Thankfully (and I'm touching wood as I say this:fingerscrossed:) the only way in which the recession has hit us is that our bills have gone up (groceries, petrol (mine - Sean's is paid for by his company), utilities, insurance policies, etc.). My husband's line of work is such that (again, touching wood...) it shouldn't be affected by any cutbacks, and he really enjoys his new job (been there since Feb), and they've just opened an office in New York....

.:)

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9653490)

TBH I don't know what I want (nor my husband). We're both very indecisive and maybe we want / need someone to peer into our lives and tell us what to do for the best. We're both happy in our new house and with my husband's new job, and he really thinks he can go places with it (particularly if he passes a particular exam for which he's just started studying). He doesn't read the paper or watch the news (he says ignorance is bliss :huh:) but I do, and I think I'm at risk of talking myself into emigrating because of how easily-angered I get at the politics of this country (and Europe! Don't forget Europe!! :frown:). But like I said in another post (I think - could've been the Canada forum, come to think of it! :unsure:) neither of us thinks we'll stay in the UK forever, and we just want to do right by our kids, so even though we can close our eyes to what's happening around us (until the point where it lands on our doorstep), are we being selfish in not wanting to sacrifice our status quo for the possible future benefit of our children?

What do we want? We want the opportunity to work hard and earn a decent wage, in return for decent public services, a "UK citizens must come first" attitude, and a lack of intervention from Europe (had to add the Europe thing in again, lol). My husband wants to be able to afford a nice holiday (at the moment we can't because of the Euro), I would like to have a horse again one day, or at least one for my children (my last one got ran over and I've been out of the saddle for 11 years, although I've recently started up again thanks to the "Get Set Go Free" promotion on the back of Nestle cereal boxes! (yes, seriously). We would both like proper seasons, i.e. warm summers and cold, snowy winters. We would both like to live somewhere with beautiful scenery on our doorstep (ok so we have a field of cows, but it's got barbed wire so we can't access it!), a la Canada or Australia (not having to load the car up and drive 3 hours to the Peak District or seaside (where it's always cold, windy and full of chavs or stag dos).

However, I don't think I can stand the thought of moving down under whilst my parents are still alive (if it was Canada they'd probably visit...maybe). I'd never see them again :( Hence why a job secondment might be a possibility...

I think that, even if we decide that, somehow, the UK IS the best place to raise our kids, we'd still get itchy feet and like to try living elsewhere for a year or so, but to do that would have to be through Sean's work, as that's the only feasible way of doing a 'temporary' move, I think...

:thumbup:

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9653399)

Thanks, I'll try those. I think Australia's highest tax rate is 37% though, not 50% (or am I thinking of Canada?!).

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9653414)

I don't think we'd be affected by the benefits cut as it's unlikely we'd ever earn $111k unless I went back to work, and with 3x childcare to pay for I'm not going to do that unless I come out with some loose change at the end of the month! I think child benefit is for everyone in the UK, but you lose your child tax credits if you earn more than £43k (or something like that).

We lived in Melbourne for a few months back in 2004 and loved it, so it's a shame to think about the land surrounding it being built for houses... I hate that. I wish we could all go back to horses and carts and living off the land (I'm a simple person ;)) :D I also imagine you bump into a lot of backpackers around every corner in Oz (we were those people 7 years ago!), which of course isn't a problem unless you live next door to a hostel (having been a BPer I know how they like to party...:thumbup:).

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9653453)

private healthcare a la Obama

Originally Posted by seanyg (Post 9653403)

Ah, but Australia has so much more land to fill - we're just a wee dot in the ocean!:thumbsup:

Originally Posted by Seasider (Post 9653933)

I sense an ill-advised, had a few glasses of wine, rambly post that the OP's not now sure how to get out of. Maybe we should give her a break and move along :lol:

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 9653898)

Not sure what you mean by this...you know we don't have an NHS, right?