jasper123

Hello again Mallory,
The average U.S. social security is around $1,000 per month for a single person, but it all depends on your life time earnings,I know people over there that make far less then that like one only makes $750 p.m. and I know another single person that makes $1,450 p.m. and a lady same age as me who gets $1,300, so it really does differ a lot from one person to the next,
But you see this is what you have to consider, how would you like to say get the average of $1,000 out of that the government deduct your $140 for basic medicare, that will leave you with $860 as your actual monthly benefit, then the extra supplementary health insurance you have to pay for each month to make up the difference from what the medicare does not cover, so thats another $80 out of your check, then if you have regular prescriptions to pick up allow another $70 per month for that out of pocket,
and so you would be left with a whopping $710 p.m. for your S.S.
And thats pretty close to the British pension with no deductions, plus in England if one who is of retiring age and retired does not have at least £135 per week to live on there british pension will be made up to that amount, its called pension credit (means tested) certain restrictions apply, ---- having said all this ---- financially I still dont know which country one would be better off in

jasper123

Cheers ---- hell no that was a heavy duty drug called champix or champax OMG it started to make me feel soooo depressed I had to get off of it for my sanity people have actually committed suicide from the affects of that drug.
But yes pal Im gonna give it up ----- I cant seem to do it cold turkey, tried that too just recently, I may try the patch next time, I havent heard any bad side affects from that?
have you heard anything bad about the patch cheers? ---- or anybody?
Take care,
Rodney.

ldyinlv

I had 3 excess suitcases when I came over on BA, it was about $278 extra..Ive cut it down further to 2 large going back..its ridiculous to pay that much, you can buy alot of clothes at target for $278..lol

Jackie.

ldyinlv

Rodney, I quit 4 years ago using COMMIT LOZENGES, I dont know if they have them in the UK, but I am sure they must have something similar. They are good, every time you want a smoke just pop one in your mouth and let it disove slowly it releases a little nicoteen into your system. I started them with about 2 an hour..by the time I quit I was down to one a day..took me 2 months to quit, but when I did I was done..
Jackie

sallysimmons

I used the patch years ago and it was fantastic! No side effects at all. The only downside was the days I forgot to put it on in the morning and then went around biting everyone's head off until my husband would say 'um, did you forget your patch?' But the dosage tapers off so by the time I stopped using them, there was no side effect at all. That was 8 years ago and I wouldn't smoke now if you paid me lots of money. Never thought I'd say that.

I highly recommend them as a solution. They're not cheap but they're worth it. Could you get them on the NHS?

cheers

No, but I need a patch to curtail my appetite. Maybe a patch right across my mouth
Actually my Diabetes has something to do with my appetite I think.
Remember when our mothers use to have to coach us to clean up our plate?
That was the start of it.

OAT. The TV channels are full of this acquittal of the mother, in Florida, that they 'think murdered her 2 year old'

Anyhow I just caught something of the issue you have over there about this phone tapping. It brought out that the UK politicians are at the mercy of Rupert Murdock and his media empire.

ldyinlv

Council tax is added to rent..so if you rent a place for say 350 pounds, add about another 90 for tax..they just call it something different here but it is property tax!! and dont forget VAT is 20% now...all those things cost money, and you do pay it in taxes here in England...and there is talk about no more bus passes because is usually the elderly that ride buses and the bus companys are hurting with the price of gas now...which is about 8 dollars a gallon..

sallysimmons

Yes I know that council tax is the same as property tax, albeit much cheaper for me, but I am talking about pensioner's credits and rebates.

jasper123

Oh aries your stories bring tears to my eyes ---- if only I could say something magical over the internet to make you feel better? I must also say sorry that your post kind of got lost with all the upset that day, especially as all the upset was really my doing,
Well it certainly looks like you have made up your mind on coming back to your birth country, you do have a lot of anxiety and doubts though,

Im not quite sure what this outstanding FOI is at the hospital? what is that?

Anyway you still have a while to think this all through, I mean you havent even sold your house yet, so dont panic or worry yourself sick will you,
You say your not a brave person, ---- well its a well known fact you know that bravery comes in all forms, I think a lot of us on here who are scattered all over the world have felt what your feeling now, most of us you know who have already taken the trip over the pond have taken at least two years to think about there move (including myself) and we all think that we are pretty darn brave
before they just suddenly say oh hell lets go for it, give it a try and if it dont work out we can always hop on a plane back again but we all go through the doubts, shall I? ---- or should I just maybe wait another year, and what if this or what if that, so many things are going through our minds, and most of us are much like you who have been in there adopted country for all or most of there adult life,
So considering for that fact only obviously this is a HUGE move for all of us,

aries, ---- relax, take a great big breath, stop thinking so much --- it can drive us bananas you know too much thinking that is go out and treat yourself and a friend to lunch,
My thoughts are with you, take good care of yourself,
Rodney.

Beedubya

I am not sure if you can get them from the usual doctor's visit but I know for a fact if you join a Quit Smoking Clinic at your local health centre you can get the patches and the lozenges for the price of a prescription or in Rodney's case for free...........

SomersetGirl

Hi Wawa, Thanks for the good wishes!! Yes, we feeling lucky, although some sad feelings too, especially the goodbyes!

HSBC...has been a bit of hassle, but for the long term I think it will be worth it for us, as we will still be receiving Cdn pensions so will leave an account open with them in Canada and this way can transfer online to our account in the UK, either changing currency or not. How we did it.....we opened an Advance Account in Canada, with a Cdn $ checking, Cdn $ Savings, and a GBP Account. In order to get Advance status you need a total of $25,000 in the account. They will then open an account for you in the UK for $100, which you can link via the internet. Then you can exchange your currency online between your own accounts up to $25K. If its more than this you have to phone in and they will give you a rate. We just did this and they gave us a good rate, not quite as good as the currency exchange company, but the upside is there is no limit to the amount you can transfer. If you wire out to a currency exchange company there is a limit of $49K per day (set by the bank of course), so you have to hope the exchange rate stays low (of course we're transferring property sales so need quite a few transfers). Any transfer you do yourself online between Canada and the UK cost $7 and you can transfer up to $100K per day. If you transfer between accounts in Canada they are free.

If you need more help on this just let me know.

We are not shipping much, just personal stuff, no furniture....IKEA here I come!!

Beedubya

As always another great post by Rodney.

Yes HUGE changes are coming Aries, actually I just went out to dinner tonight with some work colleagues including my American head honcho boss who lives in London and he was talking about the huge cultural changes he and his family are going through. He is probably in his late 30's with a wife and 3 young kids and I thought "Wow you think YOU are going through cultural changes if only you knew about our little group on this part of the BE forum!!" And of course I mean the whole of MBTTUK not just the over 50's section...............

Soooo here is my take on it, although I don't feel like I did latterly in Australia where I was on the outside looking in, and although I do feel very English through and through, people will be having conversations say at work or my family and I haven't a clue what or who they are talking about as so many things have passed me by over the years............

And although I do love my family and I know they love me (my 2 sisters and my mum rushed to the hospital to visit me when I was taken in the other week) yet nobody has visited me once since I moved to this flat, which is exactly 2 months ago today, like Sally says they have all moved on in their lives and I wasn't there and I somehow have to slide in between the space in their lives.......not the other way around.

It is all going to take a while, I have only been back here in the UK not even 5 months, I think it will take a year before I feel really comfortable and in my own skin.

I do hope it works out well for you, do come on here and share your stuff anytime you feel like, it really does help you know, like free therapy.

Sometimes typing all this stuff out and posting it and looking at it in the next day or so helps to come to terms with the huge step we are taking or have taken.

I don't know what an FOI is, but it sounds like you have had a rough time of it with Medicare. I can think of only 3 people off the top of my head that have moved back here with no family to speak of, one is ED/Peigi in Scotland and the other is Anna in Malta (although she has a sister in the UK) and Rosie who does have family but lives on her own in Frome......maybe you could brainstorm these ladies and see if you can come up with some kind of plan.

Take care and as Rodney so rightly says, too much thinking drives you crazy!!

Beedubya

For those who are interested the whole London job for me has fallen through.

Big management changes, lots of things going on means it may never happen while I am still of working age.............

Que Sera Sera and all that hogwash LOL!

islandwoman120

Weeeel - at least it got you here without too much worry about work. And you were smart enough to look out for your own interests and not wait for 'them' to make up 'their' minds.

I guess you are supposed to be where you are.....

Beedubya

Exactly Rosie, I mean was I supposed to hang around until the year dot and live like a bag lady??

God helps those who help themselves springs to mind...........