Should we relocate to the states?

[SMacfarlane]

My husband works in the states a lot due to his business being based there. He's originally from there but moved to England not long before we had our eldest daughter. Over the last couple of years his work load has risen a lot so were considering a move over there. Our eldest daughter is finishing secondary school in June and our younger two are 8 and 5. We've discussed the idea and see a lot of positives about it. Our eldest has even considered continuing her education over there. If we did then my husband wouldn't have to travel so much and we could spend more time during the school holidays together. I don't have much contact with my family and all of his family are over there. I'm worried about the effect on the kids and would it be best for them. Would it be good to do this now at a young age and just before our eldest starts her career?

It sounds like a good logical decision but only you would know the full effect on your family.
Are your kids good at coping with change or would they struggle?
How about if your oldest decided to stay or come back to the U.K. post college ?

8 and 5 are quite good ages to move IME. I don't know about your eldest, as I don't have one that old yet...

But the usual warnings about making sure that you have proper health cover and can afford to live somewhere that makes it worthwhile still apply, as well as what would happen in the event that you and DH split up and you wanted to bring your DC back to the UK

You should post this in the living overseas board. The US (like the UK) has a ton of pros and cons for it.

A lot of it will depend on where you want to live / where he works, whether you can get visas, and how much you will earn.

Cost of living is high in the US - rent / mortgage groceries, utilities, phone etc are all much more pensive than the UK (at least in big metropolitan areas) And you need to factor in the high monthly cost of health insurance and the eye gouging costs for uni for your eldest. Not uncommon for a lot of run of the mill uni's to be charing ~$30-45k a year

The other factor is holidays - standard here to have 10-15 days in most industries (its changing a bit in the tech and financial services industry) and schools for your younger ones. Generally, there's a correlation between good schools and the higher cost of housing. The more expensive an area is, the larger % of your local taxes (a bit like council tax but lots more expensive) go to the schools

Ignore my not helpful point about posting in living overseas, dense moment there, as I hadn't realized I was in there

Make sure your marriage is rock solid otherwise you are stuck here if things go bad. Otherwise moving here makes sense.

Where would you live? That would help to know for more direct answers.

8 and 5 are great ages to move to the US (I live in the US)

How old is your eldest? If she is 16, then she has 2 more years of high school to go in the US. And college/university - and paying for it - is a minefield (but not necessarily a bad thing) but you need to know your way around.

Would your dh's company provide good benefits/healthcare?

Also agree - where you would live would make all the difference.