Do you regret moving abroad?

[Flumux]

Do you think life would have been better in the UK?

We love London but hate paying an effective 50% tax rate. So we are looking at doing a few years in Cayman.

It should be good experience professionally but may be seen as a slight step back in terms of quality.

I’m an advanced nurse practitioner, I don’t work overtime any more as I don’t want to work for less than my usual hourly rate once tax and NI is taken out.

I’m not in a massively high income bracket and just tip into the 40% tax bracket. I’m a single income household and I’m not really any better off than I was 10 years ago. However, why would I give up my spare time when nearly half of my earnings are taken. Not worth it and know a few folks that think the same way. If my tax was lower in my overtime then I’d work more and so would others in the health service🤷‍♀️

I’d love to move abroad and although the tax might be higher, you see that services are working better. This country is worryingly getting worse. Corrupt politicians giving their mates inflated contracts is fucking us all over, inflated housing costs and a general air of despondency and a realisation that working doesn’t really help you and that whatever you save is all taken when older to pay for care, is all rather depressing.

I know people who just don’t see the point in working much and carrying on claiming benefits as they see no point in earning more. They know that when retired they will still get their rent and care paid. They are a lot less stressed and burnt out that me! If I didn’t have a mortgage I know I’d be dropping my hours.

Except for they don't pay for London's public services - only tiny proportion of tax goes to this.
And OP didn't say they like London's public services - it is very probable they use private school, private healthcare etc because public services are such shit.

They pay massively to support 22% of economically inactive people who don't contribute to public services instead.

Absolutely! this with bells on.
That's why so many ambitious bright people are leaving now and those who can't at least try to give this option to kids.

But we've seen nothing yet - with Labour coming in life of those middle/high earners will be screwed big time and I do expect mass emigration from here.

I don’t think 40percent tax is too high but it’s the point we tip into it that is the issue. Allowances and bands need to increase massively

Just make sure you add up the true cost of living elsewhere!

I lived in the USA, wages were higher, tax lower BUT medical costs were really high (employer paid the fist €620 a month but premium for a family was nearly $1k) then each visit was $15 even for children and they (insurance company) fought everything. Then the day to day costs - food 50% more, children's activities more than double, high entrance fees, eating out expensive once tip added, most clothes more etc... and rent, same as London, buying made London look cheap! You get paid more but costs more basically. Then there's the guns ... can't be quantified with money.

I loved it for a bit but returned to live in the U.K. after 5 years.

I've come home from living in Aus for 2 years where I could've stayed permanently.

Lots of contributing factors and it's notable we lived in Western Australia, rather than the East coast. I'm in my late twenties so very much aiming to buy a property, start a family etc.

A huge factor was quality of life. Barely better than the UK and without family support. The property market was worse than London, which I didn't think was possible. It's so hard to get a first property because investors swoop in with $50-$100k over asking. Plus WA is great in many ways but in others feels as remote as it geographically is. Very insular.

Another factor was my student loan. I was paying over £400 a month equivalent and even then I'd never even pay off that month's interest. I told student loans how insane this was compared to what I was paying in London while on a similar salary - apparently they use world bank figures which suggest Aus is really cheap to live in so they rev up the repayment amounts. These world bank figures are wildly out of date but student loans obviously didn't care.

Overall the sacrifices/costs just weren't worth it for us to stay.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to live there but I'm happy to be back, thats for sure!

We’re not able to move abroad for a variety of reasons but when I’ve thought of it in the past I can’t get over missing my friends & family too much. Between DP & i we have a few friends that now live abroad- Australia, US, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal. I totally get why they’ve moved but we hardly see them now. It’s not easy for us to go there because of my health issues/ DC with SEN so we see them once a year if that. For me it wouldn’t be worth the sacrifice as I know you make new friends but it isn’t the same. I do get that everyone is different though & has different priorities.

Do you mind me asking where you live?

Well your 9% student loan is because you borrowed money from the Gov to do your degree. You did not need to borrow the money and have to pay some back,

i do think those going abroad should have to continue paying their students debts.

The problem is not that you continue to pay, but that you pay at a higher percentage whilst you are abroad, which seems to be for no real reason.

Exactly tardis - and because when I was deciding whether to go to uni they told us we'd never have to pay interest!

I have nothing but contempt for people who are unwilling to pay their taxes.

Spain

Belgium

I could have written this myself, word for word! We went to Aus for our honeymoon last year and I seriously wondered if we could make the move for an adventure if nothing else. But I just can't get past missing out on precious time with family for the sake of a better lifestyle. The way I see it, Aus will always be there but my loved ones won't. I really admire people who do it but it's not for me- taken me ages to accept it's fine to be happy with your life. Ps- this is my personal opinion and not of others who make the move.

Another real life example, except it is actually 42% tax and NI. Also add on additional 10.8% pension charges and this good person takes home less than half of what she earns for additional work which is a standard hourly rate of £26 per hour before tax.

For all the virtuous statements about it is wonderful to support paying for public services, people don't want to put in additional hours and be paid peanuts.

Oh...and realise that so many public services waste huge amounts of money....I know, I work in the NHS currently and the scale of waste and misspending is endemic.

Exactly, 100% - so called paradise is full of ex-pats propping up bars and gossiping. There is always a honeymoon period, and then the reality sets in that there really is no culture or seasons. I had experience of people lying about how much they loved it and would never return to the u.k., but when I got to know them, they admitted they were unhappy, but could not afford to return. I came back because I could not stand the awful animal abuse and misogyny. Don't want to mention country in case I upset someone. Rent first for six months.

Sometimes. We aren’t too far from the UK and we are very integrated in ‘normal’ life where we are (France). But our parents in the UK are getting older and it’s so hard to help them when we are far away.

I have never been more tempted to move abroad. France or Greece in particular.

I don't regret it but I'm planning to come back next year, after two years in Asia. The hope is to subsequently leave again for a third country, but I think that will also end up being fairly short term and the UK will always be my home in the long run. Or if not the UK then at least somewhere in Europe.

Originally I intended for this to be a long term move - I spent a LOT of money and gave up a job and house that I loved on that basis. Having lived elsewhere I don't think I'll ever feel totally settled living in the UK again, either. As I say, I don't regret it - if I could wave a wand and erase the last two years I wouldn't do it, I've made some friends for life here and while many things have been harder than I anticipated I'm overall glad to have had the experience. But if I'd known beforehand that my time here was going to be so short, I probably wouldn't have chosen to go in the first place.

I think if you're only planning to go for a few years anyway then the risks are fairly minimal. It sounds like you have enough money that you can afford to waste some on taking a risk that doesn't pan out, and worst case scenario you end up coming back earlier than you expected.

Just watching the news over the last few days, and still have zero regrets. Sorry!

Where do you live?

I left the UK in 1995 and would never move back. I think life there will eventually get better under Labour but it's a foreign country to me now. I spent 12 years in Dublin (I may move back to Ireland one day) but for now Portugal is my home of 17 years.

@Passiflora2 Denmark, just outside of the capital. Bloody love it.

You’re so lucky! How did you end up there if I could ask?