Just for fun ... If you were the aggieamy family where in the world would you move?

[aggieamy]

In about five to ten years DH and I could be in the position with our jobs to live anywhere in the world.  Right now we live in Boring McBoring Boringsville.  (Actually it's just a nice pleasant unexciting suburb of a medium sized midwest city.)  We would plan on keeping a condo or house in our current city and not give up all ties because of family still here.

 

We have been to Europe a number of times and love it. Our favorite places have been:

• London
• Bruges
• Skagen, Denmark
• Southern Germany

Of course living in a place is different than visiting a place.  As much as we adore London we know that living there will probably be cost prohibitive for us and DH would prefer not to live in that large of a city.

 

So world wise friends ... where would you move if you were us?

 

A few things that are important to us but wouldn't be deal breakers if a place didn't hit on all issues:

• We are Catholic so we'd like to live someplace with some sort of Catholic population
• Nothing tropical - something leaning towards cold or at least four seasons is better than hot all the time
• We'd love to learn another language but don't currently speak anything besides English so someplace were we could learn a language over time would be best
• We are apolitical but are socially conservative
• We do well for ourselves but aren't rich 

 

[rose]

Canada definitely has four seasons. ;) Vancouver Island is particularly beautiful and culturally rich. The weather is mild but there's a lot of rain in the winter. It's so green and lush though. There's also a large number of homeschoolers on the island so you'd have a good network to work with.

[Amira]

The central highlands of Mexico are lovely. It's rarely terribly hot (almost never above 90 and usually around 80) although there are just three seasons, not four. It gets cool in the winter and a few places manage to get cold, but not many. Spanish is a relatively easy language to learn, Mexico is an easy country to live in, and it's Catholic, conservative, and reasonably inexpensive. Morelia is a lovely place, or Guanajuato, or Tapalpa (for colder weather). And I always love Mexico City.

It would be fun to live in central Europe and have access to a lot of places. Bucharest or Prague or Budapest, maybe. I'd love to live in St. Petersburg. Or Quito, but it doesn't have four seasons. It's in the 60s all year. New Zealand and some parts of Australia would be lovely. And then there are out-of-the-way places like Ulaan Bataar or Samarqand or Addis if you want an adventure.

[purplejackmama]

Australia.

Send me now to be your advance team!! I will find you all the best restaurants, beaches, and fruity drinks.

Strictly research based!!

[Seasider]

My friends who have traveled extensively repeatedly name two favorite countries, Italy and New Zealand.

[mumto2]

I think you should come live near me. Not just because I would love it.....

[creekland]

What do you like to DO in your spare time?

 

Otherwise, Ottawa or Toronto come to mind.

 

Or were you looking more for Europe?

[displace]

Italy. It fits all your requirements. I've never lived there but wouldn't that be cool?

 

Near Vatican City- check

Foreign language - check

Seasons- check

Find a place not in a super large city and it will be cheaper- check

 

Plus an added bonus of being in the middle of Europe so you can travel all over Europe cheaper than from the states - check!

[Laura Corin]

I have American friends who have just moved back to Spain - they lived there for some years in the past.  They said that getting visas to stay there without local jobs was fairly easy (their jobs are based in the US and Australia) whereas they had to leave the UK because their visa situation was untenable.

[TeacherZee]

<p>In about five to ten years DH and I could be in the position with our jobs to live anywhere in the world. Right now we live in Boring McBoring Boringsville. (Actually it's just a nice pleasant unexciting suburb of a medium sized midwest city.) We would plan on keeping a condo or house in our current city and not give up all ties because of family still here.We have been to Europe a number of times and love it. Our favorite places have been:

• London
• Bruges
• Skagen, Denmark
• Southern Germany

Of course living in a place is different than visiting a place. As much as we adore London we know that living there will probably be cost prohibitive for us and DH would prefer not to live in that large of a city.So world wise friends ... where would you move if you were us?A few things that are important to us but wouldn't be deal breakers if a place didn't hit on all issues:

• We are Catholic so we'd like to live someplace with some sort of Catholic population
• Nothing tropical - something leaning towards cold or at least four seasons is better than hot all the time
• We'd love to learn another language but don't currently speak anything besides English so someplace were we could learn a language over time would be best
• We are apolitical but are socially conservative
• We do well for ourselves but aren't rich

Gothenburgh, Sweden

 

Great friendly city, loads going on. Enough of a Catholic population that there is a Catholic school. Skagen is a short boat ride away (day trips are possible and common). Easy to get to London by plane. Country is very liberal socially but with a live and let live policy and Gothenburgh is even more live and let live.

[Lanny]

Some things that will apply anywhere you consider living:

 

You should visit the place many times, during different seasons of the year. You MUST be aware of the risk you take, living abroad, regarding the value of the U.S. Dollar. For approximately `10 years, the U.S. Dollar was extremely weak, so our purchasing power, after converting into local currency (in our case Colombian Pesos) was extremely weak. Now, suddenly, the U.S. Dollar has become extremely strong.  That will hopefully continue for a number of years. The value of the U.S. Dollar is inversely proportional to the price of oil. The value of the Colombian Peso is directly related to the price of oil.

 

You must be absolutely comfortable with the medical care available to you in another country.

 

You must be totally aware of the U.S. tax laws that U.S. Citizens are subject to, worldwide. 

Do some reading on the web site of American Citizens Abroad:

https://americansabroad.org/

 

There are approximately 7.5 million Overseas Americans. More than in approximately 6 states and DC combined. If we were a U.S. state, we would have influence in DC.

 

You can be hit both by a weak U.S. Dollar and high local inflation.  The inflation in Colombia is low (about 3 or 4 % annually) but depending on the economic situation in the country you might live in, you can really be hit by the combination of a weak U.S. Dollar and high local inflation.

 

I file my U.S. tax returns with TaxACT but have an "expert" (not a word I apply frequently to professionals) prepare my Colombian tax return, which makes  U.S. tax laws look incredibly simple.

 

Will the country you want to live in grant you a Permanent Residency Visa to live there?

 

Try to meet natives who live where you consider living and learn what it is like where they live (home or apartment) and what their property taxes, income taxes, COL, etc. are like.

 

Go into local stores and see how the prices compare to what you are used to at home.

 

When you do that, now, with an extremely strong U.S. Dollar, the prices may seem very low. When you do that with an extremely weak U.S. Dollar, you may understand why many Overseas Americans have had to return to the USA during the past 10 years.

 

I understand that the "culture shock" of moving back to the USA is much worse than the "culture shock" of moving from the USA.

 

What taxes will you pay to the host government?    Overseas Americans are subject to the same laws overseas as are natives of the country they are in. Will your income be taxed by both countries or is there a tax agreement between the USA and the country you contemplate living

in?

 

Will you be able to open and maintain a bank account in the country you want to live in? Will you be able to open and maintain a bank account in the USA?  (Many banks have cancelled accounts for Overseas Americans because of the U.S. tax laws, read on the ACA web site).

 

Overseas Americans can vote in the last place they lived in in the USA.   This organization in the Pentagon is very helpful to overseas military and overseas civilians: 

http://www.fvap.gov/

 

 

ETA:
There is an exemption from U.S. Income Tax, for income earned overseas, up to an amount that varies each year, for qualified Overseas Americans. We are subject to paying Self Employment Tax, and I pay that,  there is no exemption from that.  If you plan to continue ownership of a home in the USA, you may still be subject to paying income tax to the state where that property is located. Where your actual tax residence is will greatly affect your situation with regard to U.S. and State taxes.

[kroe1]

Florida

[AmandaVT]

Victoria, Canada - I have a slight obsession with Victoria

 

Iceland

 

Sweden

[PeterPan]

Can you get an RV in Europe and just move around?  I wouldn't want to be stuck in one place...

[rose]

One other thing to consider is local homeschool laws and if this applies to you, spanking laws. Homeschooling and spanking are completely illegal in good portions of Europe. Obviously visitors would be exempt from homeschooling restrictions but residents wouldn't be. Make sure you do your research before relocating. 

[Crimson Wife]

I've never been, but I've always been intrigued by my grandparents' description of Argentina (they met there while doing their graduate school dissertations on the country). My grandma said it was a lot like California in climate (she grew up near LA). It would be Catholic, has a language that is easy-to-learn and useful, and the cost-of-living is reasonable. http://www.cheapestdestinationsblog.com/2014/04/21/what-it-costs-to-live-in-argentina/

[displace]

Florida

Nothing tropical though. And the language is mostly English with a chance to learn some spanish.

[aggieamy]

I think you should come live near me. Not just because I would love it.....

 

It is one of the places in the running.  Based on my preliminary research I think the UK would let us in but based on what Laura said maybe not.  Also we're coming to visit you in May.   :laugh:   I mean that in a non-creepy internet stalker type way.  

 

What do you like to DO in your spare time?

 

Otherwise, Ottawa or Toronto come to mind.

 

Or were you looking more for Europe?

 

We love to travel, play board games, hike/walk, and eat.  Our life sounds pretty boring but that's about it!  

 

Gothenburgh, Sweden

 

Great friendly city, loads going on. Enough of a Catholic population that there is a Catholic school. Skagen is a short boat ride away (day trips are possible and common). Easy to get to London by plane. Country is very liberal socially but with a live and let live policy and Gothenburgh is even more live and let live.

 

We loved Stockholm when we were there and all the trip in with all the islands surrounding it were amazing.  I'm passing this suggestion onto my DH to research.  Any idea on how tough it would be to move there as Americans?

 

One other thing to consider is local homeschool laws and if this applies to you, spanking laws. Homeschooling and spanking are completely illegal in good portions of Europe. Obviously visitors would be exempt from homeschooling restrictions but residents wouldn't be. Make sure you do your research before relocating. 

 

DD is in Catholic school.  We would probably do whatever local option was available for school and then afterschool.  

[Laura Corin]

It is one of the places in the running.  Based on my preliminary research I think the UK would let us in but based on what Laura said maybe not.  

 

It's certainly worth thinking about visas.  Will you be wanting to live as a local in your new foreign home, or will you still be living in the US and visiting other countries for under six months?  You could come into the UK on a visa waiver, but would not have access to the NHS and would have limited accommodation options (landlords have to check for residency before renting to foreigners).  If you do not have a local income and are therefore not paying local taxes, then you don't have grounds for getting a long-term visa for the UK, as far as I understand it.

 

What my American friends did: they came in on a student visa while the father was working on his PhD.  Both mother and father continued to earn incomes from their overseas jobs.  Because of the student visa, they could rent a house and get free healthcare.  Once the student visa ran out, she decided to sign up to do a second Masters so that they could stay another year or two, but they got into a snarl with the regulations and that didn't work out.  The UK work visa regulations are here:

 

https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

[creekland]

We love to travel, play board games, hike/walk, and eat.  Our life sounds pretty boring but that's about it!    

 

Perhaps it's boring, but you sound an awful lot like us.  :coolgleamA:

 

We enjoy many tropical islands (being big water lovers too), but it's difficult to travel from them and they're tropical - not something you're looking for.

 

Italy (but language issues) and New Zealand also seem appealing to us, but we haven't actually been to either.

 

Hawaii is the only place that has actually tempted us to move so far.  Time will tell as we explore more of the world (but we've probably got two more years of catching up financially before we can really travel again).

[TeacherZee]

"We loved Stockholm when we were there and all the trip in with all the islands surrounding it were amazing. I'm passing this suggestion onto my DH to research. Any idea on how tough it would be to move there as Americans?"

 

Well it depends a bit on what your DH does. We have a shortage of some workers but an abundance of others.

[aggieamy]

It's certainly worth thinking about visas.  Will you be wanting to live as a local in your new foreign home, or will you still be living in the US and visiting other countries for under six months?  You could come into the UK on a visa waiver, but would not have access to the NHS and would have limited accommodation options (landlords have to check for residency before renting to foreigners).  If you do not have a local income and are therefore not paying local taxes, then you don't have grounds for getting a long-term visa for the UK, as far as I understand it.

 

What my American friends did: they came in on a student visa while the father was working on his PhD.  Both mother and father continued to earn incomes from their overseas jobs.  Because of the student visa, they could rent a house and get free healthcare.  Once the student visa ran out, she decided to sign up to do a second Masters so that they could stay another year or two, but they got into a snarl with the regulations and that didn't work out.  The UK work visa regulations are here:

 

https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

 

I guess it gets complicated because our income would come from writing.  Either novels or technical engineering papers.  DH and I are both engineers.  Right now we own an engineering company in the US but it's just the two of us.  Likely to pull this off we wouldn't be doing straight engineering anymore since that's pretty specialized.  We're willing to adapt ourselves to the situation using our current skills.  Our preference would be to think of it as a partially retired .. do a bit of travel, have a UK home, and keep our US home.  Hop between them throughout the year.  I realize that might be something that's not possible though.

 

 

"We loved Stockholm when we were there and all the trip in with all the islands surrounding it were amazing. I'm passing this suggestion onto my DH to research. Any idea on how tough it would be to move there as Americans?"

 

Well it depends a bit on what your DH does. We have a shortage of some workers but an abundance of others.

 

His specialty is water and wastewater engineering.  Mine is traffic engineering.  We both have a lot of experience in our fields.  Rather than doing straight engineering for a company we'd like to do something like training or research projects. 

[TeacherZee]

I guess it gets complicated because our income would come from writing. Either novels or technical engineering papers. DH and I are both engineers. Right now we own an engineering company in the US but it's just the two of us. Likely to pull this off we wouldn't be doing straight engineering anymore since that's pretty specialized. We're willing to adapt ourselves to the situation using our current skills. Our preference would be to think of it as a partially retired .. do a bit of travel, have a UK home, and keep our US home. Hop between them throughout the year. I realize that might be something that's not possible though.

 

 

 

His specialty is water and wastewater engineering. Mine is traffic engineering. We both have a lot of experience in our fields. Rather than doing straight engineering for a company we'd like to do something like training or research projects.

Then I would check with Chalmers. It is a BIG engineering school in the city they would be your best bet. There are some big projects going on with infrastructure in the region and being by the coast water is always of interest.

[aggieamy]

Then I would check with Chalmers. It is a BIG engineering school in the city they would be your best bet. There are some big projects going on with infrastructure in the region and being by the coast water is always of interest.

 

Thank you!  That's wonderful advice.  We will start looking into that. 

[Laura Corin]

I guess it gets complicated because our income would come from writing.  Either novels or technical engineering papers.  DH and I are both engineers.  Right now we own an engineering company in the US but it's just the two of us.  Likely to pull this off we wouldn't be doing straight engineering anymore since that's pretty specialized.  We're willing to adapt ourselves to the situation using our current skills.  Our preference would be to think of it as a partially retired .. do a bit of travel, have a UK home, and keep our US home.  Hop between them throughout the year.  I realize that might be something that's not possible though.

 

Your easiest option would be to buy a place in the UK - so you don't have to deal with landlords - and just come and go on a visa waiver.  

 

If you want to rent, things could get sticky if you are not employed by a sponsoring UK company or studying here.  I have not been able to discover if coming in on a visa waiver could count as having a visa for a landlord - we are landlords, and we would normally expect to see a work or study visa in the passport.  Here's a general article:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/buy-to-let/11683858/Right-to-rent-all-landlords-must-check-immigration-status-or-face-3000-fine.html

 

The way that most people come to the UK from overseas is by being sponsored by a local employer.  This is how my husband came in originally with his US passport: he was sponsored by a London bank.  My current employer has a quota of a certain number of visas that can be allocated to overseas workers.  The UK doesn't have 'free visas' that are not tied to employment, in general.  

 

For reference, the only reason that I got a work visa for the US was because I married an American - otherwise, it would have been very, very difficult for me there too.

[Stacia]

I'll vote for Brugge, Belgium, or somewhere in northern Italy.

 

However, if you're planning to pick up local work, I think one drawback in your case is that it is expected that you are fluent in quite a few languages (if you go to Europe).