mohogony

l agree with what another poster said both a very large countries so theres good and bad parts in both countries , if you carefully choose a nice place to live you could have a good life in either country,

Satch_Boogie

In regards to multiple citizenships, according to our very expensive lawyer it is allowed. Our children will be US, UK and Australian citizens if we choose to take up Australian citizenship. I have also spoken with the US, UK and Australian consulates and all back my lawyers position that it is allowed.

As far as my reasons for not wanting to raise my kids in the US, it comes down to many personal reasons that include health care in the US, education in the US and the mentality there. I left when I was 28 years old and I do not think it is a place I want my children to model the values of.

As far as work goes, my husband is also an IT professional and there is no such thing as job security anymore.

eva-usa

Thanks freinds .....thanks very much for all your inputs. I really appreciate it.

After reading all post on this thread , I feel OZ is much better for me than US. Few reasons are , I am 35 yrs now & need more of family , laid back life. I earned enough in US both in terms of money & stress & cant keep up with fast paced life here. Need a break ..... The most important thing for me at this stage of life is " My Family & peace of mind". Regardless of how good or bad US life is, I feel its really fast paced , more professional, lonely. The base of US culture is "Individualism" & sometimes its very ruthless. but thats just my opinion based on my personal experience in last 7 yrs.

But anyways , thanks for everyone for sharing their thoughts. You guys give boost to my decision of moving to Oz. Pluses & minuses are everywhere in the world in every country. You just gotta deal with it .....

Planning a job hunting trip in September ...will stay there for a month & if I get job then move my family from US to Oz I am confident I will get the job

Deancm

You pay a lot more tax in Australia than in the US and salaries for IT professionals are no where near comparable to the US.

WillBlack

The Misery score is the sum of the taxes shown in the colored bars, at the highest marginal percentage in each locale. It's our best proxy for evaluating whether policy attracts or repels capital and talent.
2009 Tax Misery & Reform Index

USA 115.4
UK 106.8
Aus 96.5

Forbes have published tax burden by country data. What this does not consider is debt burden. Both the USA and UK have a higher debt burden than Aus and that will affect future tax burdens.

There is some highly paid IT work in all 3 countries; globalization has resulted in leveling the differences.

bcworld

Actually if you look more closely you'll see it says USA 85.3

The bands also include corporate taxes.

For personal taxes only I would say the numbers are:

UK - 66
Aus - 66.5 (57.5 if you don't include 9% super contribution)
USA - 42.7

...then it doesn't take into account that super contributions are subject to further tax. All in all very simplistic study - doesn't consider things like the capping on contributions at certain income levels etc.

WillBlack

I think Forbes intended that ranking as "our best proxy for evaluating whether policy attracts or repels capital and talent". More useful for someone looking to walk away with the largest stash of cash. That corporate profits in Aus mostly end up as dividends carrying tax credits for the recipients, yet that does not show in Forbes' graph, indicates they have deliberately chosen a simplistic methodology.

Total tax burden comes closer to suggesting how the average individual will fare. Aus and USA close on that score.

At the individual level, much depends on how efficiently taxes are minimized. A person with a young family is hit squarely with many taxes but also with many deductions. A person in business can retain profits, for example, to minimize taxes.

sr71

I don't think IT salaries are that bad in Melb/Sydney - When you remove the exceptions like the City, Canary Wharf or New York etc then there isn't much in it.

The vast majority of IT permanents in the UK will be somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 pounds a year - matches up to Aus pretty well. Similarly in the States.

bcworld

Norway tops that list. It's not a country I associate with a lack of wealth.

...and as such, for someone trying to determine if they are financially better off in the USA, Australia or anywhere else, these bands are pretty meaningless.

WillBlack

You have twice missed the point. Twice I offered the suggestion "total tax burden" for you to explore. If you are interested, show some initiative; hopefully we'll all be a little better informed.

Deancm

Yes, spot on.

Deancm

Under the current exchange rate yes but that will not be the case forever. When the pound buys $2.5 - $3AUD it's a bit of a different story. It all depends on what you do in IT. Just network/infrastructure guys, programmers are generally ten a penny. However get SAP/Oracle implementation consultants (or other niche) and it becomes a different story. These guys earn much more in the UK/US.

aussietobe

Australia is a great country and offers a lot to children in particular! Enjoy!!

jimmyd4006

Wrong. My partner came to Australia from Greece in 1974, had no problems getting Australian Citizenship, and on last trip applied and got Greek passport. checked re Australian Citizenship before applying for Greek passport and absolutely no probelms.

Deancm

Yeah, your kids grow up into bogans!