Time to emigrate. But where?

[rootsnall]

for the rest of you, stick to the UK and .Net .

Tarkers,

I think you really need to sit down and do your sums, if you've only got 10 working years left can you really recover the situation to the point of having enough money for a comfy independent retirement. You might be better spending your dosh now as you earn it and seeing how things pan out rather than fretting about it. There is always the UK nanny state to fall back on and anything you did manage to save would probably be cancelled out via means testing. Just a thought !

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Tarkers,

I think you really need to sit down and do your sums, if you've only got 10 working years left can you really recover the situation to the point of having enough money for a comfy independent retirement. You might be better spending your dosh now as you earn it and seeing how things pan out rather than fretting about it. There is always the UK nanny state to fall back on and anything you did manage to save would probably be cancelled out via means testing. Just a thought !

My Plan B is just to spend it now, then top myself. Great. I won't be recommending a career in IT to any youngsters.

[Paddy]

Thanks

OK, I'll leave off this one. No, actually Germany is probably on the cards because of my partner's ability to speak the language. Otherwise I might well. I liked the place when I visited, admittedly a while ago when it wasn't quite so (deservedly) overrun with tourists. I stayed near Sedlčany and just did a few day trips to Prague and other places. I liked the countryside and found the people most welcoming, and the beer outstanding of course.

They speak German in CZ-Sudetenland. Was there some sort of war about that?

[doodab]

My Plan B is just to spend it now, then top myself. Great. I won't be recommending a career in IT to any youngsters.

You could just keep on working till you drop.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

You could just keep on working till you drop.

That's Plan A. It may be sabotaged e.g. by people not wanting to give me a string of contracts all the way until I'm 75.

[chef]

That's Plan A. It may be sabotaged e.g. by people not wanting to give me a string of contracts all the way until I'm 75.

[Scary]

If you're looking at Prague the property might be slightly cheaper than the UK (outside London) but unless you have a western European contract or run a business you will probably earn a tiny fraction of a UK rate.

[lilelvis2000]

Again, yes. Because I can't believe that it's not what everybody wants. So why don't we have it?

Edit: you're Canadian, IIRC? Well, maybe you got it. How did you work that?

Waaaayyy back in the '70s I moved there. I'm here now to explore europe. Then I'll move back. Canada is great - aside from the taxation and miserly retirement savings plans and lackluster health care and corrupt politics. But at least the food and essentials arn't a complete ripoff.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Waaaayyy back in the '70s I moved there. I'm here now to explore europe. Then I'll move back. Canada is great - aside from the taxation and miserly retirement savings plans and lackluster health care and corrupt politics. But at least the food and essentials arn't a complete ripoff.

I guess that kind of thing is my top beef with the UK: food and essentials are a complete ripoff. Also, tax (all told, i.e. incl NICs, duty, and stealth stuff) is too high for what it gets you; I'm not trying to avoid tax but I don't feel OK with it here. The housing bubble is no longer entertaining. And the society as a whole is not one I feel part of.

[Scary]

I guess that kind of thing is my top beef with the UK: food and essentials are a complete ripoff. Also, tax (all told, i.e. incl NICs, duty, and stealth stuff) is too high for what it gets you; I'm not trying to avoid tax but I don't feel OK with it here. The housing bubble is no longer entertaining. And the society as a whole is not one I feel part of.

Food and energy are getting much more expensive everywhere. Food shopping is a much smaller proportion of a salary/rate in the UK than in most countries.