Is 36 too old to emigrate? (With family!)

[ChefsKisser]

I’d love to live aboard, likely Oz (DH and I v employable and would easily get visas!) but DH thinks we are too old! We are 36 and 37 with a 5 and 7 year old. Likely wouldn’t be forever so I think we crack on and go now- I don’t feel old! He’s worried about pensions and whether we have left it too late, any tales from people emigrating in their 30s?

We are the same age and wouldn't even cross my mind not to move - we feel young!

Just top up your NI contributions when you get back?

Sounds a good age to me. You can move private pensions. State is a bit more complicated, but it's possible there is a reciprocal agreement between uk and aus. Your kids are a good age to move. Just make sure you're earning enough to put the max into a private pension and to save for both child and elderly expenses because you're on your own when you emigrate.

Have you been to Australia before? If not, you should holiday there, in the state you are interested in, preferably in the middle of the Australian summer, so you know what you are signing up for. And check out prices in local supermarkets as well.

The social security agreement between Australia and UK ended years ago, and to my knowledge, it is not even being discussed. However, in Australia, superannuation is mandatory, so you would accrue that if working there.

Surely it all depends on your financial position now, and also by the statement that "it won't be forever"? If you emigrate to Australia but then want to come back home (UK?) when you retire (for example) and expect to receive a UK state pension then it won't be the full one as you won't have paid enough unless you continue to make voluntary payments whilst you're away. But on the other hand if you've got a solid private pension which you/your employer will continue to pay into at the same rate whilst you're away, and you have decent savings and/or will keep financial assets such as a house (and rent it out) then that could be less of a concern if the full pension is a "nice to have" rather than a necessity.

Do either of your roles lend to doing an ex pat stint instead of full "emigrating" in the first instance? Depending on the terms, you'd essentially be able to try out living overseas whilst also not fully committing in the long term. Again, it really depends on the terms of the contract, but if you could get a good enough deal (our ex pat role pays full accommodation/schooling/return flights/full pension contributions/health insurance etc) then now is a great time to go for it whilst your kids are still young.

Nope

@ScienceDragon we are going in Jan for 4 weeks to look at some of the key cities we would consider!

@cardboard33 i think so- im a nurse and DH is a civil engineer so v employable in Aus!

Too old? Great age to do it

I emigrated at the age of 35. Of course you’re not too old.

Did you decide to go for it @ChefsKisser?

I emigrated to Canada when I was 37.

I emigrated to Oz at 43, despite having never set foot in it. Best move I ever made, my only regret is I didn’t go when I was younger.

My mum emigrated to get married in her mid thirties. When the later got divorced she found a job etc, got a house on her own, all the normal things. But it wasn't easy, not gonna lie. Especially on us children, and especially when older family members started to become ill, and cultural differences, etc. But you make do and it made us siblings very close.

It's a perfect age. Don't spend a life wondering and regretting what you didn't do.

I did at 50.

I emigrated to Australia when over 50.

My mum emigrated to Australia at 50, it's a very different country IMO, loads of things that can kill you, snakes, spiders, fish, octopuses, sharks, crocodiles etc. so you'd need to consider this. I didn't like the fact it was t set up like the UK, ie cities and town yes, but little quaint villages and countryside pubs etc weren't really a thing (she was in WA), so I'd never have lived there. Also everything is so far away, my brother lived in Cairns for a while so I visited him from WA, it was a 6 hour flight.
It's not for everyone but many enjoy the life out there

We moved overseas aged 50 and 54. Sold the house and everything in it.

We've moved countries periodically all our lives -- the last time aged 48, with an eight year old. We are going to stay here until DS leaves school, otherwise we'd probably still be moving on. Nothing like a new language, a new culture, a new social context, a new landscape!

It's baffling to me that your DH considers himself impossibly aged and as if he wants to start shuffling about in bedroom slippers or something.

Those moving abroad later in life, what did you do for work and where did you move?!

It would depend on what sort of visa but there is a possibility you might have to pay for school, although some types of working visas are exempt. Have you done any enquiries at all as to how eligible your jobs are? Sometimes, for example, your visa is conditional on being posted in a certain area where need is high, it's. unlikely to be one of the major attractive cities.
If your husband is with a major multinational an international posting is probably your easiest bet and would certainly be cheaper as moving costs and solicitors costs etc might be factored in for you. It is certainly not too late. I would also have a serious conversation about what happens when one of you loves it and the other is homesick, it happens a lot.

We moved to Melbourne because of my husband getting a state government job. I was a teacher and found temporary work in four months, permanent in six.

It was my DH's job that got us in at 50.

No, it’s not too old. We did one stint abroad in our mid 30’s and then moved permanently in our early 40’s. No regrets a decade later.
We moved to USA with husband’s job. Just don’t forget about university costs etc when doing long term planning.

Australia does (selectively) mark down visa applications the older you are but the score will adjust itself for shortage professions. I know a couple of 50 yo civil engineers who have recently migrated to NSW with their kids.

It's not too old at all but I would think carefully about the children. If you were planning to stay permanently then fine. However if you wanted to come back in your early to mid 50s your children might be settled and want to stay there for uni, jobs as they have few memories of the UK. Would you want to move back and have your children and later grand children in Australia and you back in the UK. Or be forced to stay to be near them.