advertisement


Living in the US

Sean, that is part of the plan, as best as can be. And with regards to some of my comments too, I have no axe to grind at all, nor am I unthankful one bit, even if it may sound that way. I do have much to be thankful for living where I do, I have never been out of work, and while I haven’t made top dollar figures, I have been able to be comfortable and have a few nice things. We all find our way, one way or another and make the best of it as we go.

As you said though, as you get older, the kids, the mortgage, health care etc., does put one on a slippery slope. My job is always a somewhat precarious one, as I constantly feel squeezed and pushed(maybe on the way out?). The rat race/grind becomes hard and the games too many. Survival is the game. And thanks for the well wishes, best to you and yours as well!
 
I lived in Canada for the 90''s and loved it most of the time. No matter where you live you'll complain about somethings. I had the chance to move to Northern California in about 93 and wish I had, even just the experience. The health system/costs are the biggest issue as you are aware but a lot of people go for jobs that include medical cover. I don't regret going and look on it as having done something different and not regretting having not done it later. Meet some new people and see some different places. What's the worst thing can happen is you come back sometime. Go and enjoy.
 
Thank you all very much for sharing your experiences. I saves me alot of headaches to figure these things myself. I am going to the US soon to talk to job agencies about my job prospects. I guess if i can find a decent job then it may be worthwhile to live there for a few years. At least the kids will have the opportunities to decide for themselves when they are older. I still have my passport so coming back to live in the UK if it doesn't work out is plan B.
 
It would certainly be an interesting experience for your kids. Alternatively a year / semester in a US college during their university time would be good experience for them. Because of the high upfront cost of college in the US American kids seem to take college more seriously than I remember many Brits did in my undergraduate days (1980s). Good luck with the decision - if you end up in Boston at any point feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can get into downtown for a beer. Recommend visiting before Christmas or after April as the months in between can sometimes be messy with snow.
 
My business partner has a decent sized house in Dallas, he says his leccy bills in summer to power the AC are massive. Hundreds of dollars a month.
 
That would be par for the course in Texas where temperatures are mostly in the upper 90s F.

We stayed in an RV plugged into the mains which had two large 15 Amp A/C units on its roof to beat down the heat!
 
I have an uncle in Connecticut almost 90 and the only way he survives is due to his former job at a hospital still giving access to health insurance.
He has just had to move to a retirement community.
There are a lot of Americans come to retire in Malaysia for much cheaper healthcare and support costs.
 
philiphifi said:
hi - could i ask if anyone has lived in the states? i have the option to emigrate over there in the next couple of years and i have started looking at job/taxes etc. Although i have been there many times as a tourist, when i look at property tax, health insurance etc, the cost of living seems much higher than in the UK. Is this correct? Would it be an awfully expensive place to retire?
Click to expand...

Property tax varies by location. Some areas have none at all. Some states with no income tax have very high property tax.
 
philiphifi said:
Thank you very much for all your help. Initially i will start my search on the east coast: NJ, connecticut, washington for work and kids. I am 53 now and I don't know if that is issue for finding work in the US or not. One plan is to carry on working in the UK for another few years and retire in the US but i think i need to do something in the US in the next couple of years otherwise i will lose my green card. (Does anyone know the minimum requirement? e.g could i buy a house and rent it out for the next 4 years and move there after?). Again, thank you very much for your help.
Click to expand...
I would look at expatforum.com - they have pages and forums specifically for people who have - or plan to - move to the USA. You could well pose your questions there.

My wife is American and lived and worked there until we met 10 years ago, and I've stayed and travelled there quite a lot. We have often talked about whether we could move there. A couple of things regularly come up. No surprise is healthcare - simply put we now that we're retired (and under 65) we could not afford the premiums plus all the additional payments / excesses. For people in work, it can totally dominate their career choices. It's a mess. Secondly my wife was well and truly fed up with the car-culture. She lived in Denver which is arguably one of the more forward-looking cities but nevertheless the city is HUGE, the traffic is horrendous and getting worse and there's very little public transport. Even in the wonderful mountains to the west (the Rockies) are kind of blighted by the queues to get to and from the mountains. This is a bit specific for you, I know, but I'd guess similar in many areas. Having said that, if you have the money, the lifestyle is appealing in many ways. We know plenty of young retirees with all the 'toys' (RVs, ATVs, bikes of all types, sports carts, skis etc etc). It always strikes me how affluent the USA can still seem - at least for those in good employment or on good pensions. I also really like the politeness and friendliness but I know others will not agree!

Colorado has been through (probably still in) a big property boom and house prices have sky-rocketed so you should be sure to keep up to date with house prices wherever you are thinking of settling. For what it's worth if we ever DID move back we'd probably be looking at some of the southern areas - Austin, Texas or Prescott, AZ for example. Or maybe Oregon?

In the end we chose to move to France as that was the itch we had to scratch! We've joined the French healthcare system free of charge by, effectively transferring our NHS healthcare rights from the UK.
 
When I had healthcare through the ACA (obamacare), the total bill was $2100 a month, most paid by the government. Property taxes in my area have added $100 a month to the mortgage in just the last two years, and the Personal Property tax rate (auto) at $4.25 per $100 of value makes people think twice about a new car. Added to that is the constant rise in auto insurance regardless of whether you received a ticket or had an accident. If you did, god help you. Red peppers were on sale this week at the grocery store for $1.79 each while a whole rotisserie chicken was $5 and a 12 pack of Budweiser is $10. Vegans are either emaciated or wealthy. Bubba is fat and drunk. That's the locals.

Gentrification of my area has added 1000s of people who mostly stay in half million dollar homes on 1/4 acre lots with multiple kids and 2 big heatpumps whirring 24-7. They drive newish metallic cookie-cutter SUVs to and from work. And judging by the fact the grocery keeps hiring people to shop for them and bring the bags to a drive-through, they don't like to rub elbows with the unwashed rural folk. They probably think we're all Trumpers.

Meanwhile, their burgeoning presence in this once idyllic countryside has nearly ruined the allure that brought them here in the first place, and has driven demand for services (see taxes 1st par.) through the roof causing farms and indigenous families to uproot, which I'm sure the developers hoped would happen all along. The three local schools are continually undergoing expansion, and there's always a new roadway project in the million$. This is growth, USA style. Gentrification is a nice sounding word for injected human cancer.
 
Quote Marky-Mark
When I had healthcare through the ACA (obamacare), the total bill was $2100 a month, most paid by the government.

Does that mean you have to pay that bill yourself now?

A very interesting thread though, expressing a lot how Brexit Middle England seems to feel. BTW Council Taxes in UK are probably, I guess, about twice the US property taxes.

I just grin and bear it...

Mmm... Canada seems nice though. 30m population, low murder rate. Heaven!
 
ian123running said:
I would look at expatforum.com - they have pages and forums specifically for people who have - or plan to - move to the USA. You could well pose your questions there.

My wife is American and lived and worked there until we met 10 years ago, and I've stayed and travelled there quite a lot. We have often talked about whether we could move there. A couple of things regularly come up. No surprise is healthcare - simply put we now that we're retired (and under 65) we could not afford the premiums plus all the additional payments / excesses. For people in work, it can totally dominate their career choices. It's a mess. Secondly my wife was well and truly fed up with the car-culture. She lived in Denver which is arguably one of the more forward-looking cities but nevertheless the city is HUGE, the traffic is horrendous and getting worse and there's very little public transport. Even in the wonderful mountains to the west (the Rockies) are kind of blighted by the queues to get to and from the mountains. This is a bit specific for you, I know, but I'd guess similar in many areas. Having said that, if you have the money, the lifestyle is appealing in many ways. We know plenty of young retirees with all the 'toys' (RVs, ATVs, bikes of all types, sports carts, skis etc etc). It always strikes me how affluent the USA can still seem - at least for those in good employment or on good pensions. I also really like the politeness and friendliness but I know others will not agree!

Colorado has been through (probably still in) a big property boom and house prices have sky-rocketed so you should be sure to keep up to date with house prices wherever you are thinking of settling. For what it's worth if we ever DID move back we'd probably be looking at some of the southern areas - Austin, Texas or Prescott, AZ for example. Or maybe Oregon?

In the end we chose to move to France as that was the itch we had to scratch! We've joined the French healthcare system free of charge by, effectively transferring our NHS healthcare rights from the UK.
Click to expand...


As you are under the retirement age what happens to your access to French health care after Brexit?
 
Australia could be considered a comparative option. It has the $, follows many American traits, has a vast land mass, a workable healthcare system, mountains (if you can call them that), coastline to die for, tropics to temperate climates, is more English custom inclined and with the enormous Asian and Pacific land masses on your doorstep. Oh, and you can take your own plonk to many restaurants; sometimes with no corkage.

Being married at that time to an Aussie, I seriously considered emigrating and settling. Unfortunately, I grew too old thinking about it, by which time I'd realised it wasn't for me, as I'd gone off barbecues and flies.
 
Bob McC said:
As you are under the retirement age what happens to your access to French health care after Brexit?
Click to expand...
Although we're under the normal retirement age we have an income - not much but enough to qualify for Cartes Vitale (entry to the French healthcare system) and residency. As far as we can tell we should be able to retain these in the worst case. It was partly why we moved here when we did. I think we're more likely to have issues when we visit the UK but can always take out private holiday insurance if the EHIC scheme is ditched. Who knows?!
 
Minio said:
Quote Marky-Mark
When I had healthcare through the ACA (obamacare), the total bill was $2100 a month, most paid by the government.

Does that mean you have to pay that bill yourself now?

A very interesting thread though, expressing a lot how Brexit Middle England seems to feel. BTW Council Taxes in UK are probably, I guess, about twice the US property taxes.

I just grin and bear it...

Mmm... Canada seems nice though. 30m population, low murder rate. Heaven!
Click to expand...
Anecdotally I thought USA property tax to be higher than council tax (eg I know people in California paying simple astronomical amounts). But no need to guess: average USA property tax about $3500 (approx £2800) per home https://www.cbsnews.com/news/property-tax-which-homeowners-around-the-u-s-pay-the-highest/
UK council tax averages about £1300 per dwelling in England (Page 11 of https://assets.publishing.service.g...al_authorities_in_England_2019-20_Revised.pdf

[edit to update reference]
 
I'm now permanently settled in the States (grew up in Swansea), happy to answer any questions if people have any. Depending on where you are, various states can truly feel like you're living in a different country with how the people are, taxes, cost of living, etc. IE San Francisco and New York you'd be going broke just to live in a shoe box but where I am I have a house with nearly 1/4 of a soccer pitch between my neighbors in a suburb of the capital. The equivalent German luxury/sports cars would be about 30-50% cheaper than the UK. I live in a smaller town in New England and IMO cost of living is significantly lower than the UK and at least for my profession my salary is about 3-4x higher here, though it is quite a niche specialization.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top