emigrating to USA and need help / advice

tincat

On Boxing Day, we emigrate to Connecticut, with a few days in Italy visiting family first. We arrive in USA on 31st December, so the kids can start school on 2nd Jan (poor things). My OH is already in the USA working and getting a house ready for us to live in.

I’m feeling very overwhelmed with all the things I have to do over the next 6 weeks to wind things down.

My list so far is in no particular order:

Inform
· Inform child trust funds – (do a/cs stay open?)
· Inform Life Insurance co- (I would like to keep paying)
· Inform HMRC and try to claim tax back – (Anyone know how much it will be? i.e. all the tax I have paid this year since April? My salary was £17k pa until August and then I reduced hours and it works out at £13k pa since September)
· Inform Child Benefit (how far in advance can I let them know and still claim up to the day we leave?)
· Organise paying voluntary NI contributions
· Inform ISA (stop monthly direct debit, but still keep account)
· Inform bank (keep account open)
· Inform Student Loans Company

Cancellations
· Virgin Media – (need to cancel tv / phone / broadband – any way of keeping email address?)
· Water
· Electricity
· Gas
· T-mobile – will still have 5 months to run on £18p/m contract. (ends May 2013)
· 3 phone –inclusive bundle, not under contract, must cancel (how far ahead as I want to use the phone up until the day we leave?)

Other stuff to do
· Try to sell items on ebay
· Get list of stuff we’re not taking, offer to family & friends for 2 / 3 weeks, then freecycle everything else after 15th December
· Clear house of junk / eat all food, and start putting stickers on everything that goes / stays (very overwhelming as we have a lot of stuff).
· Find out about taking spices, tea etc in container. (I know food is not allowed, but someone mentioned these would be, which would be useful.)
· Fill in relocation of household goods documents
· Go through old school books / artwork to cut out the good stuff to put in folders and ditch the rest.
· Get children’s school records
· Complete required school jabs (4 more to go in next month)
· Get car insurance history together – no claims bonus – etc

My questions

1. Am I missing obvious things?

2. Is it possible to contact 3 and T-mobile around 2 weeks in advance and ask them to cancel the contracts on 26th December? Our house gets packed up completely on 18th December, and from then on we will be nomadic / with family until 26th so will be difficult to do stuff like this, and as it’s Christmas, doubly so. I would like to use the phones until the day we leave.

I would love some advice on how to organise this over the next month or so. I am working until 14th December, so have to do most of this in the evenings and weekends. As well as feeling very stressed, I’m also anxious about getting the kids settled in in US.

Hopefully, when I have cancelled everything, the only things still coming off my bank account will be the Life insurance and NI contributions. I will hopefully have enough money to leave in the a/c to cover at least a year of this.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated. I know it is a boring thread.


ETA to add to list - adding as I think of them and this is prob the best place
Get medical records
Redirect post
cancel credit cards
get cat booked in to cattery over christmas - afterwards she'll live with my friend

Dunroamin

Get medical records for yourself and the children.

duchy

You can advise Virgin now and give them an end date (I think you can keep the email -I work for their direct competitor and we allow it so long as the account is in use and has mail going out from it-can't see they'd be different)
Speak to Life insurance now and find out the conditions of your specific policy -and your options -you may need to freeze it whilst not a UK resident
I'd ask your doctor for a full copy of the children's medical records -and possibly your own as they may be needed by the US medical health
insurance
School records I'd ask for now before Christmas madness descends on the school
Water, gas electric can all be done and give a forward date.

I'd make a list and although it'll look daunting you'll soon be ticking stuff off and every tick will make you feel better -so do all the can be done ahead of time ...or needs an answer first. Personally I'd take a day or afternoon off and plough through a load of them.

There's a lot of facebook groups now for local selling of furniture etc -no fees so cheaper than ebay and an easy local market. If you have an i-pad it's dead easy take photo -post to fb group through app-done.

Have you thought about how your kids are going to say goodbye to their friends ? Maybe a small party -just pizza nothing flash-maybe print some cards with their new address and the email for friends to keep in touch-would keeping in touch with their classes via a "letter from America" type thing where they keep in touch with a class letter about the differences in their new American life is something their class teachers (or brownies or scouts or whatever) would like to be involved with ?

puppypants

I feel exhausted just reading your post! Can't give any help but wish you all the best in your new adventure.
Need to go and have a lie down now XX

tincat

duchy wrote: »

Have you thought about how your kids are going to say goodbye to their friends ? Maybe a small party -just pizza nothing flash-maybe print some cards with their new address and the email for friends to keep in touch-would keeping in touch with their classes via a "letter from America" type thing where they keep in touch with a class letter about the differences in their new American life is something their class teachers (or brownies or scouts or whatever) would like to be involved with ?

Thanks - you've all given great advice - this especially. I am planning a Christmas party for them a couple of days before the furniture gets packed up. Your idea about giving contact details is great, as well as the letter idea. I'll email their teachers.

I will contact the clinic to get all our records - thanks Dunroamin

And I'll call VM / water / gas / elec tomorrow with a forward date. That will be a start

I've also got to add cancel credit cards onto the list. I'm thinking I might keep my nationwide credit card as it is paid off, but has £2000 credit limit, just for emergencies, and it's cheaper abroad.

My OH thinks I should cancel my life insurance and not bother with NI contributions.

He's going to be the main earner, and I will be able to work there, but where we will be may be difficult to find a job, so I think I ought to have some security for me (pension) and for the kids (life insurance which is in force until the youngest is 25 years old) as they are not his children.

Any opinions? It does mean somehow making sure I can put money in the account every year, but I do have an ISA here worth about £4000, that I could cash out if funds in the account get low. But I'd rather send money to my uk account from our joint account.

He thinks we should just have a savings account, and then I can open up a life insurance there.

However, I think £11 per month is pretty good for a £350000 payout if I peg in the next 14 - 15 years and if I 'lose' then I'll have had those years to build up savings as well for them :rotfl:

I'm now 7 years older than when I got that insurance, and that would prob make it a lot more expensive.

Dunroamin

tincat wrote: »

I've also got to add cancel credit cards onto the list. I'm thinking I might keep my nationwide credit card as it is paid off, but has £2000 credit limit, just for emergencies, and it's cheaper abroad.

My OH thinks I should cancel my life insurance and not bother with NI contributions.

He's going to be the main earner, and I will be able to work there, but where we will be may be difficult to find a job, so I think I ought to have some security for me (pension) and for the kids (life insurance which is in force until the youngest is 25 years old) as they are not his children.

Any opinions? It does mean somehow making sure I can put money in the account every year, but I do have an ISA here worth about £4000, that I could cash out if funds in the account get low. But I'd rather send money to my uk account from our joint account.

He thinks we should just have a savings account, and then I can open up a life insurance there.

However, I think £11 per month is pretty good for a £350000 payout if I peg in the next 14 - 15 years and if I 'lose' then I'll have had those years to build up savings as well for them :rotfl:

I'm now 7 years older than when I got that insurance, and that would prob make it a lot more expensive.

I'd certainly keep at least one UK credit card as you can't open one when you're abroad.

How many years' NICs do you already have, how old are you and is this a permanent move?

tincat

I've only got 7 years NI so far as I was living abroad from leaving school to 2004, and I'm mid - late 30's

The move is intended to be permanent, but if we don't like it then it will be at least for 3 - 5 years.

ETA: I only got registered on the system in 2005 when got first job.

ognum

Check with your school system exactly what they require to admit your children into school.

many schools will not admit children without a full vaccination programme and a certificate to prove this. The US system vaccinated at different times and has different vaccinations, you may need to get some more done here before you leave in order for your children to be admitted.

Get a good tax accountant, the US tax system operates on a different tax year to ours so it is very complicated to transfer. There are also many things you can claim against tax there that we can't here. If you donate any old clothes or toys to a charity get a receipt because those are tax deductible!! When we lived in the US in a rented property despite owning other homes in other countries we were given a first time buyer tax allowance as we didn't own a house in the US. you need a good accountant to work the system.

get several shipping quotes, they do vary a lot. Prepare a list of exactly what is in each box and number the boxes, take all your receipts for goods you own as customs may ask for these.

Dunroamin

tincat wrote: »

I've only got 7 years NI so far as I was living abroad from leaving school to 2004, and I'm mid - late 30's

The move is intended to be permanent, but if we don't like it then it will be at least for 3 - 5 years.

ETA: I only got registered on the system in 2005 when got first job.

Does this include the years from 16 to 18 that you get if you're in education and the credits you get when you're at home with children?

Don't forget that you only need 30 years now for a full pension.

tincat

ognum wrote: »

Check with your school system exactly what they require to admit your children into school.

many schools will not admit children without a full vaccination programme and a certificate to prove this. The US system vaccinated at different times and has different vaccinations, you may need to get some more done here before you leave in order for your children to be admitted.

I have done, and they had catch up jabs last month, will have more over the next few weeks - like pincushions poor things

Get a good tax accountant, the US tax system operates on a different tax year to ours so it is very complicated to transfer. There are also many things you can claim against tax there that we can't here. If you donate any old clothes or toys to a charity get a receipt because those are tax deductible!! When we lived in the US in a rented property despite owning other homes in other countries we were given a first time buyer tax allowance as we didn't own a house in the US. you need a good accountant to work the system.

Thank you, very useful to know

get several shipping quotes, they do vary a lot. Prepare a list of exactly what is in each box and number the boxes, take all your receipts for goods you own as customs may ask for these.

All our stuff is over a year old, so we have no receipts for them. We were told that we may get charged duty if they look brand new, but I don't think that will be a prob. Luckily the shipping is included in the relocation package so the company has booked a shipping co.

The list of things to take has to be so detailed - I've just printed off the Insurance doc checklist - It will take me hours I think.

tincat

Dunroamin wrote: »

Does this include the years from 16 to 18 that you get if you're in education and the credits you get when you're at home with children?

Don't forget that you only need 30 years now for a full pension.

Yes it does - I was at school overseas from age 16. I can do the 30 years if I don't have a break, which is why I don't want to stop the contributions.

My OH has been building his pension for about 10 odd years. We got married this year, but I signed a prenup that those years are protected, and from the date we got married I will get a 50% share.

He's very casual about money, and he thinks I worry too much, but even if we build a good pension and savings together, I would rather have something else to rely on if all goes belly up. We're on honeymoon and all that, but this is my second time around, and I lost my rose tinted specs on the first :rotfl:

I believe if I have a private pension and claim the public pension, I'll pay tax. What level would a pension have to be at before it's not worth paying into NI? (or is that a stupid question - is it always worth paying in?)