EgoThreat's department is bidding on a contract that would need somebody in the UK if they win the bid.

Sell the house and all five vehicles, do something about the pets (could they be taken with me?) me find a job over there... I wouldn't mind visiting the UK, but I've never given any thought to actually moving there. It's quite a lot of effort for a change that neither of us were particularly looking for. (The big plus would be that neither of us are happy in our current jobs, but that can be taken care of stateside. Plus North Texas air quality and weather is often atrocious.)

Any thoughts on whether this is an opportunity that I should be looking at harder because of benefits I'm not aware of, or is it simply a lot of hassle for not much gain?

 

Where in the UK? London is cool, but make sure you get a BIG cost of living adjustment as the British pound is worth a lot compared to the USD. Also, forget about owning a reasonably priced, cool car in the UK as vehicle cost/fuel tax is ridiculous.

Your overall quality of life will probably be better in DFW, but the experience might be valuable down the road to spend some time in UK/Europe.

 

As a general rule, most everything cost twice as much there as it does here plus you would have to pay a lot more in income taxes. If she would get a substantial raise/promotion and if you could get good work it might worth consideration. Personally I wouldn't do it.

 

My guess is they'd have to pass some rigorous testing to be sure disease was not being impoted into their country via your pet(s)...


[QUOTE]me find a job over there...

 

I personally wouldn't want to live there but I bet the culture/night life is much better than DFW. Plus just think about hopping on a plane/train and going to any given F1 race and driving on all the fantastic tracks out there.

 

I've thought about this over the years as I could make a lot more in my side job, and I mean a LOT more. The problems as have been mentioned are taxes and costs. Cars cost way more, insurance is way more, housing well you'll pay more for less. You don't realize how much space you have in NTX until you have lived in Europe. I have English friends and they will tell you that the space alone is worth living here. They love it here, my friend Simon moved over and bought the biggest thing he could, a Suburban, just to do it The weather in England sucks but night life in London is like no other, but it has a price that goes along with it. Also, you have to start your credit all over again. It just costs more to live there, much more than I'm willing to pay. I guess I'm cheap because I like real estate costs in NTX. As the Country gets more expensive (fuel, utilities, groceries, recreation, etc) I'm glad I live here. I have friends on the coasts that are broke right now. There are many places better than NTX in this country and abroad but not when you factor in price. The money I save by living here allows me to travel where I want on vacations and have some nice things in the garage.

 

check all the fine details in them buying your house, where do they get market value from? same with the cars...that could make the decision for you. While we haven't personally been screwed by a relo, we have some friends that have.

My sister and brother-in-law were relocated to Canada from NC and they enjoyed it for the first 6 months...7 years later their still there but very unhappy. He's personally invested way too much in this company to leave to only have them bought out...yeah, he's taking the gamble. They miss their friends, the weather, simple things like being able to run to a Target...lots of your common lifestyle interestes might be drasticly changed, it could also impact your relationship.

Way too much to go into but it's a hard decision to make, I would recommend talking directly with family, very close friends...those you might not get to see for one to three years at a time...

Hope you make the right decision for you two!

 

I'd do a 6-month expat to the UK, but probably not something 'permanent'. I was on a work assignment over there for a few weeks, and that was plenty for me. Some things I noticed while I was there (I was working in Maidenhead, just outside of London):
1) They make about the same (or less) salary in GBP as I made in USD.
2) In London, everything costs the same in GBP as it would cost in USD back home... i.e., a 4 dollar beer would cost 4 pounds over there. So, since their salary is lower (numerically) than mine, their money really doesn't go as far.
3) Housing prices around London are ridiculous. I'm not sure what they're like in other parts of the country. A person I worked with had just purchased a 3 bedroom house (I think it was around 1100 sq ft) for 400 thousand pounds. That's about 800K USD. It shared a wall with the adjacent house and didn't really have a yard. I don't think it had a garage, either. When you buy a house, you pay by the room, notsomuch by square footage. And, unlike our spacious 12x14 bedrooms that we get here, theirs are more like 8x10.
4) If you're in London, air quality is significantly worse than DFW. After being outside for a few hours, I'd have to blow my nose just to get the carbon buildup out of it. Not pleasant.
5) On the upside, I believe they do get more holidays than we do.
6) There is a lot of history & culture to be absorbed in the UK.
7) Additionally, all of Europe is just a puddle-jump away.


If you're doing it, do it for the experience, not for the money. Even if she gets 100% raise, you won't be coming out ahead financially.

 

Everything cost more, but relatively you'll get paid more, and a whole lot more holidays!. If the compensation is right, the career path promising, you guys have no kids, I'd say take the move. How often are you gonna get this opportunity.

 

Move to Austin instead