Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 51
Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Hi all,
I'm a 45yr old irish nurse with nearly 20yrs experience and planning to permanently move to new zealand with my husband and 2 kids. We are concerned about how the pension system works in NZ. Is it possible and /or advisable to transfer contributions to a NZ fund? Also nursing in the public system in Ireland is permanent (ie a job for life), is that also the case in NZ.
I also have income protection as part of my job here, which provides me with a salary if I was unable to work due to illness and also provides my husband with a death benefit should I die. This seems important to me as I am the main earner.
I'm also concerned about the job prospects for my husband as they are non existant in Ireland at the moment. He worked in IT years ago and has a degree in QS but he has been a house husband for several years looking after the kids and now they are getting older (10 and 11) would like to work (at anything within reason). Will he find a half decent job.
One of the areas mentioned re work is in Wellington. Would we be able to buy a nice house 3 bed within 30 mins of the city for about 400k. Also would a nurses salary (about 70k) be enough to have a decent lifestyle if other half was not working if we had no mortgage or a small mortgage. By small mortgage I mean 100k and by decent I mean normal (1 car, takeaways once a week, kids playing rugby, swimming activities, no champagne for us)
I know this is a lot of info to throw out there but any info would be very helpful.
I'm a 45yr old irish nurse with nearly 20yrs experience and planning to permanently move to new zealand with my husband and 2 kids. We are concerned about how the pension system works in NZ. Is it possible and /or advisable to transfer contributions to a NZ fund? Also nursing in the public system in Ireland is permanent (ie a job for life), is that also the case in NZ.
I also have income protection as part of my job here, which provides me with a salary if I was unable to work due to illness and also provides my husband with a death benefit should I die. This seems important to me as I am the main earner.
I'm also concerned about the job prospects for my husband as they are non existant in Ireland at the moment. He worked in IT years ago and has a degree in QS but he has been a house husband for several years looking after the kids and now they are getting older (10 and 11) would like to work (at anything within reason). Will he find a half decent job.
One of the areas mentioned re work is in Wellington. Would we be able to buy a nice house 3 bed within 30 mins of the city for about 400k. Also would a nurses salary (about 70k) be enough to have a decent lifestyle if other half was not working if we had no mortgage or a small mortgage. By small mortgage I mean 100k and by decent I mean normal (1 car, takeaways once a week, kids playing rugby, swimming activities, no champagne for us)
I know this is a lot of info to throw out there but any info would be very helpful.
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 218
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Hi, I dont contribute much nowadays to this forum but your post seemed relevant to my situation - I am in Auckland BTW so cant comment on house prices in Welly etc
Pensions etc, while folks may add their own experiences I would initially contact these folks http://www.broadbaseinternational.com/ they offer very good advice free from my experience.
I work in IT and have had UK roles as a Software Analyst/Network Engineer and Helpdesk tech over the years, came to NZ and had 3 years off as a house husband. Now work as a Systems Administrator and have had a few job offers that I have turned down - a nice position to be in as that never happened in Blighty. My point here being that even though I have not done the job that i do now before I was able to learn as I had an IT background and I generally find that, probably as there is less competition, that employers are likely to be quite willing to "take a punt" if you husband may not have the exact skill set they are after...
My Mrs is a Nurse and is on her third posting in 4 years, each one a setep up from the one before, having worked in Recovery in the UK for 10 years the ladder appears easier to climb here - again, maybe down to less competition ? A job for life - I would say so yes.
Income protection.. as readily available here as back in the UK , in fact all in all the whole feeling of NZ is very similar to the UK I find, the weather can be just as crabby but can also be loads better - still have to pay the bills and feed the kids - same S*** different Hemisphere :-) .. I personally would say that with a small mortgage that we could live on a Nurses salary yes.. all my money goes on our mortgage and we do exactly that, live on a nurses salary, its tight sometimes but it always was in Blighty, we have 2 lads too - one 13 and one 6..
Pensions etc, while folks may add their own experiences I would initially contact these folks http://www.broadbaseinternational.com/ they offer very good advice free from my experience.
I work in IT and have had UK roles as a Software Analyst/Network Engineer and Helpdesk tech over the years, came to NZ and had 3 years off as a house husband. Now work as a Systems Administrator and have had a few job offers that I have turned down - a nice position to be in as that never happened in Blighty. My point here being that even though I have not done the job that i do now before I was able to learn as I had an IT background and I generally find that, probably as there is less competition, that employers are likely to be quite willing to "take a punt" if you husband may not have the exact skill set they are after...
My Mrs is a Nurse and is on her third posting in 4 years, each one a setep up from the one before, having worked in Recovery in the UK for 10 years the ladder appears easier to climb here - again, maybe down to less competition ? A job for life - I would say so yes.
Income protection.. as readily available here as back in the UK , in fact all in all the whole feeling of NZ is very similar to the UK I find, the weather can be just as crabby but can also be loads better - still have to pay the bills and feed the kids - same S*** different Hemisphere :-) .. I personally would say that with a small mortgage that we could live on a Nurses salary yes.. all my money goes on our mortgage and we do exactly that, live on a nurses salary, its tight sometimes but it always was in Blighty, we have 2 lads too - one 13 and one 6..
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 51
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Hi, I dont contribute much nowadays to this forum but your post seemed relevant to my situation - I am in Auckland BTW so cant comment on house prices in Welly etc
Pensions etc, while folks may add their own experiences I would initially contact these folks http://www.broadbaseinternational.com/ they offer very good advice free from my experience.
I work in IT and have had UK roles as a Software Analyst/Network Engineer and Helpdesk tech over the years, came to NZ and had 3 years off as a house husband. Now work as a Systems Administrator and have had a few job offers that I have turned down - a nice position to be in as that never happened in Blighty. My point here being that even though I have not done the job that i do now before I was able to learn as I had an IT background and I generally find that, probably as there is less competition, that employers are likely to be quite willing to "take a punt" if you husband may not have the exact skill set they are after...
My Mrs is a Nurse and is on her third posting in 4 years, each one a setep up from the one before, having worked in Recovery in the UK for 10 years the ladder appears easier to climb here - again, maybe down to less competition ? A job for life - I would say so yes.
Income protection.. as readily available here as back in the UK , in fact all in all the whole feeling of NZ is very similar to the UK I find, the weather can be just as crabby but can also be loads better - still have to pay the bills and feed the kids - same S*** different Hemisphere :-) .. I personally would say that with a small mortgage that we could live on a Nurses salary yes.. all my money goes on our mortgage and we do exactly that, live on a nurses salary, its tight sometimes but it always was in Blighty, we have 2 lads too - one 13 and one 6..
Pensions etc, while folks may add their own experiences I would initially contact these folks http://www.broadbaseinternational.com/ they offer very good advice free from my experience.
I work in IT and have had UK roles as a Software Analyst/Network Engineer and Helpdesk tech over the years, came to NZ and had 3 years off as a house husband. Now work as a Systems Administrator and have had a few job offers that I have turned down - a nice position to be in as that never happened in Blighty. My point here being that even though I have not done the job that i do now before I was able to learn as I had an IT background and I generally find that, probably as there is less competition, that employers are likely to be quite willing to "take a punt" if you husband may not have the exact skill set they are after...
My Mrs is a Nurse and is on her third posting in 4 years, each one a setep up from the one before, having worked in Recovery in the UK for 10 years the ladder appears easier to climb here - again, maybe down to less competition ? A job for life - I would say so yes.
Income protection.. as readily available here as back in the UK , in fact all in all the whole feeling of NZ is very similar to the UK I find, the weather can be just as crabby but can also be loads better - still have to pay the bills and feed the kids - same S*** different Hemisphere :-) .. I personally would say that with a small mortgage that we could live on a Nurses salary yes.. all my money goes on our mortgage and we do exactly that, live on a nurses salary, its tight sometimes but it always was in Blighty, we have 2 lads too - one 13 and one 6..
We have posted here about a year ago when we had visas and a job offer in place but our house failed to sell and we had some issues with extended family that meant it just did'nt happen. We are now considering the move but it may mean we take a massive hit on our property (50% ish on what we payed) so we really want to be as sure as we can be so forgive us if we overlap a little on advice sought from a previos post.
Thanks again for your reply.
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 218
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Thanks for your reply, you seem to be in a very similar position in many ways we will be family wise/income wise etc so your input is great and thanks for your reply. Were actually in Ireland and our big motivation re the move is our kids, the outlook here is not great and while were reasonably comfortable here their prospects are very uncertain even though its 10 years away. Are you happy with the move from the point of view of your kids life/prospects in NZ.
We have posted here about a year ago when we had visas and a job offer in place but our house failed to sell and we had some issues with extended family that meant it just did'nt happen. We are now considering the move but it may mean we take a massive hit on our property (50% ish on what we payed) so we really want to be as sure as we can be so forgive us if we overlap a little on advice sought from a previos post.
Thanks again for your reply.
We have posted here about a year ago when we had visas and a job offer in place but our house failed to sell and we had some issues with extended family that meant it just did'nt happen. We are now considering the move but it may mean we take a massive hit on our property (50% ish on what we payed) so we really want to be as sure as we can be so forgive us if we overlap a little on advice sought from a previos post.
Thanks again for your reply.
As a side note, the financial situation here is obviously a lot rosier than in Euro land, but i have a hunch that within a few years it'll all turn on its head.. don't know what my opinion then will be .. see, still a little pessimistic ;-)
#5
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Hiya Brucey, I'm also an RN, living in Welly & been here 6 years. Will send you a PM
#6
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
I'm also concerned about the job prospects for my husband as they are non existant in Ireland at the moment. He worked in IT years ago and has a degree in QS but he has been a house husband for several years looking after the kids and now they are getting older (10 and 11) would like to work (at anything within reason). Will he find a half decent job.
One of the areas mentioned re work is in Wellington. Would we be able to buy a nice house 3 bed within 30 mins of the city for about 400k. Also would a nurses salary (about 70k) be enough to have a decent lifestyle if other half was not working if we had no mortgage or a small mortgage. By small mortgage I mean 100k and by decent I mean normal (1 car, takeaways once a week, kids playing rugby, swimming activities, no champagne for us)
I know this is a lot of info to throw out there but any info would be very helpful.
I know this is a lot of info to throw out there but any info would be very helpful.
#7
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Loads of pension options, leave it, move it here, move it somewhere else, TBH you should take professional advice on this aspect.
Of itself, no - ie I don't think it will be contracted - surprised it is in Ireland (or anywhere else these days tbh). Will there be a demand for nurses in NZ for the rest of your working life - probably, a growing population tends to need them.
You may need to pay for it if you can't negotiate it as part of your package, certainly my OH doesn't get it as part of hers.
Based on that amount of info, sorry, no idea - what is QS??? I've been in IT a long time but don't recognise that as an obvious IT acronym..."decent" jobs tend to require skills but not enough info to comment. Have a look on seek.co.nz at what is being advertised...
Sorry, Auckland based so can't comment on the Welly market, with that size of mortgage though $70k should be ok, we survived on less when we first came out.
Of itself, no - ie I don't think it will be contracted - surprised it is in Ireland (or anywhere else these days tbh). Will there be a demand for nurses in NZ for the rest of your working life - probably, a growing population tends to need them.
You may need to pay for it if you can't negotiate it as part of your package, certainly my OH doesn't get it as part of hers.
Based on that amount of info, sorry, no idea - what is QS??? I've been in IT a long time but don't recognise that as an obvious IT acronym..."decent" jobs tend to require skills but not enough info to comment. Have a look on seek.co.nz at what is being advertised...
Sorry, Auckland based so can't comment on the Welly market, with that size of mortgage though $70k should be ok, we survived on less when we first came out.
#9
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 13
Re: Nurse hoping to emigrate with family
Brucey...you have a PM