wildmark

Things are going OK, the boys have a aclimatized, the eldest is away at college, he's going out with a Mexican girl who is now going to college in Savanah, Georgia, 4 hours up the road from him, they have been going out for almost all the time we have been here, they say they are moving to California when they finish colleg in two years, I don't mind to much, her parents are wealthy!!!, he say her mum is the 'ice queen' and her father is 'willy wonka'...she's the CEO of Whirlpool in Mexico and the father is the President of Herchsy!! The youngest is having a whale of a time and plans to go to college to learn film production in the two years, the only concern is the middle son, hes...well the 'middle child', has no idea what he wants and does not seen to care!

Jill is doing well, she volunteers at an animal shelter and has to force herself to not bring home a truck full of cats!!!! they put down aprox 50 animals a week, when your pet gets picked up and they can't find the owner, unless its adopted it has a week!!!!

"Are we moving to Oz"? the answer has to be know, we would love to but with the kids ages and the distance, its not practical anymore we should have done it two years ago, the boys are 20, 17 and 15, apart from the middle child I don't think they would go and we can't leave them.

What are doing for the first time in our lives is putting serious thought into our pensions and retirment, were looking into topping up our UK pension as you have to 'put in' for 30 years to get it, plus we would qualify for a US pension, you only have to contribute for ten years, what you get is based on what you put in. We have a US private pension that were ramping up and also starting up our private UK pension..all in all we should be OK. Now the question is were to retire to..at the moment there are three options;

USA;
Pros: Close to the kids, were already here, green cards and all, no move.
Cons: Very high health cost, free health does not kick in until mid 60's, until then the older you get the more it costs, for decent health coverage we pay $900 per month and even at that you have to pay for loads of stuff! very very expensive to live here, very walm in summer, cannot go out (humidity), insurance is a rip off, car insurance ...three cars = $400 per month, house insurance = $380 per month and on and on!!!

Panama;
Pros: Very, very low cost to live there, even though its a third world country very safe, tropical climate, mountains, did I say very lost cost of living, everything is a third of what it costs here.
Cons: Distance from the kids, and the unknown..although thats never bothered us before.

Spain;
Pros: Climate, lower cost of living than US, moun tains, beaches, culture, I love Spain but never moved there because of the language, but were learning Spanish as a hobby, and our best freinds and neighbors are Porto Rican, so it would be nice to know what there saying about us
Cons: Distance from the kids...thats about it, Spain is the favorite at ther moment but its the kids thing!

I just realised I wrote war and peace, I could go on forever.

How are you guys coping, did you make the right decision ...I think I already know the answer to that.

Mark

wildmark

Hi Bryan, I included your response in the 'long post' Japans a long way to go to ski...holy crap! there no snowing here, its as flat as a pancake!!!

BM615

yeah - but - there may be no snow in Florida but it doesn't cost and arm and a leg to fly to the US ski resorts!

Why on earth is insurance so high? Is it cos there's so many robbers around? We think it's high here (compared to the UK) we pay about $600 a year per vehicle and about $3k for the house and contents.

wildmark

Its expensive because there are so many people scamming the insurance companies, plus every few years a hurracaine goes thru and cause a lot of damage.

foxychic

Hey guys, was just thinking about everyone the other day - good to have a brief catchup. We are still here in oz, business going ok, feel like we want to do something else now,but can't decide what!

Have become citizens this year - which was great. Kids are really settled, the boys are into BMX so we have seen a fair bit of Oz but travelling around to that, just came back from Cairns, was fab up there!

Glad we made the move? Yes. Are we here forever? Don't really know!

Take care all

rammygirl

Well we are STILL awaiting 163 visa over 20 months now as caught up in backlog.

All done and meds in Sydney so should be any day now.........................

Alan Collett

Quite possibly will be a July 2011 grant, as I believe the business skills program is now substantially filled for 2010/11.

Best regards.

rammygirl

Hi Alan

I was wondering if this would be the case, our meds were only received in Sydney on 6th June though and not heard anything since.

Thanks for the info.

mel

rammygirl

Well blow me down...................visa granted this morning!!

First entry by 23rd May 2012.

Alan Collett

Fantastic! Many congratulations!

wildmark

Wow...its this thread!!!

BM615

congratulations

Lisa and Martin

Just wondered if any of you lovely 163ers could recommend a company for private health cover for a temporary resident with reciprocal Medicare cover. I have just had a baby in a private hospital with no health insurance. I am now poor in bank balance and rich in love but thought I should check out the options before I even consider making a little brother or sister for my new bubba.

Also, we are hoping to apply for PR in January, does anyone know what the current timescale is for an 890 or an 892?

julesandco

Have you had a look at iselect? They compare all the health care providers and you can take your pick.

Love to the new bubba xx

Carbery

Our 890 was processed in about 3 months(over 2 years ago). Good luck..