UK economy comes to a standstill

harbinger13

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I feel exactly the same way.

Originally Posted by lostinrates
I love britain, and England, with a passion and I feel very English..


Sorry, I think Britain and Beer are acquired tastes.

MissMoneypenny

Generali wrote: »

Well unfortunately I don't really have anything in the way of savings (thanks to Mrs Generali not working for the past 4 years and having a pretty spotty employment record prior to that) but on the bright side I don't really have any debts either.

The plan is to go over there and give myself 3 months to get something senior in the world of finance. If that doesn't work (quite likely) then I'll go into IT instead.

Sydney is expensive. If it doesn't work out there, you could move to a cheaper area and still have a good life doing a more basic job.

My BIL was in the police in the UK, but he became a car salesman in Oz, with a police pension (but that is another story). My sister and her family went to Oz in 1999 with 30k. They took a 100% mortgage on a much bigger property than they had in Scotland (had lived in Kent before that) and their Oz property had 15 acres. Their Oz mortgage equated to 70k. By 2007, she had paid off the mortgage. The last of the mortgage being paid off by a subdivide. My sister is very careful not to waste money, but they still have a good life. They are off to Fiji for their holidays. Next year, they will come to England for a holiday.

One of the boys I grew up with went to Oz when he was 18, as one of the last of the £10 POMs. He has the sort of property with fields and ponies for his 4 children, that a fork lift truck repairer would never had got in the UK.

Taxes were higher than the UK when my sister went to Oz but now are much lower than the UK. I spoke to her yesterday and she was surprised by the level of taxes the UK has and amazed that people who worked, got top ups to their salary from welfare (Tax Credits) even if they didn't do a full weeks work.

She said that in Oz, only single parents can claim a welfare top up to their salary and they don't make that easy as a single parent would have to fill forms in every week, in order to claim. The benchmark for that welfare payment is low, as a single parent working as a full time cleaner, would be over the threshold to claim. She said that for anyone that is prepared to work to support themselves, Oz is a great country. She loves it and will never move back to England, even more so now she has heard how much taxes people pay to the welfare state.

Edited to say, just go and look on the Britishexpat list to see the problems people are having trying to sell their houses and get to Oz. Many are having to spend thousands to validate their visas, to extend their time before the visa runs out. Others are worried about negative equity. At least you don't have a property to sell Gen, and can just go to Oz.

Generali

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Are you thinking of emigrating for good, or going for a long visit?

For good I hope.

I had my medical today and as long as I don't have AIDS (I had a blood test for it and was ok'd by the Doc for the rest) then I should get my visa in a few weeks.

If anyone fancies a social/meetup then I'm up for it.

fc123

Generali wrote: »

For good I hope.

I had my medical today and as long as I don't have AIDS (I had a blood test for it and was ok'd by the Doc for the rest) then I should get my visa in a few weeks.

If anyone fancies a social/meetup then I'm up for it.

Sounds good...farewell bevy for Gen. :beer:
Who is the ''organiser'' on this board? You know, the one that can co-ordinate things? New thread? I'm rubbish at that sort of thing BTW.

Funny how things change in a 14 months (since I found this forum)

Gen off to Aus in a few weeks........

I really, really hope it all goes well.:D

Anyone else had big changes due (even partly) to this crunch?

Generali

fc123 wrote: »

Sounds good...farewell bevy for Gen. :beer:
Who is the ''organiser'' on this board? You know, the one that can co-ordinate things? New thread? I'm rubbish at that sort of thing BTW.

Funny how things change in a 14 months (since I found this forum)

Gen off to Aus in a few weeks........

I really, really hope it all goes well.:D

Anyone else had big changes due (even partly) to this crunch?

Well obviously there's poor old Mrs Lehman having lost both her sons.

A very good mate has lost his job in stock lending (facilitating short selling) with a big household name investment firm and there's nothing out there for him. His other half does well for himself but I think they'll struggle on one income. Thankfully they don't have kids.

It looks like Liverpool aren't going to be able to roll over their debt early next year so unless the club can be sold things might be looking pretty dicey for them.

lostinrates

Did someone say 'drink' ?


Generali, a friend from Aus (not Sydney) working in UK is returning early next summer, we are going fo a week's holiday together befor she goes. She was trying to convince me to go out there too- luring m with tales of what we could afford. FWIW the city law firms are full of NZers an Ozzies...a highly competitive field, so the education can't be so dreadful.

hethmar

Some people down the road from us went out to NZ for 2 years on a teaching exchange. They rented their place here. 18 months ago they came back and after a few months decided they couldnt live here any more - sold up (at peak price!) and back they all went to NZ.

They said life was so much better over there for their family and they bought a beautiful property near the sea with mountains as a back drop. Not bad for £150k.

My sister and bro in law have been looking at NZ too but their visa requirements are very strict. She reckons would be best to go to Aus and from Aus to NZ in their particular circumstances. They have both lived in Aus some time back for several years.

I am seriously considering doing the same - possibly taking a retirement visa in a couple of years time.

lostinrates

I'm eligable to live in NZ, its gorgeous, beautiful, outstanding, but I don't want to go. Its also a long way from everywhere else and I'd miss Europe. I think whether its right depnds a lot on your interests and other ommitments. I'd have a ball riding, but the arts, IMHO, are not as 'culturally rich'. If you had no children and wanted to remain there with not too much travel for a comfortable retirment with lot of walking, outdoor pursuits and fresh air it would be great.

As for conomy at a standstill just spoke to DH who is almost dropping from exhaustion with work, so stuff must be happening....

hethmar

That is the thing that holds me back - the lack of history/cultural interests.

Generali

hethmar wrote: »

That is the thing that holds me back - the lack of history/cultural interests.

Well they say the difference between Australia and a pot of yogurt is if you leave yogurt alone for 200 years it develops a culture of its own.

Actually that is something that concerns me, living in a country full of people that only ever talk about sport. I'll find a way round it. I always do.