Genesis

I don't blame you with the 2 for 1 bench mark. It is my utter minimum now, if it stays below that the money stays in the UK.

You never know what is round the corner (especially with forex) and they always have said about the kiwi that it goes up in value by the stairs and falls in the express elevator!! It is a very fickle, unbalanced and overpriced article and we will just see what the markets and general confidence do to its value in the coming months.

Genesis

Neither do I....2 for 1 even seems a long way off these days.

Snap Shot

I saw the NZD could buy 55pence a couple of days ago. . That's better than the 50pence it was buying when we turned up in NZ nearly 2 years ago. Hope it's that good should we ever sell up and return to the UK.

Genesis

UK loses its triple A credit rating. The markets were anticipating it apparently but it may still have an effect on the already beaten up GBP.

BEVS

Ah! Rolfie. Tough is that. Very tough .

BLINZ

More than a bit depressed about the exchange rate. Awaiting approval of investor type 2 visa - hopefully within next couple of weeks. Have only 1 year after approval to transfer funds to NZ but if exchange rate doesn't improve might not even meet the required minimum NZD entry level. Have already spent a small fortune to obtain visa and might just fall at the last hurdle!

j19fmm

Just had this from the Currency exchange bods..

"Early trading today has seen the GBP NZD exchange rate break down to a new multi-decade low for the fourth week in succession. The downside move to a new interim floor at 1.8019 this morning was driven by Friday night's announcement by leading credit rating agency Moody's that it was downgrading the UK's sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA1. The new 'lower low' confirms the strong downtrend which has been in place for the pair since the 11th February, when GBP NZD was trading at close to 1.9000."

And we thought 1.9 was bad then!

trafford

Maybe it is just the UK weather making things feel worse, but the currency situation is not helping my mood! You wonder whether you should just stick it out in the UK - and whether life is so bad here. We have a lovely house and a good income (though the stresses and insecurity of running the business for 13years are two of the reasons we want to leave) but we just wanted a change and a return home. I always said I would never "run away" but always "run to" something. But the bad news you read on the forum makes you wonder what we are doing! Maybe we would be jumping from the proverbial frying pan. I should count my blessings - lots are worse off and many of us on this forum have choices some people don't have.

whitesand

I think you've talking a lot of sense. Sometimes we can become blinded by the fear of 'not doing' something that it can cloud our senses. Since I came back from overseas a few months ago, I am missing the small things that were available there that are not here. Things like choice of food at a reasonable price, good quality newspapers, good inexpensive clothes. The small thilngs are the things that eventually help you decide what you want in life, I believe.

I think that the NZ experience now is one which is expensive and not worth it for many. The exchange rate is crazy, jobs are not that easily available and the cost of living is dreadful. As for the 'beach culture'- I find that kind of strange as there are far better beaches and warmer climates much nearer Europe.

trafford

whitesand - it is good to hear from someone who is there and has returned. In the cold light of day when the novelty wears off you are able to see the reality rather than the rose tinted glasses that I fear I am seeing NZ through. Still - its hard to give up the idea. It's what has got me through some tough times lately - my "plan B" or more likely - "escape hatch"

Assanah

Agreed. It is really important that one is clear about the own motivation. In my case I wasn't. I was stressed out and fed up with life in Germany and left. However, now I think I just should have taken 6 months leave and travel around the world because NZ is really not my dream country at all and life here is stressful too.
I recently read a study (not sure how scientific it was). It said that a majority of older Germans who are living in NZ for a long time would love to move back to Europe and their attitude towards life is best described as 'feeling trapped'. So the dream of the paradise being somewhere else sometimes never ends....

TommyLuck

This may rattle a few cages. But, here goes;

Surely a key factor in emigrating avoiding a situation where you're putting yourself in a position whereby you will feel 'trapped'. This could happen anywhere you don't call home.

As NZ is a case in point on this occasion;

A. Few people move to NZ to make money. Perhaps Ch'ch has changed this for the construction industry.

B. Of all places, it shouldn't be a surprise that NZ is remote and therefore somewhere where one could feel 'trapped'.


I'm not being funny, but there was no way I was going to commit to going to NZ without a get out plan.

Genesis

So, so, so true. It was on the radio last night that folk reckon (kiwis now, not whinging gits from the Uk like me) that NZ has taken a BIG hit in respect to the quality of life in the last 10 years. It ain't what it was...no way. Been here 8 years and it is on its head. Would I move from the UK now to NZ?? Not on your nelly.

Genesis

TBH mate I think you are right about sticking where you are for now, whilst things hopefully improve in the near future. The currency thing has gotten stupid. I certainly would not move now with it the way it is re forex.

As for all the negative stuff it is real and NZ has many positive points as well as negative ones. We need to make sure the positive basket outweighs the negative one eh?

But if someone is happy (where they are currently) and does not feel a blistering urge to move away from the UK and you have a good standard of living why do it now at such a parlous rate??

It is beyond me why anyone would change up a large amount now other than those who are totally and utterly committed in one way or another. I know you only live once and life is short but there is no point in buying something (the kiwi$) that is madly overpriced and will more than likely in the next year or so take a fall.

trafford

People are very bad at anticipating what will make them happy at some time in the future. We tend to project our present feelings forward in time, and this is usually a mistake. I know this at an intellectual level, but on an emotional level I can't seem to find an alternative!

However, having choices doesn't necessarily mean greater happiness. If you want to buy a laptop and you have a choice of two, then the decision is fairly easy and you go home fairly confident you made the right choice, and happy with your product. If you have a choice of 20, the decision is much more difficult, you may go home wondering if you made the right choice and be less satisfied with the product.

When we arrived in the UK 15 years ago, we were so broke we had no choice but to tough it out. And things got better over the years. Now we are awash with choices and have so much more than we arrived with. We would have a comfortable life in NZ. A move will certainly be less difficult this time. So why is the decision to go back to NZ so hard? Having an escape plan, or choices, can sometimes make things worse.