Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it?

pip wrote:


uhmm....i think just about anywhere is a good place to live if you're ultra rich, excluding maybe 3rd world countries.

vato loco wrote:


I couldn't disagree more. If you've got a great job and are educated, the USA is about as good as it gets.

Could I buy an insurance covering a tornado damage of my house ? Is it expensive ?

I wouldn't depend on hunting to survive a SHTF situation. This site has some good insights ferfal.blogspot.com. Bottom line, you will need a gun to defend yourself as the criminals will be armed to the teeth and determined as hell. The hunter's will eradicate any wild food, pretty quickly.

Personally I'd prefer a country where the best gunfighter survives. Poland, for example, has had poverty and they didn't go around killing each other for dollars as is common in Argentina; thats a sign of a fundamentally failed society.

I moved from the UK because I married an american girl. Do not move is my advice.

This is so darn subjective. Of course Europeans are going to say "Don't go!" While Americans are going to say "It's great!" I've lived in Poland and the States and am now on a third continent wondering where to settle. And the answer is......the States. It comes down to familiarity. I am sure that Poland has some wonderful things to offer, I just haven't discovered all of them. Besides, I'm not Polish and therefore don't know how to survive and be satisfied/happy. Of course I can be happy with my family and friends, but day to day life? Forget it. Gasoline - $7/gallon. Teacher - $4-500/month. Western European prices. ??? salaries. I don't even know what to compare it to.

Kumbins:
Home prices in US are dirt cheap, if you have any leads on a job, I say go for it!
Go south - you won't have to worry about house heating, and if you're in the tornado alley or hurricane coast, you'll pick up work quick when the sh!t is down. ;)

If you listen to the news, you'd think US is a hotbed of sickness and poverty. I look around and I don't see any. People that want to work, work.

i'm down south and am completely baffled by the home prices. my wife and i will be looking to buy next year because even after you tally up property taxes, mortgage, upkeep (which is minimal because you can buy houses for under $100,000 that were built in 2003-2005) it is cheaper than renting an apartment. where I grew up in NJ, it's exactly the opposite, house prices are astronomical there.

also good that you mentioned heating. once the hot weather months pass and A/C isn't needed, my electric bill is next to nothing.

it really is a simple decision. if you want the best possible quality of living, move to the USA if you're educated and can get a good job. basically everything costs less here than in Europe, especially real estate and fuel and you'll have 50 states to choose from (and travel to).

have you ever lived in Europe or Poland?

pip wrote:


4 years in Poland, just moved back to the USA in January of this year.

Fuzzy you make it sound so simple. I am planning on moving back to the States with my Polish wife and kids and am tempted to move the desert southwest. Prices for houses are ridiculous, but I just can't help but wonder where the dark shadow is. You can't tell me the atmosphere of those communities with whole streets that have been foreclosed on is exactly positive. I just imagine urban decay. Am I watching too much network news?

I am originally from Pig Knuckle, North Dakota and even though things are very stable and wholesome there, the isolation and cold kind of take the luster away from it. My family is still there, hence the draw. Minnesota is a good second choice and houses are cheap there too.

British salaries are higher then the US salaries. British pound is much stronger too. When I first moved to the US with my pounds I was rich. Now I find it difficult to even fly to Europe. Petrol is more expensive in the UK but here in the US everything is far and we have to travel more. I spend the same money on gas what I used to spend in the UK. Of course, there will be cases where people enjoy living in the USA more then in the UK. There are certain very personal tastes involved that would decide. From my experience, life in the UK was easier then in the USA. It was easier to find a job, to go to the doctor, to comute, to travel, workers have more rights. USA is a very interesting country and I really like it but there are many things that must be modernized. The worst enemy of American progress is a belief that we are always unconditionaly the best. This aproach paralyzes progress. We have to be able to see our faults and try to fix them. I am american now, and I will always try to do my best to improve this country and make it better for my kids. I love the ideas on which this country was founded. The USA have a great potential that should not be wasted.

Patrick,

If that's what you like, go right ahead, but dude.....do you really want to live somewhere that has 6 weeks of warm weather per year? To each their own.

so that makes you practically an expert then.

Yeah Fuzzy I know, but I am taking my kids (6 and 4) into consideration. I see the upper midwest as being much more family-friendly with my family in the area, good schools, low crime, positive environment. Yes, to each his own.

The unemployment rate in the USA is 9% now, and higher at some places. Finding a job as an electrical contractor in the USA is almost impossible now. Also, the USA dollar will fall. Those are the two args agains moving to the uSA.

pip wrote:


how many years have you lived in the USA?

zero- but I don't claim to be an expert. the op asked if he should move from uk to us- I suggested Canada because it is part of the commonwealth and the beliefs are similar- same with australia.

i don't suggest the u.s. because of the lack of health care standard, recession, and differences in the quality of life. basically in Canada you have a safety net if things don't go as planned. the u.s. is very different that the u.k. in that they are more socialist like canada. many of the rules, regulations and laws stem from the uk.

there is zero chance of somebody losing all their money because the bank defaulted on their mortgage. our banks are regulated by the government. university is cheaper and the public school system is good.

it is not a frozen waste land like many think.

Got to go with pip on this one. I am much more for a safety net system as Canada has, not because I am a freeloading loser, but because I would sleep a little better knowing that I wouldn't lose my house and all my money if my family or I got sick.

Americans are addicted to having choices and there's enough people with money to keep the current healthcare system going.

that is very interesting. I had no idea!

pip wrote:


too funny! yet another one.

pip wrote:


neither do I but i think 4 years in Poland qualifies me to have an opinion on the subject.

pip wrote:


for who, specifically?

Pete, my friend had a 4 bed detached house in the UK with a large garden, she has a house twice the size in Canada for the same money :D She also said Canada is cheaper than the UK...so the US must be cheap if you think Canada is expensive.

Oh we can get a large pizza in the UK with the works for about what you paid, but thats because there's a junk food place on every corner now with 2 4 1 offers..

Pete London is just another capital city, expensive, crime ridden, but great night life and loads to do...unless you are uber rich forget it, a friend of mine is paying £2,000 per month on a 2 bed apartment, thats circa. $3,500, that doesnt include council tax or utility bills, just rent...

Oh about the health cover, one never knows whats round the corner, if I ended up like one of our board members did, I'd be fully taken care of for how ever long it took, the rest of my life if that was the case, not for as long as my insurance covered it.

wow- way to take what I said completely out of context.

you forgot --zero, but I don't claim to be an expert.- that last part is important.

4 years in Poland as an expat doesn't exactly make you an expert. It makes you an expat.
difference in quality of life specifically for the middle class.--I will say it again. Canada and the other commonwealth countries have a safety net and a system set up similar to the u.k.

pip wrote:


you must be kidding me.

so what is our conclusion, that neither of us is an expert? that's great....so where does that leave us in this conversation?

this is old.

you are a bit of an arse, no?

the original post, like I stated earlier, asked if it was worth it to move from the uk to the us. and like i previously stated, i said he would probably do better in a country such as canada or australia because they are part of the commonwealth and they have similar social systems to the uk.

this is not bashing the u.s. as much as you expect it to be.
he asked the question and I gave the answer- i didn't slag the u.s in anyway. pull your finger out.

The OP made it clear, along with later posts, that cost of real estate was a huge issue for him. Hands down, real estate is cheaper in the USA than the UK.

commonwealth shmomonwealth, his biggest concern is alleviated in the USA. go back and read his responses to my posts regarding this.

we'll let him prioritize whether or not a more developed social safety net trumps cheap real estate, or for the most part, cheaper everything.

Massively cheaper in some respects.

It's sickening what you can get for your money in the USA compared to Europe.

North Dakota is booming right now, if you could withstand the winters. Las Vegas and Phoenix are cheap, cheap, cheap for real estate (provided of course you can get a job).


American and British health care? Chalk and Cheese, honey.

I'm in the medical field, so I could probably get a job.

I can't help but imagining urban decay in Vegas. Do I want to put my young family in that kind of environment? Yes the houses are dirt cheap and the weather is great, but...?

Ok but however that is a big IF.. I presume you're talking about Plk123? Not to make light of his situation at all but that could have been easily prevented. In the US and I'm sure it's true in Europe too, you can usually avoid the bad areas if you're fairly educated. Plk123 is one of those people.


Holy Christ! That's insane. :- (

I've got a two bedroom apartment right now: 2 bedroom, 2 full baths, balcony, good sized kitchen, live here alone and I pay $670.00 a month, which includes water and the heat for shower etc. ( In a good sized Midwest city, not Chicago). So roughly I pay what? $475 Euro? No bullsh.t and the place has pool too. Lived in the US most of my life and have yet to experience a tornado (seen one from a distance).. or go through a hurricane. Been through lots of snow storms but so have you guys.

The $10 pizza I got was fairly good quality, fresh vegetables, lots of sausage, pepperoni. All for what? 7.00 EUR? This is large pizza not some snack size crap. There's lots of deals. Just got a 6 pack of Pabst beer for $4.00 bucks. Big pack of swiss cheese for $2.00. I bought my kid this old ford escort for $2500.

I love Europe but man those bullsh.t taxes would drive me crazy. In the US, even if you and your spouse have a minimum wage job you can live decent , except like LA, NYC, Boston probably Miami. I'd like to give Canada a go just because it would be an adventure and they do have more jobs than us right now. I would not stay up there though. I don't need some limey queen leering at me everytime I go into some official building.

"Provided you can get a job" that's the key sentence.There is a reason behind real estates being "cheap,cheap,cheap".Can someone smarter explain to me how LV can be doing good when the whole US economy is in a toilet?

Of course I can only talk about Eastern Shore (DE,MD area) and here it is nothing like it used to be even 4-5 years ago.And I mean nothing.Wages offered are ridiculously low and employers expectations are ridiculously high.


What???Dude, tell me how can you live a decent life on $7.25/h (DE min wage)????Pack of smokes is $6.Who are you trying to kidd?

I was struggling as hell making $13/h and you are telling me that you can live a DECENT life on $7.25/h?Not without food stamps and housing assistance.Get a life dude my cable bill is $120/month.