Husband wants to leave the uk post budget….

[Maryaliceyoungx]

husband wants to leave and don’t get me wrong - I do see why. We are being hammered in the budget, we drive shitty cars, the rain is shit… life in the UK can be pretty shitty right now. he works for a US based company and I am a US citizen as I was born there and spent my life until my early teens there (parents are British and were working out there) so I see why he wants to go -it would be good for his career and would be potential to make money without the huge tax burden of the UK (company based in low state tax state)

but I don’t want to go… I love my life here. I love our village and my kids lovely village school. My family is here and I worry my parents don’t have so much time left.

however i do have to recognise the money aspect- my husbands job could be impacted by AI so i think he is right in thinking we should max out our earning potential while we can and we just won’t be able to do that here as it will just be taxed away.

aibu for sacrificing potentially huge earnings just because I love village life? Would it even be cheaper? I would insist upon private school in the US(went to state school in the us and have a lot of trauma from that!) and we wouldnt sell our house here so would need to rent. Most recent trip to thr us - over a year ago and cost of living was sky high.

I’ll be honest - couldn’t care about the politics. Politics are shit whereever you go!!

Plenty of civil unrest brewing in the UK - people aren’t happy and the UK is literally like a pressure cooker at the moment. Albeit with rubbish weather and very little socio-economic upside.

Don’t agree with this at all. Might depend where you live

I can imagine going elsewhere, but not to the US. Gun crime, long working hours/lack of holiday, upf food and Trump would all put me off.

Thank you for responses. I really do love village life and i really want to cling on to that for my children.

to add to some points…
husbands company would fund health care through insurance. I currently work part time but if we moved I would not work - I could as I’m a citizen - but with the 3 month summer holidays and most likely needing to come home often to support my parents I just don’t think I could… however I have to acknowledged the salary increase would still mean take home pay would be more.

I wouldn’t even holiday there at the moment. It looks crazy

I get that but you should hear what they think about us - that they’ll get off the plane and you’ll immediately get stabbed 😂😂 the media drives a lot of this. America is a huge country and most places are just very normal places - always have been always will be.

Obviously you know how different each state is politically, tax-wise, healthcare-wise, etc.

It’ll all depend on where you get job offers, of course, but in terms of COL, I wouldn’t move to California now, for example, it’s become insanely expensive. We have several friends and relatives there and they’re all moaning about it. Denver is a happening place atm ( not sure about the COL there) and of course, the East Coast generally isn’t a bad option.

I’m with you though, I prefer village life really.

Has he done the maths? Cost of living in the USA is far higher than the U.K., things like groceries, meals out, kids clubs, property taxes and the biggest one of all healthcare. You will pay less tax but everything else will add up, that’s without considering private school. Look at all the costs and mock up a monthly budget, then compare what they would offer him as a USA based worker (should be more). You also need to consider further and higher education costs which vary a lot plus the cost of buying cars, electronics etc .

Where could you imagine elsewhere? I would be open to alternatives… especially in Europe… Malta for example.

Three month summer holidays? My DH worked for a US company they really hated the Brits demand for 20 day’s annual leave. It was 20 years ago mind.

Healthcare would be covered. Salary would be 3x but we would have to pay for private school… cars would be more expensive but petrol is cheaper.

Sorry! I meant for the kids!

Your life and lovely village school are funded by the taxes your husband so objects to paying.

I wouldn’t go. America has its own problems. I love the UK even with its challenges (and weather!) and genuinely believe people who say we have won the lottery of life here.

Maybe it’s different for you with your experience of the USA and your citizenship. You have had a taste of both. Is there an option to rent out your house and go on a more short term basis to see what you both think?

Some friends looked onto moving a long time ago, for similar reasons, but when they factored in the actual costs where they were planning to move to (taxes, local taxes, quality food, clothes, insurance, etc.) their financial situation wasn't going to be much better overall.
Also employee rights in the US are virtually non-existent compared with the UK, very little entitlement to redundancy etc. Let's not get into politics, but the UK is generally more left-leaning that the US, and a LOT more secular, so that could impact how well your kids integrate into a new community.
I know people who have emigrated to various countries and are really happy, but they moved for lifestyle/culture reasons, and they spend a fortune, and lot of their annual leave, visiting "home", because, put bluntly, it was their choice to move, and their friends and relatives don't want to keep spending time and money visiting them there.

How exactly is he being "hammered in the budget"? Income tax rates are staying the same but the thresholds not being adjusted for inflation for a bit longer than they were already. Even if he's going to cross a threshold because of that, it only means the difference between paying extra tax on income above £X vs paying it above £X + CPI. You could argue it's wrong but it's hardly game changing.

Unless you're referring to something else to do with self employment or corporate ownership that I haven't followed. But you seem to describe him working for a company that could transfer him to America so I assume not.

company healthcare policies vary a lot but most do have copays and many have deductibles eg 10% of the costs, people loose everything because of that 10% due to serious illness. Many cap how much they pay per employee eg the first $1000 of premium, so if your policy is $1200 a month you pay the difference.

another consideration is employee protection for redundancy or lack there of.

I think you'd be crazy to leave a life you love in the UK just for the sake of more money. Money can't buy the value of having your parents nearby, and you'll only be paying separately for the services (like good public schools) that our admittedly crazy-high taxes pay for. I also know a lot of US citizens that want to leave due to the politics.

Europe. Possibly Oman. I haven't really thought about it beyond that as unfortunately I don't have dual citizenship or an EU passport.

@CoralPombear I wouldn’t go. America has its own problems. I love the UK even with its challenges (and weather!) and genuinely believe people who say we have won the lottery of life here.

Literally no British person has ever said that ever.

excuse me? My life is not funded by taxes. The village school is of course funded through taxes that both of us have paid plenty over the years. So please keep your snarky judgements to yourself. Never said we objected to paying taxes. But there is an opportunity to make more money elsewhere that’s not on labours magic money tree.

@allthegoodusernameshavegone That’s why summer camps are so popular, the kids need to be occupied!

Has your DH ever lived long term in the US @Maryaliceyoungx? You have the advantage of actually being brought up here so you really know what it’s like.

Are you quite sure? I’ve heard it often over the years.

OK but ask yourself this - what is the direction of fiscal travel in the UK?

Its going to get worse isn’t it?

I don't think you can beat a good village school, and village life can be lovely too.
Even if you ignore the shocking political landscape, do you really want your children to be exposed to shooter drills at school, and to live in a country where gun crime is a real daily threat?
The extra money comes at a heavy price.