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Retirement Destinations?

gavreid said:
The Aussies will tell you about her (the monarchy's) interference in political matter
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Only indirectly. I was a resident at the time, and it was entirely the decision of the then Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who took advice from the Chief Justice. HM wasn't consulted and wasn't involved. However, Sir John was the Queen's representative, signing into law any legislation approved by the Oz Parliament. It was a shock - nobody realised that the GG had such powers.
 
tones said:
Only indirectly. I was a resident at the time, and it was entirely the decision of the then Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who took advice from the Chief Justice. HM wasn't consulted and wasn't involved. However, Sir John was the Queen's representative, signing into law any legislation approved by the Oz Parliament. It was a shock - nobody realised that the GG had such powers.
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The G-G couldn't have acted without the approval of London.
 
Hook said:
Last September, relatively close proximity to emergency hospital services meant Mrs. Hook survived a very unusual form of heart attack. This reset our priorities for retirement, not to mention life in general, completely.

We both love the country, and for many years lived far from the city on acreage. We also enjoyed owning a cabin in northern Wisconsin. But even before the start of COVID, I was convinced those days were over. We can't imagine life right now without the amenities of the city (food delivery, easy access to services, etc.). Mrs. Hook still loves puttering in our garden, and I really don't now how we'll adapt to townhome or condo living, but we have no doubts that's what's next for us.
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This is one of the benefits of Swizzieland - it's small, and nowhere is very far from anywhere else. We live in a valley in Baselland, out in the countryside in a village of 2000 people. Yet that's only 28km from Basel, and Liestal with its excellent Kantonsspital (where Mrs. Tones had her operations) is 15 minutes down the road.
 
PsB said:
I'm not sure NYC's cheaper, but it's a great place. We have a dear friend who lives there, just around the block from Lincoln Center. At age 96, he would not live anywhere else. He and his youngish girlfriend (a mere 81) still work part time at various volunteer jobs at the Met etc., and I'm sure that NYC (in addition to good genes) is one part of their longevity and generally sunny outlook on life.
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My daughter once shared a flight SEA to NYC
with a guy from Brooklyn ,it was the funniest time she had.The guy had a deli selling cheese etc,he said to most Americans cheese came out a tube.
 
al2002 said:
That’s odd. Please elaborate.
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Arrogant, rude, loud, entitled native white N Yorkers. The only service was from immigrants who were lovely.
The place is too fast, too loud, too hot or too cold depending on the season and far too bloody expensive.
He lives in Brooklyn which is bearable but the Manhattan area, you can keep it.
 
Cheese said:
Be it Spain or Portugal, good luck with the other expats complaining all the time.

All expats will tell you how happy they are down there. Well it's fairly obvious, they certainly won't tell you that they've made a huge mistake and were complete morons when they took the decision to emigrate.
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Rubbish. I know many who live in Portugal and don't want to come back to the UK.
 
Bananahead said:
Salaries are higher. Tax is much lower - maybe 10% of income.
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if only. That is nowehere near the case for us in BL. We pay tax at around 25% which i think is one of the highest rates in CH due to our high joint income. We should move to canton Zug, but as Tones says, house prices are ridiculous there.
 
Cheese said:
Personally I'd stretch the list a bit, in the sense that most labourers earn less than that, but managers usually earn more. CHF 9'547 (or rather more IMO) is what you would earn as, say, an engineer leading a team of 10 people. Actual managers (sales, production, quality, plant, HR) earn more than that, especially so if they are part of the management board..
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I think that can be extended up quite a bit. My wife pulls in about CHF 20k per month working in the pharma industry here in Basel. This is assuming on target annual bonus. She has a senior job but it isnt board level or anything.
 
NeilR said:
I think that can be extended up quite a bit. My wife pulls in about CHF 20k per month working in the pharma industry here in Basel. This is assuming on target annual bonus. She has a senior job but it isnt board level or anything.
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Considering the cost of living, it’s needed. Rates in the UK are good right now, decent PM’s are £1K+ a day, but the cost of living is massively lower unless you choose to live in Belgravia etc.
 
tones said:
This is one of the benefits of Swizzieland - it's small, and nowhere is very far from anywhere else. We live in a valley in Baselland, out in the countryside in a village of 2000 people. Yet that's only 28km from Basel, and Liestal with its excellent Kantonsspital (where Mrs. Tones had her operations) is 15 minutes down the road.
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My brother in law lives in Basel and my wife’s godmother lives in Commugny. I find a Switzerland a real contradiction. Full of great natural beauty yet one of the dullest places I’ve ever visited.
 
If you like the smell of sea air and chips, the sound of seagulls and tattoo guns and you are not averse to the occasional bout of chlamydia - then the triumvirate of Skegness, Great Yarmouth and Blackpool take some beating.
 
NeilR said:
if only. That is nowehere near the case for us in BL. We pay tax at around 25% which i think is one of the highest rates in CH due to our high joint income. We should move to canton Zug, but as Tones says, house prices are ridiculous there.
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Yes most of us that weren't born in Switzerland will be fairly well paid. But the average monthly income seems to be 6666 chf. This gives 5500 chf net. (my 10% was based on my personal rate of around 12%)
List of European countries by average wage - Wikipedia
 
Only PFM could have a long exchange about Switzerland as a retirement destination.
I'm sure it is a lovely place when earning a fat salary.
 
How much, start to finish, would it cost to move from the U.K. to Portugal, using a removals company, and including estate agents fees, any tax incurred etc, from say a £400k house here to a €250k apartment?
 
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