To think about emigrating to the USA? 🇺🇸

[Rainbow1234]

I have posted in living overseas but don’t get much of a response so thought I would look for some opinions here.

So my dh is originally from Texas but moved to London 15 years ago when he was 16. We have 2 dc aged 4 and 7 (both have dual nationality). He assured me when we got married that he wasn’t bothered about ever moving back to the US and that he preferred England. Now he has been offered a really good job in California where his family live and wants me to think about us all moving out there but I’m so unsure, the job pays almost double what he is earning here but the area we would need to live in is more expensive than where we are now so financially we would be about the same. I was born and brought up in London, my mum dad and sister all live within 30 minutes of me and they are the only family I have in the whole world and I would feel so guilty about leaving them especially my mum, she’s 70 this year and in very good health (works full time) but I know she won’t be around forever but I can’t help thinking life could be better for my kids out there, anyone?

So we would be moving to sanfrancisco

You can research the cost of living and the standards of education pretty well if you know where you'll be living.

Realtor.com is a good place to look at the cost of buying or renting a house.

Pay close attention to how much property tax you'll pay - we pay $7k+ a year. If you rent this will be included.

Look at greatschools.com to find out about the schools in each area. Also look into their admissions criteria. It might or might not be catchment based.

Depending on where you're moving from in the UK you might well find that your doubled salary is easily eaten up in housing costs.

Exactly, Delivered. If he chooses not to go back you'd be stuck there. For good. This happened to a mate who was American and married a Brit. He got a job in the US so they moved (she had naturalised as a Brit citizen). He had an affair and the marriage broke down but then she couldn't go back to the UK with the kids as he stayed there. Now she's miserable.

I wouldn’t. You might find that even with double the salary you have less disposable income, especially in San Francisco.

I know someone being treated for cancer - his hospital bill was $800,000 - without really good insurance, that has a max payout of $10,000, that would be unaffordable for most people. But that still means paying insurance every month and then $10,000 on top because you had to use it.

On one prescription the co-pay was $155. Without insurance it was $1500.

So make sure you do your sums before you make a decision.
And will you be able to afford to come home every year.

I think you need to consider what your priorities are.

I'm a Brit abroad and often have the Canada vs UK debate - for me the standard of living, education and healthcare over here are far superior and cheaper. We only see my family 1/2 times per year - would moving back be worth the sacrifice? And now obviously it's not just me : there's 2 kids to think about too, and their future and what's best for them.

It's tough.

I would not consider moving temporarily though - for reasons given above by PP's.

Double the salary won't be enough in San Francisco, unless he's already on a massive salary here. Rents or buying has gone insane there the last few years, and once you add on the health care.....you won't feel like you're earning twice as much, at all.

OP if you do decide to look into it further, those of us who live there can give more detailed info on what to look for in terms of health insurance/healthcare costs. For example, we pay for all of ours out of pre-tax income, which effectively saves us about 40%. It's a significant difference in our case.

A lot has changed in health law over the last few years, so things that used to be a worry (eg pre-existing conditions not being covered, premiums being raised because of illness, lifetime limits on payouts) are no longer an issue. It's definitely an area where it's good to be informed.

San Francisco is a expensive place in a expensive state. Do your financial calculations carefully. Personally I wouldn’t want to live in CA. Their are many other states that are so much cheaper.

I have also found the quality of food to be higher here than in the U.K.

YouCantGetHereFromThere

Agree I am more than happy to share if it helps.

I wouldn't go. I made the mistake of moving away from my family and not a day goes by where I don't regret it.

Bay area : Yup, I'd move.
Its the one part of the US I'd go and live in (even though I'm from the other coast)

I wouldn't move to America for a million quid

Tell us what the salary would be in CA, OP.
Does the health care plan include dental?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one/amp

Do consider the earthquake risk when weighing up your decision. It stopped us from moving to the PNW for a few years....

Research where the active fault lines are, where the landslide and wildfire areas are when you consider where in CA to live and make sure you have a disaster emergency kit/plan in place.

We spent our honeymoon in San Fran and it is a great city but sooooo expensive! I couldn't believe it! And the weather isn't always great. We went in October and it was bloody freezing so I wouldn't use outdoor lifestyle as a motivating factor!

I'm American, from the Pacific Northwest but currently living in Texas. My first choice would be to get out of this whole shitshow of a country and live somewhere else. My second choice would be to go home to Washington, it's nowhere near as bad as Texas. I've lived here ten years and I HATE TEXAS.

California is ok. But my god is it expensive; the increase in wages is instantly eaten by the cost of living.

Shit healthcare. Gun culture. We've gone downhill so steeply that we managed to elect Trump. I don't know....just not proud of this country anymore.

Definitely look in detail at the cost of living - the Bay Area has always been expensive, but in recent years the prices of houses have gone completely nuts, especially in commuting distance of Palo Alto/Santa Clara/Mountain View.

I love visiting the Bay Area, but the crazy traffic would put me off - the highway past my employer's office is basically a car park at rush hour an it can take an hour just to go 4 miles.

Double yes I can see why you'd hate Texas if your from the beautiful liberal PNW... we almost moved there last summer for a few years. We were drawn by the liberal attitudes, beautiful scenery, forest schools, culture in Seattle etc etc, but decided against it last minute due to the cascadia subduction zone threat... for us planning on only being there for a few years it didn't seem worth the possible personal and financial risks of the earthquake were to hit in that time. If I were from the area I'd probably feel differently.

I could never live in a southern state - too conservative and religious for me. It's bad enough in the north Midwest and I've met some pretty liberal minded people.

I just miss the UK too much!

To be honest I think we should expect the UK to become more and more like the US over the next few years - but without the good bits. The rightwingers in charge of the UK now love the lack of regulation, private healthcare, minimal support for the poor, almost no employment rights.

You couldn't pay me enough to live in a country where my kids would be terrified to go to school.

Not lived there but San Francisco is a beautiful city. Not beach weather a lot of the time, appalling homelessness and violence, drug problems . lovely country round it.

Remember there is more to the UK than London - you can have an outdoor lifestyle here...

You couldn't pay me enough to live in a country where my kids would be terrified to go to school.

Me neither.

Clarrisa yup! I can see the direction the current uk government is taking the uk and it's only going to get worse after Brexit. I have seen/lived the future and it ain't pretty

It's not just the government - you can see that people's attitudes are shifting: more emphasis on work, reduction in benifits etc, privatization of health and education, approaches to education which are focused on more academic learning at younger and younger ages. These are seen as good things by growing numbers unfortunately.

I don't think the UK would ever fully become like the states - most Europeans are "democrates" in that they believe in pro-choice, anti-gun etc etc and religious participation in the UK is pretty low comparatively. But the general shift isn't a good one imo

We did.
But subsequently moved back here for job reasons again. Check the package - is generous health coverage included? Bc if it's not, your new fat salary won't go as far. Can you work there?
If all that looks good, I'd go for the family adventure aspect. But then I'm not particularly attached to my birth family so didn't miss them

You couldn't pay me enough to live in a country where my kids would be terrified to go to school.

My kids are certainly not scared of school. A couplevof their friends did walk out yesterday, they didn’t.

I wouldn't touch California with a barge pole right now.
And I'm from there!
I love it. Love to bits. But living there is different. Of course, it depends on where.
So, where exactly?
You never want to be a slave to the 405, that's for sure.

California is insanely expensive at the moment.