lardyl

yep its all good in theory but what you don't often realise (or appreciate fully) when you are planning all this is that many of the safet nets are not here.
if you have a young family for example and the kids get sick there is often no grandma or aunty or best friend to take them and most of your friends are working and struggling too.
there is little sick leave which you have to accrue
there is no tax free allowance for low earners
there is GST (VAT) on everything
you have to pay for the dentist, the doctor, operations, prescriptions, etc
granted childcare is cheap but the actual baisc economics of it are often so bleak that not just are people making their own fun but they are living in the only way they can on the money they make

we live OK but that is because we are both very well qualified professionals - however not having disposable income and not saving anything for long periods of time seems rather worrying.....

love NZ and wouldn't go back unless we had to but that might turn out to be the final result.

good luck to all in their research and plans

Perry Groves

We are skint here, so won't be much change. The NHS has not impressed at times, and as for dentistry......I just wish there was a vote on here, those who are better or not better off let us know.

Psychopandy

Now that would be a whole other thread of its own eh?

BEVS

By that, do you mean solely financially?
As in less disposable income , less ability to save etc.

For the above, we are considerably worse off.

love30stm

in agreement with you Bev, the same!

Genesis

Hi, you bring up one of the most important issues there is in this emigration game...finances. I would not recommend to anyone to have a go unless they knew or atleast had a good idea of what's ahead money wise. Sometimes you can actually work out how you will fare before you leave. Other times even with the best calculations you find that after being here for a while like the OP that its not as easy as it may have looked to balance the books.

I am utterly amazed about what we get through each month, mind you i was equally amazed in the UK too. I think the only way you can really beat the finance thing is to be as mortgage free as possible. I personally don't find life here as expensive as some and we do not have a HUGE income, bearing in mind there's five of us I'd call our yearly income simply okay.

But its the most important caveat there is....money money money. Make sure you have enough to make it work. Being finacially stressed is one of the worst things outside of death that a family has to get through. Good post and very timely in these days of majorly crappy exchnge rates. I would not move to NZ if it meant I was on the bones of my arse...not suggesting the OP is by the way.

CAN2NZ

I read this thread today, and was sure I had seen the starting post before. I agree with so much that has been written. When emigrating you must have a good financial position. We have enjoyed the three years we have been here, but in total we are down in the region of almost $100,000 since we left to start here. That is a great deal of money. We will finish at the other end of life worse off to the tune of a seven figure number. It should work out for us in the end (assuming I find a replacement job now before our money runs out) though once my wife starts working.

I think someone put it right and it applies to any location you live in. You must have a profession. If you are a professional, you will do ok in any market place. Then it is only a relative comparison of how much you make and have left over in each spot, but you will have enough.

I like living here. I have been speaking with mom on the Skype and I don't think I would like the traffic at home at all.

Charismatic

I agree with you all.

The real quality of living here seems to have actually fallen since I first moved here six years ago. There is a good reason why, at any one time, almost 15% of the New Zealand population lives in Australia.

My advice to all immigrants would be to get yourself financially sorted out beforehand so you don't need to rely on an income here. I'm still optimistic about New Zealands future but not the immediate financial future. Real economic growth is glacial and the government have taken the same position the last took in an inert state on economic stimulation.

In my view (which probably discredits anything said after it) for an individual to live a reasonable lifestyle here with all the normal furnishing a professional would expect he or she would have to earn a six figure salary. I often wonder how normal folk with families cope.

lardyl

you know my answer - we are better off as a family and people but way off the mark financially.....................
the number of people I worked with and alongside in the UK who's marriages did not last was very worrying - it is likely that our family relationships would have taken some hammer over in UK but they also take a beating as immigrants - someone could look up the stats but I hear they are very bad for immigrants.....

P2L

My Dh earns an above average wage by Kiwi standards but struggle from payday to payday, to the point that I have now gone back to work fulltime, which has enhanced our situation considerably. Coupled with the fact we have a 15 year old and some great friends, I'm pretty lucky that I don't have to fork out for childcare.

However, compared to the UK we are still better off in the fact that we don't have credit cards or HP and only have a LARGE mortgage (as of next month ) as far as loans go, but even that is actually not any more than the rent we are currently paying on someone elses house.

The plus side is that we don't have to drive 3 hours a day to get to work, and the stress that goes with our jobs doesn't seem to overflow into our hometime unlike the UK and we both have great bosses who appreciate the importance of family.

Would I go back? Not any time soon. Would I have done things differently? YES! More money for a start and probably upgraded our qualifications and job positions BEFORE coming here. However that said, in the long term, all those things will still happen here if we stick at it.

Jan n Neil

Financially we are about the same I lost a lot of salary coming here but Jan gained the main thing here is we have a 20 commute instead of 3 hours plus we now have time for each other and have our weekends back. It is working out for us but it is definatly not an easy option

Neil

Budawang

I agree with this. I would only contemplate moving to NZ if I could buy a house outright - no (or minimal) mortgage.

What struck me in NZ is that it is dominated by foreign companies (mostly Australian) and it's very much a "branch office economy". On the other hand there are lots of small businesses - Kiwis are clearly an entrepreneurial lot. Where I see real potential for NZ is if the government can create the right environment for these small business to move into the big league. I was very surprised at the high quality of goods and services being provided by some of these small businesses, but they would need help to get over the export hurdle.

janek

I certainly hope there are not people out there whom would move to a country based on a film or a glossy brochure, we don't need those types of immigrants, and your idea of 'having a long hard think' is a very good one......

luvwelly

I think if you end up with the equivalent of the same disposable income or more then it can work out fine. A shorter commute is indeed an immeasurable quality of life gain for many people.
Good luck

janek

yes entrepreneurial is the key, that's where the future lies, a previous poster mentioned being a 'professional' which would put one into a higher income bracket, but if the person/immigrant is an entrepreneurial type then there is untold opportunity in this country, just ask all those Australians that have opened up here.
If you've got a good idea and you put 110% into it, things will go from strength to strength.