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Opportunity to move back to UK

Opportunity to move back to UK

Old Nov 3rd 2020, 12:12 am
  #16  
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Thanks, everyone...I'm still no further forward and have a time crunch now on deciding to move forward or not.
1. I don't like the idea of leaving our 22-year-old son behind (he's at uni in Toronto) and our married daughter is in Edmonton;
2. Our youngest would have to go back to start GCSEs;
3...the job is in East Anglia which wasn't the first choice;
4. It's a great job and probably last big career move and the pension is very good too (you have to contribute 14%, they match 20%),
5. We wouldn't be close to friends or family in the UK
6. All my friends and family say "stay put, it's grim here and its going to get worse"
So as the song goes..."should I stay or should I go?"
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Old Nov 3rd 2020, 12:58 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by ramram49
Thanks, everyone...I'm still no further forward and have a time crunch now on deciding to move forward or not.
1. I don't like the idea of leaving our 22-year-old son behind (he's at uni in Toronto) and our married daughter is in Edmonton;
2. Our youngest would have to go back to start GCSEs;
3...the job is in East Anglia which wasn't the first choice;
4. It's a great job and probably last big career move and the pension is very good too (you have to contribute 14%, they match 20%),
5. We wouldn't be close to friends or family in the UK
6. All my friends and family say "stay put, it's grim here and its going to get worse"
So as the song goes..."should I stay or should I go?"
Our of the 6 pros and cons you give above 4 are cons, 1 is pro (#4) and 1 is non commital (#2) So just by the numbers game you should stay in Canada.

You have been away from the UK for 11 years, I have been away for 20 years but I don't think the UK has changed that much.... there ARE more people living there, same litter bugs, fly tipping, higher taxes (especially housing ones), poorer weather compared to most places, jam packed roads, small houses, too much welfare state; on the other hand, wonderful countryside to enjoy, coastal walks, better food (certainly than the US), adjacent to Europe (even after Brexit), historical towns and villages, National Trust, Devon cream teas..........
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Old Nov 3rd 2020, 1:00 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by Jingsamichty



Life in the East? Love it, we really do. We are on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, 20 miles to Norwich and only 100 miles to London. Beautiful village, great scenery. But we are in the process of moving, although that has nothing to do with the area - our kids have left home and the house is far too big for just the 2 of us. I have a new project based out of Glasgow and all our extended family is in Scotland so we are moving back. But we've had our house in Norfolk for 20 years and I would have no problem staying here for the rest of my life, it's a great part of the world.

In summary - would I recommend leaving Edmonton for Norfolk/Suffolk? No doubt about it - but don't think about living in either Lowestoft or Great Yarmouth.

Happy to help further if I can.
Lucky old you.... love the Norfolk/Suffolk border area.....
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Old Nov 3rd 2020, 7:31 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by ramram49
Thanks, everyone...I'm still no further forward and have a time crunch now on deciding to move forward or not.
1. I don't like the idea of leaving our 22-year-old son behind (he's at uni in Toronto) and our married daughter is in Edmonton;
2. Our youngest would have to go back to start GCSEs;
3...the job is in East Anglia which wasn't the first choice;
4. It's a great job and probably last big career move and the pension is very good too (you have to contribute 14%, they match 20%),
5. We wouldn't be close to friends or family in the UK
6. All my friends and family say "stay put, it's grim here and its going to get worse"
So as the song goes..."should I stay or should I go?"

1. I presume at some point you decided to live on a different continent to your parents... it doesn't (have to)mean you'll never see them again, does it?!
2. How they feel about going to Uni in the UK?
3. East Anglia is lovely.
4. No brainer. A good career prospect at the moment is a thing to grab eagerly.
5. You'd be closer than you are now. I can drive to see family in Scotland in 7 hours.
6. If you've got a good opportunity, why is it going to be grim? The UK is an extremely comfortable place to live if you're not struggling.
7. You would not be living in Edmonton. In my book, that's the trump card!
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Old Nov 3rd 2020, 10:43 am
  #20  
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Interesting comments. I could reflect all those negative ones to how life in Canada has changed over the past 5 years. In BC we have a lot of fly tipping, even now on VI, litter bugs, super expensive and over priced real estate, insane taxes, congested roads, ridiculous food and liquor costs, outrageous housing and vehicle insurance, homeless and drugs everywhere, crime going through the roof and not to mention the annual wildfire smoke from the US and the constant threat of earthquakes. The weather is not that great either and politicians just as bad and corrupt as everywhere else. Its making parts of the UK look like paradise especially what's going on in California and other parts of the States! I guess those horrendous wildfires are still burning and the riots are continuing? To be fair if I had a choice I would move to Hawaii, preferable Maui but I can't so I wont.

P.S I do like San Diego and had a great time on vacation with my family.
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Old Nov 4th 2020, 4:34 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

At 22, your son is an adult. How does he feel about a move /
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Old Nov 4th 2020, 6:40 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by scot47
At 22, your son is an adult. How does he feel about a move /
OP says the two eldest children would be staying in Canada, it's only the 15 year old that would be moving.
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Old Nov 4th 2020, 9:43 pm
  #23  
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by Jingsamichty
Hi there. Bit late to this thread but hope I can contribute. We previously lived in Calgary, and came back to our house the UK (Norfolk) when our eldest was ready for high school (age 11). I then commuted between Fort Mac & Norfolk for several years, then I returned full-time to the UK and was working on offshore projects out of Lowestoft. (Sounds like you might be in the energy business too?)

As was mentioned upthread, Lowestoft itself is a bit down-at-heel, however, there are some nice parts e.g. Oulton Broad, and you don't have to go very far outside Lowestoft to find some beautiful villages that are a world away in lifestyle. Putting it bluntly, Lowestoft is a bit scabby, but much of Norfolk & Suffolk is very genteel. The beach at Lowestoft is amazing though.

We live in a nice village about 45 miles away from Lowestoft. It was about 45 minute commute by motorbike, or 1hr 15 mins by car.

Reality of life in the UK - We much prefer it to Canada. We always felt that living in Canada was like being permanently mildly anaesthetised. The UK is much more visceral and vibrant, even in sleepy old Norfolk & Suffolk!! COVID aside, the opportunities for travel from the UK are unbelievable compared to Alberta. Indeed, after my project in Lowestoft finished, I worked in Germany for 3 years, commuting by Ryanair from Stansted. Door-to-door in less time than it used to take me Fort Mac to Calgary!

Schooling... depends entirely exactly where you chose to live, and I would definitely NOT choose Lowestoft itself. There are some excellent schools around, a bit of research will give you a better idea. 15 years is not the ideal age to move though, they're well into their GCSEs at that stage. You'd need to take better advice by speaking to a few schools directly I think. But in general, we chose to put our kids through high school in the UK instead of Canada, and we don't regret it at all. Both now at University in the UK, and much more worldly-wise than if we'd stayed in Calgary.

Life in the East? Love it, we really do. We are on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, 20 miles to Norwich and only 100 miles to London. Beautiful village, great scenery. But we are in the process of moving, although that has nothing to do with the area - our kids have left home and the house is far too big for just the 2 of us. I have a new project based out of Glasgow and all our extended family is in Scotland so we are moving back. But we've had our house in Norfolk for 20 years and I would have no problem staying here for the rest of my life, it's a great part of the world.

In summary - would I recommend leaving Edmonton for Norfolk/Suffolk? No doubt about it - but don't think about living in either Lowestoft or Great Yarmouth.

Happy to help further if I can.
Hi, I have moved back to the UK June 2019 after 32yrs in Sydney. I am a single mum with 14yr old twins. The company I work for found me a transfer to the UK business giving me a soft landing at the tender age of 54. We came back to look after my 87yr old father and thank God we did with Covid now. That said I am finding it extremely difficult to adjust culturally and have many friends in Oz calling me each weekend which really is my social life. I come from Norfolk and my heart is there and now have a little cottage on the Broads which we escape to giving my father and I the space. I absolutely love Norfolk and Suffolk. The people are ‘what you see, is what you get’. Our home is in Windsor, The boys are finding school very different and say that the kids here don’t work as hard and ‘muck up’ in class more. I do love England but it has surprised me how much I am missing Sydney. I under estimated it but we are committed to staying until the boys finish yr 13 and after that we will make some decisions. Covid is making settling in extremely hard and has stopped us travelling, seeing family up and down the country and meeting people locally. I work over an hour away and that’s if the M25 is flowing ( when I have to go to the office). My concerns moving forward are medical as I get older, IHT making a mockery of all my hard work to date and perhaps not meeting someone to settle into retirement so I feel more settled here. Can’t believe I am saying all of this when it was my dream to ‘come home’!
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 4:12 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

“IHT making a mockery of all my hard work”. Do you mean your Dad’s hard work?
The first £325,000 of his estate will be tax-free. Everything over that threshold will be taxed at 40%.
If there’s a family home in Windsor - and you already have your cottage in Norfolk - you should be comfortably off.

Last edited by Helen1964; Nov 5th 2020 at 4:17 am.
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 7:49 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by Helen1964
“IHT making a mockery of all my hard work”. Do you mean your Dad’s hard work?
The first £325,000 of his estate will be tax-free. Everything over that threshold will be taxed at 40%.
If there’s a family home in Windsor - and you already have your cottage in Norfolk - you should be comfortably off.
If he had been married when his wife died then the IHT doubles to £650,000 plus IHT is not paid on any pension savings in SIPPs and similar DC pension plans. If he has a house when he dies then up to £500,000 of that also gets added to the allowance if it passes to his children, so for many widows and widowers the IHT tax free allowance is actually £1,000,000 plus SIPPs are passed on tax free.
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 9:58 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Yes, it's not a bad deal, is it, compared to many countries.
Don't know why people whine about it.
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 10:50 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by Helen1964
Yes, it's not a bad deal, is it, compared to many countries.
Don't know why people whine about it.
People just like to complain about taxes. You can also gift money to anyone and pay no taxes on the gift if you live another 7 years. (after 3 years the IHT tax rate starts dropping from 40% until after 7 it is zero).

You can also gift as much as you can afford out of income. Form IHT 403 even provides a nice spreadsheet where you can record income (from pensions, wages, dividends) and expenses you spent on income taxes and normal living, the excess is yours to give away free from future IHT.
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 11:08 am
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by durham_lad
People just like to complain ..........
Generally I've found Americans to be a lot more upbeat than the Brits, often when they have no reason to be. One of the things I'll need to prepare myself (and my wife who's not used to the negative nelly attitudes over there) before we return. People just like a good old moan!
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 3:43 pm
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

.....mostly about the weather. It's a British tradition!
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Old Nov 5th 2020, 6:31 pm
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Default Re: Opportunity to move back to UK

Originally Posted by ramram49
Thanks, everyone...I'm still no further forward and have a time crunch now on deciding to move forward or not.
1. I don't like the idea of leaving our 22-year-old son behind (he's at uni in Toronto) and our married daughter is in Edmonton;
2. Our youngest would have to go back to start GCSEs;
3...the job is in East Anglia which wasn't the first choice;
4. It's a great job and probably last big career move and the pension is very good too (you have to contribute 14%, they match 20%),
5. We wouldn't be close to friends or family in the UK
6. All my friends and family say "stay put, it's grim here and its going to get worse"
So as the song goes..."should I stay or should I go?"
Well I can understand your predicament! I have heard quite a few ppl say they are not happy living on VI.

Have you thought about moving to rural Ontario, like the places around Kingston for example- very pretty, not too far from Toronto Uni?
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