Steve_

No, I mean medicare only. If you pay into social security you will be eligible for social security payments when you are eligible regardless of the fact that, for example, you live abroad and were on a work permit in the US (although those payments will probably be taxed, depending on where you move to). However with medicare if you are on say, an E-2 visa, you could have been living and working in the US for decades and you will never be eligible for it, despite having paid medicare taxes (in fact paying both halves most likely as you are effectively self-employed).

Not only that, but on E-2 as soon as you retire you are no longer eligible for that visa and have to leave. Summary of benefits you are not eligible for as a non-immigrant alien.

There have been threads on here before along these lines. I could have stayed in the US on E-2 if I'd wanted to and I'd done nearly all the paperwork in preparation for applying for it, but I came to the conclusion that it made no sense, because if I moved to Canada:

(a) Income/payroll taxes contrary to popular US belief are actually lower in western Canada than in many if not most US jurisdictions (capital gains is a different story);
(b) You get something tangible for the taxes you are paying, such as healthcare;
(c) I was able to get LPR status immediately (your experience may vary as they've tightened up on it now).

Not only that but as it turned out the economy here turned out to be better and I would have taken a bath on the value of my house in the US when the market collapsed. I couldn't have predicted that though, it was mainly luck.

My advice to the OP is given that the state of the real estate market in the US would be to settle for buying a vacation home in California if they're dead set on doing it, spend the summer holidays there and Christmas. Being self-employed on an E visa or whatever in this economy let alone with a child who has a chronic condition doesn't make sense. Maybe when the economy improves, Obamacare kicks in and this long-promised immigration reform bill happens.

Steve_

Immediate family? Because sponsorship on an I-130 might be possible. (Although a US citizen sponsoring a sibling currently takes around 13 years).

Giantaxe

The reason I said social security and medicare is that you talked about paying FICA taxes in general, and only 2.8% of the 15.3% total is for Medicare. And of course, a ton of employed people also pay into Medicare and never see any benefit in return. But I take your point as to E-2/Medicare situation - as I mentioned before, I certainly wouldn't go down that road. Oh, and those social security payments are likely to be reduced by the windfall provision unless you contribute here for 30 or more years.

Steve_

I have to admit I do have a bit of a laugh at my social security statement when I get it, the cost of mailing out the cheque would probably be more than what they owe me. If you think the income from social security is bad, have a look at Canadian OAS - forty years of residency to get the full amount, which isn't much.

Social security is a regressive tax as well, i.e. the less you earn, the more you pay, because say you earn $200,000, you're paying the same amount as someone who earns $110,000, so proportionally the person who earns less is paying more.

Not as screwed up as CPP is here (similar idea but the cutoff is forty something thousand and you get much less from it) because at least you get something reasonable from Social Security if you qualify for the full amount, but still unfair.

I wonder sometimes if I could live off my British state pension, CPP and social security when I retire. That's a retirement plan I've never seen advertised.

charleygirl

As the mother of twin daughters with Lung disease I can only suggest you think very carefully about this. I know the air is better for her in Cail, but we would be in absolute poverty if it were not for the very good health Insurance my husband has and in the past 14 years literally thousands and thousands of dollars have been spent on their antibiotics and hospilisation alone, not counting all the nebulisers, inhalers and emergency room visits for pneumonia and pulmonologist visits. Seriously very very expensive.
Good luck in whatever you decide.