sometimes its the nerves, the what if's - but my thinking is 'you never know, till you give it a go'

Post #15 has provided good information to you from what he knows, because he lives there.

Another option for your consideration

I see a business opportunity from the real estate on Bute, small as it may be, depending on how much cash you have, or want to invest - consider rather than 'boat rentals' what about being a landlord?

Buy one or two apartments at £50k each rented out for £600/mth . Simply live in one, rent the others & you could leverage quite nicely with just two of them to get a third for income on number 2 & 3 for an income or cash flow. No seasonality required. ...Just saying....

3 bedroom flat for sale in 6, Watergate, Second Floor, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, PA209AB, PA20

compared to the boat hire business,

http://www.daltonsbusiness.com/boat-...cotland/364713

which you really don't know what the revenue, net return on investment is, or why the current owner is selling. As an outsider, are you familiar with this type of business in this location?

What are the running costs, repairs, seasonality, taxes etc ?

I know which one of the two (real estate vs Boat rental) I would be the business owner of



.

I'd bet the 'Marquess' owns a few of the cheaper properties & rents them out

If someone has a few pounds, there are a few bargains for sure - either buy to live, or buy to let for income ...

1 bedroom property for sale in FREEHOLD <br> Current Yield 22.87 % <br> Tenanted <br>, PA20

Actually, it is impossible to tell from the sale particulars whether this is a bargain or not. The advertised 'yield' is also described as 'potential' and clearly depends on how much has to be spent on top of the purchase price.

Agree with you on all points & it would be no different than 'buy to let' or purchasing something for yourself to live in at whatever price

The point of my last few posts was to discuss the OP's question of returning to the UK at over age 60 on what he would work at & his mention of a 'boat business' with my comparison to buy to let.

Depends on the individual, what interests them, the work or business, down to a hobby

Detached house for sale in Haigh Park Road, Leeds
100 Sq Ft
Secured Tenancy
Current Rental Yield 14% , LS10

Find property for sale from Pegasus Estate Agency, National .

.

The claimed yields on these properties beg the question about why, since they are so profitable, they are being sold at all, or at such a relatively low price. Any sensible potential buyer will smell a rat.

For the OP, on Bute home page 'move to Bute' in the following link at the bottom of the page you'll find links to two local property agents on the island

From what I saw these are more realistic to what scot47 mentioned with regard to property prices

Visit Bute | Move to Bute

Many thanks
I would love to retire to a remote Scottish island... but I need to find work, and so that comes first... so next a scout around the jobs-on-Bute site... Assistant Harbour Master and Postman spotted so far!

you'd mentioned previously about going into business, if that's not doable & if you have spare cash, what about a being a landlord owner of a rental property for extra income & then maybe working at whatever job for minimum wage.

Just in case & in the event of - there is always pension credit, which right now is at age 62

Who can claim Pension Credit | Age UK

at 60 i would likely be chasing the Pension Credit for 5+ years as the age limit grows annually. born just too late.
Plus need to keep savings for wife's visa application, so can't utilse that, but it will be taken into account when making any such claims. It all a catch 22 situation.
I have been looking for a business for sale there and not spotted any yet... just have to wait.
The whole exercise is getting so much of a struggle for a genuine person trying to do everything the correct way. It's putting me off coming back if it is going to be so difficult. I can't see why so many people want to get into the UK by whatever means... what's the attraction ?.

p.s.
answer re pension credit... c/o uk.gov
You may not be eligible for savings credit if you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016..... i reach it on 17 April 2016 :-(

Pension Credit is of two types - Savings Credit and Guarantee Credit. These are means-tested benefits.
The Isle of Bute is hardly "remote". Two hours from central Glasgow by train and ferry. This is ot St Kilda or Benbecula. Some people commute from here to Greenock, Paisley or Glasgow. I would not advise that. Jobs are hard to find on the island.

On that point, so why bother at all trying to get back to the UK? You could stay put where you're at or try to find a more hospitable place?

Getting to the UK & saving a few bob or two, the other option for you is going the inexpensive surinder singh route through Malta, or maybe move to Malta as an British (EU) citizen that allows you to take your non EU spouse in under EU treaty rights, no cost, visa free.

That's precisely the question i asked in the original posting... I wanted to know if people who had moved back felt it was worth it coming home... or felt it had been a mistake. However i didnt get much response to that question.
Having grown up in Malta I have been looking at that route as well, but it's easy for a young fit person to hop from country to country and get any sort of work, although when you get too young to retire, too old to get work and are far less mobile due to past surgery, and married to a nonEU wife, you end up trapped.

and regarding Bute.. i dint mean Bute was remote.. far from it - Wick is more "remote".
I meant that, at my age I need to find the job first as likely not the first choice of candidate... than find a way of living nearby as I cant walk very far any more.
By "remote"; I meant I wouldn't mind living miles from the mainstream, just as long as I could work to survive and afford somewhere to live. Simple self sufficient live is enough.

[QUOTE=meinkl;11770577]That's precisely the question i asked in the original posting... I wanted to know if people who had moved back felt it was worth it coming home... or felt it had been a mistake. However i didnt get much response to that question.
QUOTE]

Not everyone wants to write of their personal experiences, and those who have probably don't want to type it all out again. I know I wouldn't. See the Back Home section of the Moving Back to the UK forum.

Lets suppose for the minute that at age 60 you plan on moving to UK with just enough for a down payment on an average house, but you are unable find work that pays enough to support you & your family?.

Then you likely wouldn't want to or make that move back for the reason of age, not being able to fully support yourselves, housing costs etc

Suppose you are now at UK state pension age, that you have the maximum NIC contributions, for that pension, as well as qualify for some of the means tested benefits, Pension credits, Attendance Allowance or housing benefit.

Then you know the social network will work for you, - only that doing it between whatever age you move back before state pension age, its always going to be about having enough income or finding work that could be the problem.

With your skills, experience or qualifications are they transferable to the UK?

Are there job opportunities or openings in your line of work or do you believe an employer would take you on for the short five or so years till you reach pension age?

As for Malta, many ex pat Brits living there, full healthcare coverage for them & non EU spouses, UK indexed state pension A nice furnish 2 bedroom apartment for less than 600 euro/mth (see the Malta thread)

On the basis that you have a bit of money, Malta may be a choice for you in retirement because of the climate & low cost of living?

As it stands today [only you know this] my guess is that you have some money for the 'family of a settled person application' 62,500 or that you need to go back to the UK first & find work that pays 18,600 for a 6 month period so you can sponsor & bring your non EU wife in?

The other option discussed is the treaty rights through one of the EU countries.

It doesn't really matter what other people feel, because it's what you feel and we're all different. Somebody who hated the UK before, will also hate it today, so there's no point listening. There are plenty of people who just leave the UK for a so called better climate, so anything below 30 degrees will be crap. People expecting the same Britain they had 50 years ago will also be upset, because life has changed everywhere. You can now live in the most remote place and thanks to the internet, you'll find out that somebody got mugged in Scunthorpe last Saturday. It was probably no different 50 years ago, but now we hear and see everything. I suppose we just have to change our way of thinking and say it's actually good that we know somebody got mugged 500 km's away. In other countries it would not even make the headlines and you'd only hear of a killing if it was in your village.