sallysimmons

It's not stopping us. The way I look at it we all have a limited time on this earth and no idea how long that limited time will actually be. If we sit it out waiting for a better economy, we may be dead before things turn around.

Sorry to be morbid, but these things do cross my mind.

Englishmum

You are absolutely right, SS.

I received a heartbreaking e-mail from Sydney on Monday morning from my best friend's mum. My best friend's dad - a lovely man whom has just turned 70 - had just been told by the oncologist that his lung cancer, which had spread to his liver - was terminal. All they can really now offer is palliative care and he wants to die at home.

My best friend lives here in New Jersey and opened up the e-mail with the news on her Blackberry whilst she was on her way into work in New York City. I was at aqua-aerobics and and was still wet with a towel round me when my mobile phone rang in the locker. It was my friend, asking if I could book her children onto her flight back to Sydney; she was crying her eyes out and couldn't make a booking at work. She had suddenly decided that she wanted her two eldest kids to see their grandad for one last time......

They flew out yesterday to Australia and landed about an hour ago. Her parents are due to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in late December and a big family reunion is planned in Hawaii for the Christmas holidays. However, at this stage no-one knows if he will survive until then or indeed be in any fit state to travel (and probably uninsurable for travel to the US or anywhere else).

In the e-mail from my friend's mum, she warned me to make the most of my time with my spouse and family and to make it 'quality time' - she said "eat, drink and be merry and bugger everything else".

PS: my friend's dad has never smoked, he was a headteacher and loves nothing more than being on the golf course - yet he's got lung cancer. My own father died of a massive heart attack at the age of 61, one of his brothers died of the same thing at 51. We just never know when our time will be up - so as far as I'm concerned I wouldn't wait until the global economy recovers before making major life changes....it could take decades and then be too late. I don't want to have to return to England in a coffin!



T

shelley748

Well we are both in our early 50's and have pretty much decided that we would be considered too old to employ in the UK, and are going to try and save as much as possible to pay off the CDN mortgage quicker, with a view to planning retirement back in UK in 7 years.

At that time we should be in a better position financially and won't need to rely on being employed to make ends meet.

It is very worrying though- needless to say if I won the lottery today -you wouldn't see me for dust!

Debbie2NZ

Englishmum - so sorry for your tragic news and the bereavemenst that have gone on in your family.

I think of it like this: my mum died when she was 62 (cancer, she smoked, still heartbroken when she went) my nan died when she was 67 (cancer, she smoked, all still heartbroken when she went). My kiwi husband's Dad died of a heart attack when he was 63, he was the right weight for his height, went classical dancing with his wife, enjoyed golf and gardening. The heart attack he died of was his third, i.e. his 2 heart attacks in previous years had weakened his heart. Don't know why he had cardiac problems. Historic smoking ? Who knows ?

So I want to LIVE. If that entails being in NZ for a number of years then so be it. There's no real logic behind that except for me telling myself to get on with it. I accept that we are now gambling with my husband's mother's life expectancy - she's now aged 76, living in NZ wears a hearing aid and has failing eyesight and my father's life expectancy, he's 69 and living in the UK. Smokes, drinks and pats his fat belly and says, 'it's paid for.' Go figure.

sallysimmons

My hero Steve Jobs said this:

For anyone who needs inspiration or just a pick-me-up, this video of the whole speech is amazing. It will change your perspective.

just_jenn

The economic situation did originally affect our plans to return. We'd planned to come back in March 2009 but postponed it because we were afraid of the job front at that point.

But then we had a baby and were tired of the constant expense and hardly ever seeing our child because we were working crazy hours, so I bit the bullet and decided now was as good a time as any I've been pleasantly surprised. I've been back about 8 weeks and have just completed the first week of a new, relatively high paid professional job--and I'm in an area where there are supposedly no jobs going so I consider myself very lucky!

brithampton

Thanks for all your replies and glad to hear that you are not to be deterred from returning home! This year has heaped a big pile of problems on us, but hopefully we can turn things around next year and then at least have more of a choice than we do currently. I'm with you on Steve Jobs' sentiment - when I read that it completely resonated and will spur me on to be where I truly want to.

Brigette

Agreed! I know I'm moving next year sometime around summer (prolly towards the end of summer) depending on how long HPC takes to assess my grad degree but once that is done...I'm heading home.

After two people died this week in their early forties (and no I' not talking about celebrities) it puts it into perspective. Life is too short. Of course I'm going to make the best plans I possible can...but I won't be deterred by global economic problems or the forecast of doom...

jemima55

This forum seems particularly topical in a week when the world (Or Europe) seems to be alternately going from bad to worse. News that I may hardly have noticed when I was at home in the UK seems very influential when I`m faced with a big decision like moving back. It makes me wonder whether the media likes to make a big drama of the situation. Are they only reporting part of the picture, or are we all truly going to hell in a handcart?

dunroving

Not all of us - the bankers are enjoying record pay rises and bonuses.

But yes, it is pretty serious. Even considering the "sky is falling" mentality of the UK media, the general picture I hear described by the more temperate commentators is quite bleak.

brits1

lol Oh I like that one

brits1

We have member of our extended family who works and lives 50/50 Germany + Russia he's a Banker and he says were doing okay in the UK compaired to the real situation that is going on in both of these countries, once again the UK is way to open with its press the French and German press are still glossing over their troubles and figures sounds great but hey its not real life and you can only hide your problems for so long.

Moggiemiss

The answer to this question has to be a yes! I will try and outline my situation.

I moved to Canada in 2008 on a skilled worker visa, aged 54, having gained early retirement from my professional occupation. I have no relatives in the UK but do have an elderly aunt and uncle over here and I had always wanted to live in Canada.

I was in the fortunate position of having a pension that I could survive on if I was unable to get a job

However, I was not able to sell my property in the UK (the market collapsed 2 weeks after I put my house on the market!). I took a mortgage out on my house to buy a property outright here and have rented out my UK house to cover the mortgage.

In the UK, I never had any problem getting work but over here it is a different story. I find my education, skills and experience are not valued by employers and now my age is starting to count against me. I did work as an admin assistant for 2 years which I thoroughly enjoyed but was laid off in April.

I would like to return to the UK but I need to find employment to pay for the costs of returning home (moved out with a cat and have added three rescue dogs). My original intention was to sell my house once the market picked up. I realise this is not likely by October 2013 when the mortgage term ends, so I have requested an extension to the mortgage term to keep my options open.

Friends from the UK who have visited me tell me that the cost of living is lower in Canada than in the UK, so if I return and am unable to find employment, then will I be able to manage on my pension? The UK Pensions Bill 2011 means I have to wait an additional 18 months till my state retirement pension.

Life is an adventure and I am so glad I was brave enough to try living in another country - Canada is a great place to live but it is much harder establishing yourself as an older person. I have had some wonderful experiences and am enjoying myself and will continue to do so whilst I am here, but I do miss my friends in England.

To sum up, the state of the global economy means that most of my capital is tied up in property, gaining employment is difficult which is necessary to fund a return to the UK, and the cost of living in England may be higher than in Canada .... however our life unfolds the way it is meant to unfold, so coming to Canada was absolutely the right decision for me and I have no regrets.

dunroving

Are you happy enough staying in Canada? It sounds as if it is a bit like the US - experience counts for less than "qualifications" (a degree and graduate education) - would that be accurate?

I think the fallout of the economic debacle (which, let's face it, originated in the housing bubble and probably has had its biggest effect on house values) has really hurt mobility of a lot of people. If you don't need to move, you can just "hunker down" - economise, shop around, be frugal. If you bought a house well before the bubble (and didn't repetitively remortgage to spend, spend, spend), the drop in value of your house is somewhat irrelevant - you can still sell and net a profit, and purchase another house that is similarly devalued. The recent housing crisis has exposed a fallacy - houses aren't money banks, they are big piles of bricks that can't be moved and if no-one will buy them, they are essentially worthless as assets (unless you can rent them out, of course, but even that is an income asset, not a capital asset).

But if you purchased at the wrong time, as a first-time buyer or with a small deposit, the house value drop just locks you in where you are. Except in the States (where it's possible in many states to just hand over the keys and absolve yourself of any debt), in many countries like the UK you are liable for any shortfall in the house sale price vs. the remaining mortgage.

It sounds like you have a realistic outlook on things and have a logical plan. I bought just before the crash (in 2007) and would take a loss if I sold up now.

Also sounds like you have a fatal attraction to rescue dogs! I only have one, who has followed me across the Atlantic three times. She limits my flexibility at times (I don't like to kennel her too much, and she doesn't take well to other people - too nervous), but having a trio of them means you will have lots of planning when you eventually come back - have you read any of the threads about bringing pets back on the QM2? Could be a viable option for you. And at least the new DEFRA regulations will make things easier.

Anyway, good luck with the long-term plans!

Moggiemiss

Hi Ping Pong
Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. You are quite right, in my experience, qualifications count less than experience, at least here in Thunder Bay which is a small city - it may be different in the larger cities. To get my admin job, I had to prune down my resume considerably!

Fortunately I did buy my house before the crash and so am not in a negative equity situation and fortunately, I have had the same tenants for 3 years, and by all accounts from the ex-neighbours as well as the letting agents, they are excellent. I have always maintained, a property has no value if no one wants to buy it!

I think my concern about selling, is that once it goes up for sale, the tenants may look for somewhere else to live, leaving the house standing empty for months with no rent to pay the mortgage. Of course this is the worst case scenario. The best case scenario would be if they bought it and you never know.

I had a lot of anxieties about brinigng my cat over. She was such a timid little thing, but she survived (I was the wreck stepping off the plane at this end) and has thrived. All my dogs are Heinz 57 varieties and medium sized. I have my Golden Girls, Bella (9) and Mollie (6) who were planned and then Max (3) who was not planned! He came direct from a family who were not quite truthful about why they were getting rid of him - he was not house trained and very highly strung but he is improving.

I think that it would be great to travel by sea with the animals rather than plane and would consider it.

We live in an unstable world; when I planned to come to Canada I thought it was unlikely I would return. For the first three months, I wanted to come back and then I settled down. This past few weeks I have felt unsettled again, so it may be just a phase, but I do think long-term, I would want to grow old in England rather than here

Good luck with your plans