JaneAS

Hi folks, part 3 of my questions:

Finances
13 Funds – how do we transfer funds to NZ? Do we open a bank account while in UK, or wait until we arrive?

14 UK Pensions – are these transferred to NZ equivalent? Or are they paid from the UK? Do they have to be cashed in while still in UK? Is there any equivalent to a state pension?

15 Are utility bills (water / electricity / gas / phone) generally paid direct from bank accounts (e.g direct debit / standing order), or paid by cash / cheque?

16 Do they have plenty of cash machines, or are funds generally drawn out of banks at the counter?

General working practices
20 In general, what are working hours like (IT industry)? Are they keen on working all hours (as in the UK)!

21 How straightforward is it to go contracting in NZ (currently contracting in UK)? How easy is it to set up a limited company – or is this not a requirement in NZ?

22 Is the general recommendation to try and get a permie job first, and then move on to contracting later? Or is the contract market not so good / difficult to break into?

Thanks,
JaneAS

babybella

Are you sure this is not a wind up!
If you are an IT contractor you must have some common sense!
Ok anyway, my hubby is also a contractor and yes you need to set up a company in NZ, very easy to do, believe it or not much the same way as you would do it in the UK. Do your self a favour and have a look at www.stuff.co.nz or jobnet.com has lots of jobs both permie and contract.
NZ drivers are not the worst in the western world, I think that title could be given to citizens of Napoli.
KAZ

uk+kiwi

You may be relieved to know that New Zealand is not a third world country (it is very similar to the UK from the aspects that you have questions about)and that whilst it can be difficult to know where to start with certain aspects of a new life overseas, you could answer the questions just by thinking about how you would do it/find out about it in the UK and go through the same process in NZ. eg when finding schools in the UK I did an internet search (or use the phone book) to find the location and results of schools, visited a few and made a choice. Using google.co.nz the same exact information would be found and personally I would make the decision in exactly the same way. Same for jobs. Are you overwhelmed? I would be with such a long list of questions!

You can of course also pick peoples brains on forums such as these - but please start with the useful threads at the top of the first page and virtually all of your questions will be answered. People are very helpful on here.

Anyhow, I'm still convinced you're not for real but hope the above is of some help.

JaneAS

Thanks, sorry to be a pain....

JaneAS

uk+kiwi

You're welcome. You're not a pain, I just thought the questions may not be genuine since I thought they would cause someone's head to explode wanting/needing to find out sooooo much information.

But welcome to the forum and for curiosity - how did you start on this project of considering a move to NZ? A very exciting time ahead for you no doubt.

JaneAS

Hi again.
Well, hubby has wanted to go since I first met him (20+ years ago), but we had family, were just starting out together, then had jobs and ties and so on. Over the past 5 years, our parents have all died, leaving just us and our little boy (and 6 moggies). We no longer have to stay in the UK (it would not have been fair or easy to leave elderly parents alone), and we will inherit a little bit of money from the sale of my mother-in-law-'s house. Hubby is now 53, so if we want to go, we need to go soon, before he hits the age limit.

He is very keen to use the funds from his mum's estate (she died last month) to take this as the opportunity to start a new life, and I am all for it. I'm fed up of busy towns, too many people, too much hassle here, and I long for more space and a little freedom. I've been told that for kids growing up in NZ, it is like it used to be in Britain 40 years ago, and I would rather our little'un had that chance, than stay here in the city overspill. We could consider moving to a more rural area, but then we have the problem of finding work. And lets face it, UK politics are not too good at the moment! Freedom of speech no longer exists. Our police don't inspire confidence. There were 4 gun-related crimes in Manchester - just last week - and we only live 20 miles away. We have no reason to stay any more.

So rather than hanging around, I'm researching like mad. I know that once we submit our EOI, we might get a decision in weeks, and I want to be ready!

Jane

uk+kiwi

Sorry to hear about your husband's mother. I hope he is coping okay with the loss. Best of luck with it all. I think you are right about bringing up children in NZ. The only thing to bear in mind is that 25% of university educated people brought up in NZ leave to work overseas. Read it today in the FreshStart report. NZ has the biggest brain drain of any country in the world.

So whilst I wouldn't make a decision today based on what might happen in 15 or so years, it is worth knowing. For me personally, I'm only interested in doing what's best for the next 10 years. Can't comprehend beyond that even though time flies by very quickly! Our eldest is 5 so hubbie & I have accepted that she won't want to spend much time with us in 10 years time so we should enjoy life to the max for this period and worry about longer term at some point in the future!! Interestingly, there are people on this forum who still think it's worth making the move with quite old teenagers who have/are about to finish school, so they also see the benefits.

Now I'm rattling...happy researching. I think you'd enjoy the Fresh Start report - pop down to WHSmith and pick up a copy. Carmen.

JaneAS

Thanks Carmen. I was thrilled to see the Fresh Start mag last week, and read it avidly. It worries me a little that hubby may be throwing all his energy into the move, as a way of not grieving for his mum? It's a hard time for us, but as he explained it to little'un (also 5 yrs old!), it's a gift to us from his parents (he was an only child, so inherits the house outright).

It's been a rough 5 years, apart from little'un. I'm hoping we can start to look forward to something.

Can I ask, are you in NZ now, or planning to move there?

Jane

uk+kiwi

Hi - No we're in the UK. My husband is a kiwi, originally from Auckland. We toyed with the idea of moving a couple of years ago but glad we didn't as with the benefit of hindsight the timing wasn't good from the perspective of the kids & working. Are considering it next year hence the trip down in December to see how the land lies with us now that we have children and want/need different things from life than we have taken & experienced from visits to NZ in the past.

Stripping wallpaper as we speak to get our 80's timewarp house (not our doing!) ready for sale if and when the need arises.

Carmen.