Anyone moved from the UK to live in the USA?
Discussion
BritVsRedneck said:
To answer the OP, yes we moved here to the Midwest 5 years ago.
My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
Are you in Kokomo?My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
unrepentant said:
BritVsRedneck said:
To answer the OP, yes we moved here to the Midwest 5 years ago.
My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
Are you in Kokomo?My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
BritVsRedneck said:
unrepentant said:
BritVsRedneck said:
To answer the OP, yes we moved here to the Midwest 5 years ago.
My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
Are you in Kokomo?My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
I'm in Indy, I've come across a few people from Delphi in Kokomo and some folks at Reflex & Allen. There's a lot of people in the automotive parts and manufacturing arena round these parts.unrepentant said:
BritVsRedneck said:
unrepentant said:
BritVsRedneck said:
To answer the OP, yes we moved here to the Midwest 5 years ago.
My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
Are you in Kokomo?My employer, a global tier 1 automotive supplier, was bought out by an even bigger conglomerate. It now had "too many" R&D centers in Europe, so decided to close our UK technical center.
I'm in Indy, I've come across a few people from Delphi in Kokomo and some folks at Reflex & Allen. There's a lot of people in the automotive parts and manufacturing arena round these parts.I get up to Indy now and again, ride the Monon trail, I like it up there, it's a bit more modern and upbeat!
So I moved out to NYC just over 2 years ago at the ripe age of 43 and freshly divorced.
My move was a (requested) transfer from boring switzerland where I had worked for 3 years prior, having worked in London for many years before in the finance industry ( note I'm not some high power career man, rather the opposite, just luck and fortune got me here)
Funniest thing is i have no university degree, not even A levels, am probably the only person in Manhattan working in finance with no qualification but a couple of GCSE grade C's!
I have also worked ( in finance ) in Sydney , Slovakia and Singapore , so I have something to compare against, as well as London for most part.
Coming over to Manhattan when I was in my 20's would of been mind blowing for the girls alone, even being slightly portly and bald at my age, you have to use a s
tty stick to beat them off you, and from all walks of life too, from Kazakhstan to Canada some times it feels like I'm just going through the United Nations flag list.
Work wise it's similar to London, your the companies bh with no over time,, but also a lot worse in that you get very little holiday and virtually no working rights.
I think America ( read NYC area in fairness as each state is like a country here) is fantantic, and disappointing all at the same time.
It can feel like a 3rd world country, the condition of uts infrastructure is dismal and its social support structure even worse.
It's very expensive( again this is manhattan) and everything is 'plus plus plus' in short any price advertised is virtually a lie as hidden costs are just loaded on.
But, having workind in the previously mentioned places I would not want to work anywhere else, Manhattan is just....alive.
Going back to London is just depressingly boring and dull in comparison.
I don't however intend to stay, my idea is to work here and retire back in England.
Tax here is very high, not on your wages, which is pretty much the same as the U.K., but housing tax.
I moved out of,the city to westchester where people pay 25-40k a year in property tax alone, so reconsider the council tax home to be a bargain!
Then add insurance costs and the cost of running a home( new roof every 10years as they build houses worse than we build garden sheds) means retirement is expensive .
Plus you can't beat the English country side for all its( derservadly ) famous for.
I could go on but the post is getting long so I'll stop
In summary, goto Manhattan by any means you can, but do it while your single and practice your best Hugh Grant voice, I owe a lot; to that man -)
My move was a (requested) transfer from boring switzerland where I had worked for 3 years prior, having worked in London for many years before in the finance industry ( note I'm not some high power career man, rather the opposite, just luck and fortune got me here)
Funniest thing is i have no university degree, not even A levels, am probably the only person in Manhattan working in finance with no qualification but a couple of GCSE grade C's!
I have also worked ( in finance ) in Sydney , Slovakia and Singapore , so I have something to compare against, as well as London for most part.
Coming over to Manhattan when I was in my 20's would of been mind blowing for the girls alone, even being slightly portly and bald at my age, you have to use a s
tty stick to beat them off you, and from all walks of life too, from Kazakhstan to Canada some times it feels like I'm just going through the United Nations flag list.Work wise it's similar to London, your the companies b
h with no over time,, but also a lot worse in that you get very little holiday and virtually no working rights.I think America ( read NYC area in fairness as each state is like a country here) is fantantic, and disappointing all at the same time.
It can feel like a 3rd world country, the condition of uts infrastructure is dismal and its social support structure even worse.
It's very expensive( again this is manhattan) and everything is 'plus plus plus' in short any price advertised is virtually a lie as hidden costs are just loaded on.
But, having workind in the previously mentioned places I would not want to work anywhere else, Manhattan is just....alive.
Going back to London is just depressingly boring and dull in comparison.
I don't however intend to stay, my idea is to work here and retire back in England.
Tax here is very high, not on your wages, which is pretty much the same as the U.K., but housing tax.
I moved out of,the city to westchester where people pay 25-40k a year in property tax alone, so reconsider the council tax home to be a bargain!
Then add insurance costs and the cost of running a home( new roof every 10years as they build houses worse than we build garden sheds) means retirement is expensive .
Plus you can't beat the English country side for all its( derservadly ) famous for.
I could go on but the post is getting long so I'll stop
In summary, goto Manhattan by any means you can, but do it while your single and practice your best Hugh Grant voice, I owe a lot; to that man -)
Edited by satans worm on Saturday 28th January 11:44
But the property tax is worked out on property value, so if they are paying $25k property tax the property value must be around $1.3million so a lot more expensive than our council tax but I gues if they can afford the house the tax is small change.
Edited by Saleen836 on Saturday 28th January 16:37
Saleen836 said:
But the property tax is worked out on property value, so if they are paying $25k property tax the property value must be around $1.3million so a lot more expensive than our council tax but I gues if they can afford the house the tax is small change.
Property tax here in the North East is a definitely more than just small change. Paying $3k and upwards per month just for tax prior to any mortgage, insurance, utility bills etc makes home ownership a very expensive preposition indeed. Some of it can be claimed back when submitting tax returns however you then get into things like AMT (Alternate Minimum Tax) restricting what deductions you can make.Edited by Saleen836 on Saturday 28th January 16:37
Once you own a house / have kids over here life gets very expensive very fast! And don't even get me started on medical bills, my wife had a number of blood tests at the beginning of 2016, just one of those tests alone was billed out by the hospital at $6k! Yes we have health insurance but deductibles are high (in the'000s)
Echo pretty much what everyone else says. When you have kids though costs rocket. Health insurance premiums and out of pocket cost go up considerably.
A decent daycare will set you back $20k a year per child with a token tax relief. Also the state provided education system is generally crap so you'll end up sending your kids to private school. Take your pick depending on your budget.
Also the racism at a system level is also really quite suprising, and everyone seems oblivious to it. Also the rampant poverty and violent crime levels amongst the black communities across the nation are an utter disgrace and completely out of control. And there seems to be little appetite to fix it, rather the focus seems to be on just containing it in the ghettos.
In summary, the USA is a great place to be if you're rich, so-so if you're middle class, and terrible if you're poor.
A decent daycare will set you back $20k a year per child with a token tax relief. Also the state provided education system is generally crap so you'll end up sending your kids to private school. Take your pick depending on your budget.
Also the racism at a system level is also really quite suprising, and everyone seems oblivious to it. Also the rampant poverty and violent crime levels amongst the black communities across the nation are an utter disgrace and completely out of control. And there seems to be little appetite to fix it, rather the focus seems to be on just containing it in the ghettos.
In summary, the USA is a great place to be if you're rich, so-so if you're middle class, and terrible if you're poor.
Edited by dvs_dave on Monday 30th January 02:11
Joining the thread here.
Moved to Orange County California in 2014 with work (Software) on an L1B visa with the wife. Got a promotion to a manager to get an L1A visa and then a very easy (relatively) path to a Green Card from there.
Very similar experiences to those mentioned so I won't repeat. But certainly a few that struck a chord, mainly missing friends and family. This is totally dependent on your own situation but we find we do miss ours a lot. But, we visit them once a year in the UK, and most come here for long holidays every year, so it works out. We do have the odd few moments during quiet times when our next visitor isn't due for a few months.
Credit we didn't find that much of an issue, we opened bank accounts with Bank of America within a few days of arriving and they issued us with a credit card the same day. A few months of using / paying it off and we had scores of 730+
We love it here, but it is expensive (Except cars and fuel). My salary tripled, but so did our cost of living. For me, its all worth it to live in the sunshine in one of the greatest places on earth to live and bring up a family (if you can afford it)
It seems us Brits love a muscle car.. this is mine:
Moved to Orange County California in 2014 with work (Software) on an L1B visa with the wife. Got a promotion to a manager to get an L1A visa and then a very easy (relatively) path to a Green Card from there.
Very similar experiences to those mentioned so I won't repeat. But certainly a few that struck a chord, mainly missing friends and family. This is totally dependent on your own situation but we find we do miss ours a lot. But, we visit them once a year in the UK, and most come here for long holidays every year, so it works out. We do have the odd few moments during quiet times when our next visitor isn't due for a few months.
Credit we didn't find that much of an issue, we opened bank accounts with Bank of America within a few days of arriving and they issued us with a credit card the same day. A few months of using / paying it off and we had scores of 730+
We love it here, but it is expensive (Except cars and fuel). My salary tripled, but so did our cost of living. For me, its all worth it to live in the sunshine in one of the greatest places on earth to live and bring up a family (if you can afford it)
It seems us Brits love a muscle car.. this is mine:
Edited by ReaperCushions on Friday 3rd February 06:07
I live in southeast Michigan and I think it's far better overall than the lifestyle I would have if I were doing the same job at UK pay in the UK. My salary rose significally and the costs of housing and property tax are far lower. I chose to live in an area with very good state schools which means we have less house for our money than in other areas but that is a tradeoff I believe is worthwhile.
The difference I see between the UK and USA is that with the USA you're often responsible for choosing how and where to spend your money versus having the decision made for you and being dissatisfied with the results. I chose to live in my town where I pay for the privilege of the schools, library, parks and other amenities; I know that I could pay far less elsewhere but have no services. At least I have a choice. Most expatriates I have met have stayed or wanted to stay had it not been for their visa running out.
If people are contemplating taking a work assignment in the USA then I recommend that they consider the above as part of their decision making process.
The difference I see between the UK and USA is that with the USA you're often responsible for choosing how and where to spend your money versus having the decision made for you and being dissatisfied with the results. I chose to live in my town where I pay for the privilege of the schools, library, parks and other amenities; I know that I could pay far less elsewhere but have no services. At least I have a choice. Most expatriates I have met have stayed or wanted to stay had it not been for their visa running out.
If people are contemplating taking a work assignment in the USA then I recommend that they consider the above as part of their decision making process.
David Beer said:
I have been maybe 50 times, done all but two states and two nat parks. Putting that right in June. Favourite California and Utah. Living there if I could, you bet.
Similar to me, god knows how many trips, 47 States visited but, at 37 years old despite having a good CV and trying for over a decade I simply cannot get myself a position there.Probably the only time in my life that I regret being in IT, there's simply too much home-grown ability in the US for any company to need to employ me!
K50 DEL said:
David Beer said:
I have been maybe 50 times, done all but two states and two nat parks. Putting that right in June. Favourite California and Utah. Living there if I could, you bet.
Similar to me, god knows how many trips, 47 States visited but, at 37 years old despite having a good CV and trying for over a decade I simply cannot get myself a position there.Probably the only time in my life that I regret being in IT, there's simply too much home-grown ability in the US for any company to need to employ me!
ReaperCushions said:
K50 DEL said:
David Beer said:
I have been maybe 50 times, done all but two states and two nat parks. Putting that right in June. Favourite California and Utah. Living there if I could, you bet.
Similar to me, god knows how many trips, 47 States visited but, at 37 years old despite having a good CV and trying for over a decade I simply cannot get myself a position there.Probably the only time in my life that I regret being in IT, there's simply too much home-grown ability in the US for any company to need to employ me!
Hi all ...... Looks very much like I will be making this move at some point this year (indeed I am off to look at houses next week!)
I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
I'd make sure your employer takes care of your "transition" year. Mine assigned me a big accountancy firm who specialised in this as part of the expat relocation process. Hopefully you have that.
Sir Snaz said:
Hi all ...... Looks very much like I will be making this move at some point this year (indeed I am off to look at houses next week!)
I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
Generally not a fan of HOAs either but it really depends on the area and the level of knobbery the HOA imposes. One of my places is under HOA, it's pretty good as they do very little other than keep the street lights on, fountains working etc, and make sure people cut their lawns and don't let their place go to crap.
Then again, if I had to pay anything more than a trivial amount per annum to the HOA, I'd question their merit. Yet to see a cheap HOA out west.
Then again, if I had to pay anything more than a trivial amount per annum to the HOA, I'd question their merit. Yet to see a cheap HOA out west.
Sir Snaz said:
Hi all ...... Looks very much like I will be making this move at some point this year (indeed I am off to look at houses next week!)
I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
Can't comment on the tax yet as I am not a home owner. But out of those two areas, I would be seriously looking at Rancho SF over Camarillo, it is a beautiful area and easy reach of San Diego with is an amazing city.I have a golden ticket with regards to GC (my wife of 11years is American, and our Daughter is dual nationality) ....
I just wanted to ask those that have done it more about work and the extraneous costs....
We have enough saved and in equity to be able to buy a very nice place outright. We are looking at 2 areas, north of LA (Camarillo - Santa Barberra corridor) and also Northern San Diego (Rancho Santa Fe - Rancho Bernardo).
Now I am well aware of the annual property taxes (in our case between $10-14k pa), plus the possibility of some HoA fees (id guestimate a max of $500 pm).
Are there any other taxes/costs/hidden nasties outside of the above?
Also, I understand that you can 'write off' some of your property taxes?...how does this work?...is it only applicable if you are self employed, or can you do it as an employee too?.....and added to that if both my wife and I are working, can we both claim?
I guess the real answer is get a damn good accountant ......which leads me to another question .......did any of you have any spill over from your UK past in terms of money/taxes that you didnt foresee?
snaz
Interesting thread. Just moved here myself - 2 months back. I moved from Dubai to Manhattan but work a lot in the south (Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA) where the back office functions of the banks are based.
So far, undecided. I'd echo most of the earlier comments. In terms of initial setup I would say it's no worse than any other place I've been. Having to do the driving test again despite having three licenses (Irish, Dutch, Emirati) was a bit of joke but it's easy to pass - 5 min test.
Positives, well paid / low tax, outdoors lifestyle, proper seasons, outgoing people (easy to get chatting in a bar)
Negatives, food isn't great and when it is you pay for it, colleagues need to be handheld and are passive aggressive, granted I live in Manhattan but your rent/grocery costs add up.
I think one of the most notable things to me is how they treat the poor and mentally ill. I lived in lots of countries/ big cities but this is the first one where I think people go out of their way to ignore problems or leave them rambling on the streets.
I liked the person who said, if your rich - great, middle class - comfortable, poor - move to france!
So far, undecided. I'd echo most of the earlier comments. In terms of initial setup I would say it's no worse than any other place I've been. Having to do the driving test again despite having three licenses (Irish, Dutch, Emirati) was a bit of joke but it's easy to pass - 5 min test.
Positives, well paid / low tax, outdoors lifestyle, proper seasons, outgoing people (easy to get chatting in a bar)
Negatives, food isn't great and when it is you pay for it, colleagues need to be handheld and are passive aggressive, granted I live in Manhattan but your rent/grocery costs add up.
I think one of the most notable things to me is how they treat the poor and mentally ill. I lived in lots of countries/ big cities but this is the first one where I think people go out of their way to ignore problems or leave them rambling on the streets.
I liked the person who said, if your rich - great, middle class - comfortable, poor - move to france!
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