Moving Abroad

K.D.D.D.D.Soc said:

Good to read you had the fore sight to do this.

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I've been in the same job for nigh on 33 years, joined the pension scheme as soon as I could and squirreled away as much as I could.
My wife is lga with 40 years service so is also on a good pension.
Been doing a lot of research the last 12-18 months and spoke to an IFA last month who basically said we could retire 18 months earlier than expected.
The wife will retire but I might stick it out until our initial date of 61.
We've made some sacrifices, took some hard decisions, but it will be worth it. Hopefully .

glasgowspur said:

I've been in the same job for nigh on 33 years, joined the pension scheme as soon as I could and squirreled away as much as I could.
My wife is lga with 40 years service so is also on a good pension.
Been doing a lot of research the last 12-18 months and spoke to an IFA last month who basically said we could retire 18 months earlier than expected.
The wife will retire but I might stick it out until our initial date of 61.
We've made some sacrifices, took some hard decisions, but it will be worth it. Hopefully .

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I did the same thing, neither I or my kids met our grandfathers, that was not going to happen to me, I was lucky enough to retired at 55 due to my planning.

If you are generally a happy and positive person you should find happiness anywhere you live as long as its not terrible conditions.

0-14 North London (Edmonton/Enfield/Winchmore Hill)
14-18 Mallorca
18-19 Back to North London
19-20 Orlando
20-21 Texas
21-22 Santa Barbara
22-24 Indiana
24-25 Back to North London
25-26 Las Vegas
26-34 Los Angeles
34- Las Vegas

And my wife wants to move lol

None of my family is in the UK anymore and most my friends have moved out of London so I don't miss it from that perspective. I still felt very close to the friends I grew up with until the last few years I think having kids changes things. I tend to have found myself making friends with other Brits in these places. Could count the number of genuine American friends on one hand.

That is what I would say is going to be the hardest thing. Making friends with people where you have significant cultural differences. The British sense of humor is just different. Ive spent more than half my life non in England but I think even when I am 85 it will be that way.

I miss rainy mornings and going to watch Spurs. Certain foods. But whenever I go back to London im ready to come back home within a few days. I do still feel home sickness from time to time.

A few years ago I would have these really vivid dreams where I would just zoom through the places I used to spend most of my time. Like where I would walk to school or my Grandparents homes. Lasted about 6 months and I would wake up quite emotional. Thtas the only time its happend and there was not particular reason for it.

glasgowspur said:

Approaching 60 now and it's always been our plan to move to somewhere with a better lifestyle and climate.

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Is that not literally anywhere south of Glasgow

glasgowspur said:

I've been in the same job for nigh on 33 years, joined the pension scheme as soon as I could and squirreled away as much as I could.
My wife is lga with 40 years service so is also on a good pension.
Been doing a lot of research the last 12-18 months and spoke to an IFA last month who basically said we could retire 18 months earlier than expected.
The wife will retire but I might stick it out until our initial date of 61.
We've made some sacrifices, took some hard decisions, but it will be worth it. Hopefully .

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You’re just staying until you’re 61 so you can become Scotland’s oldest man.

Moved to Geneva in 2006 with work, don’t regret it at all.

It may sound ridiculous but it aligned with the emergence of WhatsApp so I could still easily stay in contact with friends back home on group chats etc. One of the few benefits of social media - if WhatsApp comes under that category.

Great thread. This is something I’ve been considering since my wife passed away. If it was just me I’d ben gone in a flash, but having 3 kids settled in schools it’s a whole new ballgame. All the best @glasgowspur i now you’ve had your share of brick in the last year or so, hope it all works out. In the meantime I’m still dreaming of my place by the sea!

glasgowspur said:

Other than the kids that sounds a lot like us.
Just want somewhere quiet, a bit of land around us, a house big enough to have friends and family come and stay and generally be on our own clock.

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Awesome, keep us posted on the trip.

I've always put money into pensions etc but in the last couple of years I've been paying a lot more attention, think having kids made me realise how much I don't want to be working till I'm 68. Ideally somewhere between 60 and 65 depending on finances, I was born with a health issue so already know I won't have great mobility when I'm older.

I really think we need to do more on financial education, the benefits of saving when younger and letting it compound over decades are huge and if people had greater awareness many would put away more than they do.

One of my biggest regrets is not trying to live somewhere else when I was younger. I think I've probably missed the boat now. My roots are too firmly established here, with family, friends and other commitments, and it would be much harder to make that kind of move.

I have family in Florida, and in my early twenties I was obsessed with the idea of working at Disney World. Looking back, though, I know I would probably have become quite homesick, so I'm not sure I'd actually have stuck it out.

I still like to imagine spending the colder months in Florida when I get closer to retirement. I'd have to put up with some politics I don't particularly agree with, but I could probably live with that in exchange for the sunshine.

Thailand is another country I would have loved to spend some time living in. The people are among the friendliest I've ever met—genuinely warm, welcoming and kind. Just lovely people.

Jurgen the German said:

Thailand is another country I would have loved to spend some time living in. The people are among the friendliest I've ever met—genuinely warm, welcoming and kind. Just lovely people.

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My old boss lives there, I went to see him recently when out for business and the whole lifestyle was so good. He had a nice place with his wife downtown, nice short walk from the river, $ beers and bowl of noodles for dinner, watching the world go by, home half cut only about $25.

The biggest drawback there IMO is the constant stream of British sex cases out there walking around with underaged girls and boys.....its properly off putting

MartyFunkhouser said:

My old boss lives there, I went to see him recently when out for business and the whole lifestyle was so good. He had a nice place with his wife downtown, nice short walk from the river, $ beers and bowl of noodles for dinner, watching the world go by, home half cut only about $25.

The biggest drawback there IMO is the constant stream of British sex cases out there walking around with underaged girls and boys.....its properly off putting

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We went to see Thailand in 2019 with Phuket being one of the stops, went to a bar one night and there was a group blokes about 60 ish all drinking whisky with no partners or wives with them. I’m only making assumptions but it looked like they were there for the wrong reasons.

They also have some really draconian laws about not being able to slag off the monarchy. But every country has its issues.

BrentwoodSpur said:

Great thread. This is something I’ve been considering since my wife passed away. If it was just me I’d ben gone in a flash, but having 3 kids settled in schools it’s a whole new ballgame. All the best @glasgowspur i now you’ve had your share of brick in the last year or so, hope it all works out. In the meantime I’m still dreaming of my place by the sea!

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Well thank you sir.
Had a rough week and tbh your post hit me quite hard, in a good way.
For all the moaning about SM it's posts like this that makes it worthwhile.
Someone I've never met, probably will never meet has noticed that maybe life hasn't been the bowl of roses it can be and takes time to send a message.
I love this place at times.