scrubbedexpat099

MJ is legal here but I sort of assumed it was mainly for the Tourists, not being something I am interested in but seems that the unofficial market price is significantly lower than the licensed price and of course was well entrenched.

My impression is that the big increase has been in sales to other States, you here about some big busts but no doubt that is a tiny part of the business. If you make a product legal at a low level then it is hardly going to be a top LEO priority to go after producers because of volume.

The people who seem to have been hit hard are the legal producers, they have the double whammy of increased costs and competition at a lower price. Amusingly they seem to be the ones complaining most and calling for more enforcement.

TexanScot

Whilst you can't entirely rule this out, the risks are so astonishingly small as to not be worth worrying about. I think I've only ever seen someone openly carrying a firearm once, and there just isn't any "gun violence in particular" outside of areas with gang activity and the drugs trade, and those areas are so well known that most people not involved have no reason to ever go there.

I'm not sure what "youth problem" you are talking about.

Most people who move to the US are going to be earning a higher salary than in the US, so you save as appropriate. If you lose your job before you secure Permanent Residency then you have your savings to fall back on and get you started again once you move back to the UK.

If you already have your Green Card then you do what anyone else does - file for unemployment and look for a new job, using your savings to tide you over. It's probably more of an issue in retirement as you grow older, but that's all the more reason to put as much away as you can during your working life.

I do miss the humor and the shared cultural references sometimes. My American friends will never know the joy of a roll and square sausage and Irn Bru, and I can never relate to their highschool experiences growing up. You can either accept it for what it is and embrace it, or throw yourself into your local ex-pat groups and try and recreate whatever it is that you're leaving behind.

Personally I moved here not only for the professional opportunity, but for the chance to get out of my comfort zone and give my life something of a reboot. There are things that I miss, but I wouldn't change my new life for the world. I pinch myself every time I get to visit NY or SF and realize that yes, it does look JUST like in the movies and yes, I really COULD just get on a flight and move there tomorrow. Not that I would do either of those things since I love life in Texas so much, but the point is that I could and that the magic and the joy of living hasn't worn off (and I don't think it ever will).

Unfortunately my mother passed away about a year after I moved to the US. When I was back in Scotland for the funeral it was nice to have the temporary comfort of the familiar, but I just couldn't shift the feeling that I wanted to go back home to Texas. It made me realize that the lives of my family and friends are going to go on just fine without me, and that the world was going to carry on turning just the way that it was.

It's hard to explain, but it just feel settled and at home here in way that I never really did in the UK.

TexanScot

The good thing about saving up a financial exit plan is that if and when you decide that the US is the place for you, that exit plan can be re-purposed into a nice down payment on a house.

I still pinch myself sometimes that I actually own a three bedroom detached house with a driveway, plus a front and back garden in one one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

There's no way in hell that I would ever have had the chance of owning something like this in the UK.

park99

I envy you. The ' I wanted to' attitude really makes a difference. I have been 'wanted to' but tinted with the worries.

park99

I am just curious now: does US government not offer any kind of welfare to people? What about those who lost their jobs? I have heard food vouchers, but is that all?

Yes I am definitely over thinking. And reading everyone's replies here has been helpful.

Bravo!

civilservant

It's important to note here that, unlike the UK, you are talking about several different 'governments' when you talk about it in the US.

The state you are in may well offer unemployment benefits if you lose your job, but these are likely to be short term and small payments, certainly not enough to live on in any meaningful sense. Food stamps generally are offered to people near/below the poverty line with children.

You average working age person in the US is entitled to little or nothing, state dependent. Not even healthcare in some states. As an example, GA does not offer any form of Medicaid to a working age male unless disabled.

park99

Thanks for the well reasoned facts and datas regarding crimes and accidents.

I guess when people talking about moving to other countries (as long as it's not a warzone), most likely they won't worry about guns and school shooting -- as these are in a way unique American problem. But strange enough, when we were travelling in US a few years ago, I never actually worried about this. Is this because who I am today is less adventurous or the mindset is totally different being a tourist vs living as a local?

Pulaski

States usually offer a few months (maybe 3-6 months, in the great recession of 2008-2012 that was bumped up several times, funded by the federal government, to as much as 24 months) of unemployment pay, but it is quite a modest amount, and designed to avoid you starving while looking for work.

As CS said the US has a different mentality, and the expectation is that you take care of yourself, rather than the government taking money from people who work to support those who can't be bothered to. People in the US are free to not work if they don't want to, but the US government isn't in the business of taking money from people who work to fund those that don't want to. I find that rather refreshing.

park99

Many of you mentioned 'exit plan'. Our thought for now is to give it two years. At the moment I can't picture us 'grow old' in US just yet.
Then the tricky part is, for these two experiment years, shall we just rent ? But then how does one fully experience real life with temporary rented home.... I know someone who have moved 3 years ago still kept their house back in UK just in case...

park99

What an adventure! Singapore - Sydney - US ! Do you find it gets easier after done it multiple times ?

Yes we are taking this with open mind and will see how it goes. Yes we do have kids and I will try my best to get involved in the school community, like I do here.
I guess I tend to think more on the negatives than the positives regarding US. Will take a more balanced look.

Pulaski

The cost of a round-trip buy & sell on a house in the US can be pretty crazy, close to 10% of the selling price is typical, so unless there is a high probability of you staying in one place for at least 5 years, renting is the financially logical decision. Add to the buy sell cost the ongoing cost of maintenance, US houses seem to perpetually need repairs that homes in the UK don't need - often for things that either homes in the UK don't have, like the AC system, or are totally different - like the roofing material, which on most US homes means a new roof typically every 15-20 years.

Keeping a home in the UK can lead to an horrific capital gains tax bill from Uncle Sam if you are tax resident in the US and don't sell within three years of moving out. …. I say horrific because you get taxed from the date you bought it, not from when you moved to the US, and there is no indexation allowance, …. and you may (depending on how exchange rates have moved since you took out the mortgage) also have to pay a capital gain on the part of the mortgage you are paying off with the proceeds of the sale!

Nutmegger

Absolutely. It may take you two years to figure out just where is the right place for you to live. Buying a house the second you move here, before you understand how things work and know for sure just what is appropriate for you, can result in big costly mistakes.

park99

Yes central America is very attractive to me. Have read many good things about Costa Rica, for example.
I completely agree with you on rock music - I am a fan.

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts on this! Glad to hear you enjoy your new life so much over in Texas.
Texas is not on the coast, so I am curious when you go visit Scotland, what route do you take? Scotland is special for me, it's so beautiful and I have met some nicest people from Scotland in where we live. I want to take family for another visit there.

''Personally I moved here not only for the professional opportunity, but for the chance to get out of my comfort zone and give my life something of a reboot. ''
I really like this part. It would be a bit unjustified for us to move if it's ONLY for my husband's profesional opportunity. I agree this could be a chance to experience a new lifestyle - s'th we haven't done for a long time.

scrubbedexpat099

There is a recession on its way and I am sure House prices will be hot so not a good time to buy.

steveq

Errm. Yes it is, it has an enormous chunk of Gulf coast, from Mexico border to Louisiana.....