Want to move overseas, thoughts on my financial position please?

[cbaumgardner]

@inhisarms17 You’d likely earn way more than in nz. Don’t just come back after 2 years. You’d only have started scratching the surface by then.

 

[resjudicata]

@inhisarms17 Go for it! I also am in the opinion you're overthinking it. You'll never be as young as you are today. One day you'll look back and think "man, that may have been impulsive, but I got out of my bubble, explored, experienced different things, jobs, people..."

One of my favorite nights working on a visa was as a bartender at a shitty bar on NYE. We were snorting...party prescriptions in the back room. Yeah, at the time, I thought "jeez I wish I could see my friends on NYE tonight, working sucks"

But looking back, watching the chef yell in french at the Spanish girl who was absolutely pinging while the bus boy got into a fight with the dishwashing guy, and some 80 year old woman was trying to seduce me after 9 vodka martinis... Good times. I miss that dump, and I'm so glad I did it.

Hahaha.

 

[woventales]

@inhisarms17 I lived out in Wembley, 3 tube lines into the city

 

[holyechoes]

@inhisarms17 One thing to keep in mind, you won't just be able to withdraw from your Kiwisaver. There's some strict criteria including having already been living overseas for a year. Also won't be able to withdraw the govt contributions portion.

 

[pressfrancis]

@holyechoes If I was the OP, keep putting money into Kiwisaver while they are away to get the contribution

 

[resjudicata]

@inhisarms17 ok 1st bit of advice, get a job before you arrive.

2nd bit of advice, getting there and getting a flat will cost SFA

3rd bit of advice, do your research about a work visa before anything else

 

[miknik5]

@inhisarms17 Go, you’ll never regret doing the OE. You’ll regret not doing it.

 

[thomas1985]

@inhisarms17 Live your life first! Travel now as you likely won't when you have a mortgage - and you are still going to be saving, albeit a little slower but go girl

 

[ryanrier]

@inhisarms17 You won’t save as much as you think but you will have life and career experience which will be very valuable in the future

 

[mich1973]

@inhisarms17 Leave your KiwiSaver where is it. Don’t count that as your savings for London. Also you may not be able to secure a job before you go. But don’t worry you should be fine finding a job. Join the Kiwi’s in London Facebook page, read the faq, reach out to recruiters before you go and you might be lucky to secure some job interviews for just after you arrive.

As for wanting to buy a house at some point, do that when you’re ready. I went to the UK at about the same age as you, had a blast. I spent about 5 months travelling after my visa expired. Can back home, wasn’t quite ready to settle, so then I did another OE in Canada. I can back home at the end of 2021, and brought an apartment in Sept last year. Had I brought earlier on I would’t have been able to do the extensive travelling that I have.

 

[resjudicata]

@inhisarms17 My OE financially killed me. Had to almost start from scratch. But, without it, I would never have immigrated here, nor would I have met my lovely kiwi fiance. Sometimes, it's better to disregard the finances. That said, we're in a reasonably good financial position now and will almost certainly buy a house this year, I'm 32.

 

[resjudicata]

@inhisarms17 There's always something else to do and somewhere else to go. That, and money evaporates quickly when you're not working.

 

[inhisarms17]

@resjudicata Thanks for this! I plan to work the whole time I’m there so hopefully will be okay

 

[rebeljs]

@inhisarms17 Have you considered buying a house/townhouses first while you are eligible for the first home grant ($10k for brand new) and living in there for 6 months prior to moving to London?

 

[iosifion]

@inhisarms17 What’s the allure of being in London? I feel like it’s been flogged to death, Europe is cool but it’s insanely expensive and brexit hasn’t helped much. If it’s just an OE I wouldn’t worry about saving much, unless you’re just after a working holiday (aus is probably better for that).

 

[brightsmith]

@iosifion Don't have Europe on your doorstep in Australia. It's not comparable at all.

 

[iosifion]

@brightsmith How about south east Asia on your doorstep? As far as overseas experiences go you’ll get far more cultural exposure going to a place that isn’t so similar to nz. After about the third old church you visit you’ll understand what I mean. Push your comfort zone, places like Thailand and Philippines are emerging economies with a cost of living that’s not even remotely comparable to Europe, and the food is 100x better. Just sayin tho , make of it what you will.

 

[pdick]

@iosifion OP can go to australia anytime, but the working holiday visa has an age gap. Plus there’s a massive difference between london and Aus.

OP, definitely go. Don’t even think about it! Make sure you’ve got an emergency fund to get home if you need to, then get yourself outta here You’ll work out the rest when you get there

 

[iosifion]

@pdick Fair point on the visa, didn’t they extend it to 35 recently? Definitely don’t just “not think about it” that’s terrible advice, work out what you wanna achieve by going overseas otherwise you might end up coming back with a hole in your pocket and in the same position career wise. Speaking from experience btw.

 

[mariposa7]

@iosifion Agreed. Having worked in 3 other commonwealth countries before coming to NZ, and I definately didnt get a different cultural experience, wish Id given somewhere like singapore a shot before settling down