Would you move to Texas for USD 5k more a month

[Constance17]

DH has been offered a job in U.S, we have children aged 6 & 8. What concerns you most?

Cats - I understand and agree. I cant understand some posters citing your government as a leading negative for moving when our our own is such a shit show!

And the amount of income tax varies from state to state doesn't it?

Texas has no personal income tax.

Winter - like Florida? So what do Texans pay tax on? Asking as im interested in how it all works.

We Brits are spoiled by the NHS, we never need to consider cost or insurance and it can come as a shock when a trip to the gp costs money

My parents who live in the UK have taken out private health insurance so that they can get the care they need, when they need it. They still struggle to get GP appointments - the typical wait is 4 weeks and the GP will only discuss one condition at each appointment. Unfortunately they can't afford insurance that would cover private GP visits so they have to make do with the 'free' care that they actually pay a massive amount of tax towards.

My family's experience of the NHS is one of the reasons I won't move back to the UK. Many of us work or worked for the NHS so we've seen the problems first hand.

My stepsister died in A&E of sepsis that they were too busy to diagnose.

I get very bad migraines but I live in the US where Aimovig is covered by health insurance, which has made a huge difference. If I was in the UK I'd have to pay privately to get Aimovig because the NHS refuses to cover it.

@Whatsername7, yes. There are a few states with no personal income tax. They do have a sales tax, which is 6.25% state wise (and can increase up to 2%, depending on the municipality and whether it levies a sales tax). People also pay property taxes on their homes, but that is the case throughout North America.

I believe one of the reasons Texas doesn't need to levy a personal tax is because of taxes from the oil industry.

@drsausage Im sorry to hear of your experiences with the NHS and the death of your step sister. The NHS is far from perfect but we are used to having it as a free service so someone moving to a place where this isn't available needs to research the alternative. My dad has cancer and has had a battery of tests that have cost him nothing. His cancer cant be cured so he is likely to need repeated stays in hospital and we will not face any bills which is something of a relief despite the circumstances. We can pay privately for expedited treatment but the NHS is there for all. During my pregnancies I never had to question my decision to see a doctor when I was worried, but if it were to cost me then I might. That is why the op should consider looking in to it. The NHS saved the life of my 2 year old daughter and prolonged the life of my dad this year and im grateful to have it.

Is it for the foreseeable future or is there an end date? I would probably go. Sounds like a good career move. That is a substantial amount of extra money.
There is a lot to think about though.

I’d send send my dh to work and scout the area first - at that salary he’d be able to fly home - I’d also be concerned at the sheer craziness of the US. Guns are everywhere there

Never

Where in Texas?

Texas has no personal income tax

That's slightly misleading without adding that you still have to pay federal income tax. This statement implies that Texas residents pay no income tax which isn't the case. Brits especially might not be familiar with the concept of state and federal taxation.

I wouldn't. I lived in the US for 12 years here's my 2cents.

As everyone is mentionning there is the gun violence but the gun violence is the tip of the violence iceberg. Overall the level of violence is much higher, muggings, home invasions, rape, child sexual abuse, car breaking etc are much higher. And social violence, Americans are more often racist and sexist than Europeans. And there is much more structural sexism and racism.

Also America has taken post-modernism and mixed it with home based cowboy mentality, to create something I think is very toxic. Let me give an example, think of Trump most of what he says is factually a lie, but the emotion is truth, that's what resonates with people. In an everyday way people have a strong negative reaction to expertise, facts, science, and critical thinking. It's very anti-intellectual in a way that most Europeans just can't imagine.

Finally parents have a very different approach towards parenting. Very few limits, very few interactions with reality, like every kid is gifted and gets a medal, basically parents protect their kids from every possible frustration. I don't think this is very healthy. I have kids and would not even consider moving there with them.

@scotx What is federal income tax? How is that worked out? Why do you pay two different taxes?

State sales tax in Texas is 8.25%.

Property tax can be high (especially in a place like the woodlands).

I did not find food particularly cheap there, not even beef.

Medical is quite expensive - even with “good” insurance, we had copays of $40/$55 per visit. I had a cervical conization (day surgery under general) - because we hadn’t met the deductible it cost over $1500 out of pocket. The premiums are still fairly high even when subsidized by an employer.

Utilities can also be quite expensive as there is not always a choice of provider depending on where you live - my water bill was $20 or so per month when we weren’t filling the pool whereas friends who lived a mile or two away paid way higher.

As for the weather ... during certain times of course it’s lovely. But you’ll also be spending $200-300 and up per month on electricity during the hot months to run air con. And nobody there right now in August is saying this is fantastic weather - it’s too bloody hot to be outside!
Also having been through hurricane Harvey, that stress is something I’ve never felt before, and I’ve been through blackout snowstorms. If you do go make sure you are outside the 500 year flood plain. If you end up buying - get flood insurance. Also rent in good areas is quite high - more than a mortgage payment would be in a lot of cases. Re flooding - there are flood events quite often, especially in the spring - it’s not a rare thing.

They are also particularly ill prepared for occasional adverse weather conditions - usually at least one hard freeze per winter (you have to prep your house or your pipes all freeze and many people’s burst or crack). All the roads close as they don’t have equipment to deal with it. We had light snow the last winter that left snow on the ground for a day or two - the city essentially shut down for a week.

Housing is a lot lot cheaper. Cars andfuel are cheaper. Food is cheaper. A hop skip and a jump if you want to go to Mexco for your hols. The exra 5K depends on the baseline.

Federal income tax is tax that's paid to central government to cover the entire country, state tax money goes to just your state. Then you have your property tax which pays for your local town / city services. So it's just a way to levy tax at a national / state / local level. A bit like how your income tax in the UK goes to the government but your council tax goes to your local council.

Look at Rachel and Dave Hollis on Instagram. They have an amazing life in Austin Texas.

5k usd a month might just be the cost of family health insurance if you have any pre-existing conditions.

I've lived in the US for 25 years and reared 3 children here and do not recognise one single element of what Mutinerie has described. I have not been the victim of any crime -small or large - during those 25 years and I live in a large urban area. There is no anti-science movement where I live, close to some of the best universities in the world and the US produces some of the best scientists in the world. My children's friends were reared more or less the same as my friend's children in Ireland - no difference and very little mollycoddling. From my reading of MN they do seem to differ from UK parents in thinking parents should be active in their children's lives after the age of 13 and 15/16 isn't regarded as an adult - but that may be just a MN thing. The education system in my state values critical thinking over rote learning and testing. You cannot generalise like that about the entire of the US.

Of course there are huge problems in the US - racism, gun violence etc. The same kind of anti-elite disgruntledness that gave the UK Brexit gave us Trump.

I forget which poster said it but the most important thing is to recognise that you will be moving to a very different culture- despite people speaking English.

blimey what an eye opener sounds like OP has got a lot of thinking to do I guess money being offered is not worth the risk of up routing the family

Thanks, Scotx.
Expat - your post was really interesting, particularly about the snow. Our country grinds to a halt when we have a few cm, especially in the midlands! Nice to know it is the same over the pond.

The money sounds good. Trump won't be there forever. Schools in the US are generally good.

I have good friends who are ex-pats in Austin, Texas. The two things I would mention are:

• the climate. If you love the heat, you'll be fine but the summers are incredibly hot.

• politics/attitudes. Our friends have a very simple rule: never discuss politics or religion (and Austin is generally considered to be very liberal). There are guns for sale in Walmart. Everyone is anti-abortion. Evangelical Christianity is the norm.

Housing is a lot lot cheaper. Cars andfuel are cheaper. Food is cheaper. A hop skip and a jump if you want to go to Mexco for your hols. The extra 5K depends on the baseline.

Housing is more expensive in lots of places in Texas than lots of places in the Uk. Houston isn't cheap.
Food is much much more expensive
Fuel is cheaper

Some of my friends live in Texas. They love it! I'd go in a flash

I went on a flat search with dd1 and it was certainly around £1300 a month in Dallas suburbs

Food in Sainsbury was really cheap on my return..

Petrol was $2:50 for 4 liters