Ok, real talk.
I’ve been keeping a little secret from you all… well it’s not really a secret but just something that’s been planned for nearly four years now and I have never written about it…
There’s a little back story that’s needed so let’s start there.
The year was circa 2013 and I’d been working for nearly 2 years and Mrs.FB was just finishing her degree eagerly (not) looking forward to starting work fulltime.
We had always planned to do a Euro trip at some point in our 20’s, and we were roughly aiming for 2015 to be the year.
We did an American trip at the end of 2012 with another couple and I really hated the style that we did the trip.
You know what I’m talking about:
* Fly here
* Get a cab to landmark
* Take Seflie
* Hop back in a plane
* Goto next stop…
Don’t get me wrong, I loved that trip and it was an amazing experience. It’s just that it was so exhausting and I felt like I never had the time to truly experience the inner vibe of some cities because we were there and gone in a second.
Some parts of that trip I just wanted to chill out and enjoy the area we were in. But that’s what a 7 week trip around the states is really. Unless you’ve been before, everyone (myself included) wants to see as much shit as possible during your time off.
Another massive negative from traveling like that is you pay a premium for everything. Because you don’t have time to head down the supermarkets and prepare meals, or you can’t wait for offseason ticket prices for a lot of things especially with airlines (don’t even get me started).
In a nutshell, that trip was awesome, but it’s hard for me to truly enjoy myself when I know I’m paying a premium for most things.
Which brings us back to our Euro trip.
Instead of rushing around like mad over 6-8 weeks… Why don’t we pack up and stuff, and move over there for a year?
Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend like this is a groundbreaking idea. I’m really following suit from many of my mates who did the whole work in London and travel around on the weekend thing.
It’s a brilliant way to do it I reckon. You have a base where you can recharge and get back in a routine. And because all the countries are so close, you can skip on over to France on a long weekend…Or pop over to Spain Friday night and return Sunday. I have even heard of (insane) people catching a 5 AM flight in on a Monday and heading straight to work!
The other really big bucket list item that Mrs.FB and I wanted to tick off is living in a capital city. Yeah, the weather sucks in London but the lifestyle, food and drinks options, events, concerts, sports, proximity to other countries and countless other pros to us was worth the hustle and bustle of a concrete jungle.
So our minds were made up. In 2015 we would pack our bags and head off on a once in a lifetime trip…
And then I discovered FIRE
I was very lucky to get a high paying job (relative to the country) straight out of uni and when I discovered FIRE I felt like
I was in an extremely fortunate position and could realistically achieve this goal before 35.
I had the following:
* Early 20s
* Good paying job
* Low cost of living
* Frugal
We were still planning to do the trip but in the back of my mind, I wasn’t ready to pack in my job yet and really wanted to grind away for a few more years so compound interest could do its thang. I had it in my head that your 20’s are a really special time where you can save and invest a lot of money and leapfrog yourself to FIRE. You can still do it in your 30’s and later but it’s just a lot harder when kids are on the scene.
So there I was, stuck between a trip of a lifetime and a goal that had turned into an obsession.
I ended up chatting to Mrs.FB about the Euro trip and how I wasn’t ready to go. What didn’t help the situation was Mrs. FB had just started full-time work and she had a really, really hard time. She’s a teacher and was placed in an incredibly hard class for her first year (still the worst one after teaching for 5 years). And on top of that her cat got eaten by a dog halfway through that hellish year…
So as you could imagine, the conversation went about as smooth as sandpaper. I think she understood how important setting ourselves up at an early age was, but it’s hard to appreciate that after the year she had. Mrs. FB ended up booking camp America for 2015 lol. She needed a break and I was totally supportive of that. I stayed home and worked through those 4-5 months in 2015 and met up with her in Hawaii as she flew back to Oz.
The next three 4 years (2015-2018) set the foundations for the bulk of the portfolio that is worth over $600K as I write this today. We were both working fulltime and investing a large chunk (~65%) of our combined after-tax income.
We had revised the date for our Euro trip to be at the start of 2019.
And then, as if a temptation from the devil. I got a raise and my dream job towards the end of 2018. I thought about just canning the whole trip for a few nights but the longer I thought about it, the more I realised that I would 100% regret it if we never went.
How many people have you heard say they regret traveling? I’ve yet to met a single person. On the contrary, how many people have you heard say they wish they took more risks when they were younger? I’ve met a few…
If we continue on our current path right now. I’ve roughly calculated that we would hit FIRE in 4-5 years. That’s a house fully paid off
with around $50K rolling in.
Buuuuut… life’s worth living. And the fact that we have a growing snowball back home that will continue to work hard and make us money whilst we’re away makes the decision a lot easier for me.
Which is why I’m typing up this post on a flight to Singapore.
We are on our way to London (little holiday through southeast Asia first) to start our new life.
We’ll be back…at some point.
But for someone who has always been risk-averse… always chosen the smart move and not the most exciting.. made countless sacrifices in the pursuit of freedom…
YOLO!
Bloody legend. Travel safe!!!
I planned my trip to Europe when I was 15.
I finally went when I was 51. Life, kids, divorce and then survival kicked in. I had to wait until my fourth son finished secondary school before I could go on that trip.
It wasn’t all bad. I paid off my house in the meantime, which ended up being the property I geo-arbitraged to reach financial independence.
But even though that 9-week extravaganza was an absolute delight and every day was wonderful, it was a different experience than if I’d gone when I was younger.
You’re doing the right thing.
Have an absolute blast, you two! London’s fabulous – I’d go back again in a heartbeat.
(And I will be back – every year after I pull the pin on work. Heh heh.)
Thanks!
Yeah that’s the vibe I got from a lot of people. A euro trip is completely different in your 20s vs any other decade. It’s not necessary better or worse… Just different
Really wise decision! Excellent move!
Not surprised by this post, I mean there’s a reason why people want to FIRE right? I remember the comic where it shows bar charts of age, energy, money and time I’m sure you know the one so it’s awesome you went for it.
Just want to know what you consider a high wage for someone in their early 20s that you mentioned. Are we talking about high for a graduate I.e. $75k or relative to average earner i.e. $100k? Also you said you’ll be back at some point which suggest you gave up your dream and high paying job. Is this true? You decided to find a job in London and see how you go?
I know exactly that one you’re talking about mate.
I was on $74k out of uni (2011) which quickly rose to ~$100k in three years (local government gets two pay raises a year, don’t ask me why).
Not big for the city but in the country it was great money.
Work has given me the time off but I’ll be finding work in London and if we like it we’re ganna stick around (which would mean giving up my job back in Australia).
WOW! Great decision AFB & Mrs, AFB. I’m 38 now and had the chance to move to the UK a while back for up to 5 years but ‘life’ got in the way as it does and I stayed here. I’ll always regret that a bit so GO for it! Have the best time and a fantastic experience. We will miss your insightful blogs and podcasts though. ALL THE BEST!
Thanks Marc,
The blog and podcast will continue! That’s the beauty of the internet. I can post from anywhere in the world!
Wow! What an exciting adventure you two are embarking on! We’re so thrilled for you and can’t wait to read all about it. I agree, you won’t regret this year. Have a fabulous time!
Thanks so much 😊
Great decision Aussie. I waited until I had a job for three years, qualified as an accountant then I took off for 3 years. I never regretted it (the travel and life stories). Now at 47 with kids, I look back and the adventure travel I did such as hiking up to Machu picchu, egypt and camping, I could not do now because of dodgy knees and sore back. I’m really glad you are doing this and don’t worry about your blog when your away although we will miss it. :> If only I had put a snowball in place before I took off at 26/27! You’ve really got this thing called life sorted.
Thanks Belinda! I’ll keep up the blog, but I won’t be able to do as much content whilst we travel. I still have a hell of a lot to learn about life but I like the position we’re in and it’s only getting better 🤙
Awesome news, where is the travel blog so we can follow along???
I’ll keep you guys posted on here. Maybe a little bit of the travels in the net worth updates 😉
I can relate to this. Since learning of financial Independence we have been extremely frugal and done very little travelling. I have been making great progress with savings and investing but the lack of fun was making me a bit sad. Last year I took 3 weeks off and stayed at an airbnb of my intended retirement location. It was a great trip! I made friends and lived like a local for that short time. Now looking at going back there every year (even cheaper as I have friends to stay with!) and possibly staying longer each time and/or picking up some casual work for pocket money.
Congratulations on taking the risk and making the trip happen! Very excited for you! Have a great time and I look forward to hearing/reading about it all in future posts.
Thanks Lin 🙏
That’s fantastic news Aussie Firebug!
Hope we hear something from you, but excited for your adventure. This is exactly the type of flexibility that FI is perfect for enabling. Congratulations!
Thanks FI Explorer!
I’ll continue to post but it won’t be so regular.
That’s the best thing, we are still getting around $9k a year in dividends while we are travelling with more to come (once we DCA our lump sum into the markets). So satisfying watching the portfolio tick away whilst we travel. I don’t think we’ll be able to save much this year but hopefully our jobs in London can sustain our travel lifestyle which leaves the snowball to continue to roll done the hill and grow and grow. Will be awesome to come back to a bigger nest egg than when we left assuming the markets don’t shit themselves 😁
Wow huge news there! It’s not clear from the post, but I’m assuming you’re planning to work while you’re over there or will it actually be a complete break from work?
Either way I think it’s a great decision to see Europe now while you’re still young. You’re already in a great position financially and you want to live your life rather than trying to make some arbitrary time frame for a dollar figure that isn’t guaranteed to make you happy.
I went to London for a year or two when I was about your age, ended up staying for eight! As you’re obviously aware it’s a great base to see the rest of Europe from, plus there is a huge amount to see in the UK itself. Enjoy!
Thanks HIFire.
We’ll be working mate. I’m actually really looking forward to it. A new job is as good as a holiday as the old saying goes. Really looking forward to working in a city for once and seeing new ways to do business.
We’re are bless to both have jobs that transfer to overseas markets. Mrs. AFB is a teacher and I’m in IT. My brother in law is a solicitor and can’t practice law in another country without doing more exams. So lucky that computers are mostly the same everywhere on the planet haha.
Can’t wait 👊
Absolute congratulations to you. I totally agree with your decision. I travelled a lot when I was younger & it was the best thing I ever did. I love the outdoors & myself & hubbie did a lot of remote travelling, where we went out with backpacks & all our necessary gear including tents & food (sometimes up to 12 days). This was a rather inexpensive way to travel, but this is also how we enjoy travelling (not everyone’s cup of tea I understand). We also did a lot of cycle touring (mostly in Europe) & camped. Our biggest expense was often food. Travel in South America has been my favourite, the highlights being Patagonia & Machu Picchu as someone has already mentioned.
By you working in Europe, you will be earning money & get a chance to really get about a few countries (that is less easy in Australia). You will also get to know people & establish a healthy routine (not too many fatty take aways). Travel when you are young & fit is fabulous. People close to dying would never regret their travels.
I also plan to stop working my current job soon to embark on a new life chapter. I do not like to say ‘retiring early’, as I want to involve myself in activities that are close to my heart, whether paid or otherwise.
Did you get leave from your current job?
I did get leave to hedge our bets of us not liking it (highly unlikely but you never know).
If we’re enjoying it we will stay over there. Will it be nice to come back to a great job, yes. Is it going to influence our decision, hell no!
I can’t tell you how much I love this post. As someone who moved overseas a year ago to travel and just quit a safe job in Australia it inspires me to hear others doing the same. I am still a while away from FIRE but am also relying on compounding while I am away. You won’t regret it. I would love to hear any strategies for side hustle or income creation you come up with overseas. Love the blog and look forward to future posts.
Thanks Aussie traveler!
It’ so hard to quit a safe good when a lot of people (with good intentions) are telling you to play the safe bet But what’s life without some risk hey! We’ve been planning it safe long enough I think. Time to explore a bit and jump in the deep end 🙌
I’m planning on finding contract work in IT once in London. We can do our traveling on weekends and in between contracts. Can’t wait.
Great move! I have been living in London for the past 5 years and it has been the best decision i have made. The travel options are amazing but also the range of work you can do is so much more diverse than in oz. I have just turned 30 and have been reading your blog for the past year or so and am just starting the long term investing journey now. Good news is that living in London isn’t necessarily a barrier to FIRE – depending on your industry the salaries can be much higher, so my wife and I still manage to save ~50% of our income whilst doing around 8-10 trips a year. Hope you enjoy the move! Feel free to reach out if you need some contacts for the job hunt
That’s awesome!
What line of work are you in?
I’ll drop you an email because I’ll definitely need some contacts. Recruiting agencies seem to be all the rage over there. From what others have told me, it’s pretty much the norm.
Similar age/story to Ed above, except I went to Dubai as a lawyer (London missed out because of the weather).
I left with 3 credit cards owing, huge HECS (most of it still owing after 5 years working) and no money saved (other than from cashing in my perfect 1991 Corolla, which is sadly missed). Almost 5 years later and my first two goals of thirty by thirty (i.e. 30 countries by 30) and a net worth of zero (i.e. no debt/HECS) have long since been achieved a couple of years ago. Now the savings rate is 75%, 6 months living expenses is saved up and the ETFs/LICs (thanks to Andrew Hallam – Millionaire Expat) are hopefully starting to snow ball into FIRE (instead of following the usual path of late retirement).
Moving overseas is incredible. It hasn’t been without its troubles health/relationship-wise, but you grow up, you see the world, you experience other cultures, you travel to Europe in a single digit number of hours! Good luck and all the best. At least now I figure I might have a chance at catching up to you on the race to FIRE!
PS. Your brother-in-law doesn’t have to sit exams everywhere! (I haven’t sat any since leaving)
Love the story judgey 🤙.
Ahh that’s good to know for him. I swear he was the one who told me that but maybe he was misinformed?
Great update looking forward to following your journey.
It’s awesome to have options like this!
Hi Firebug
Great to hear this. I think an excellent decision that you definitely will not regret.
My wife and I have also recently made a similar decision and will be packing our bags for the Caribbean very shortly! Very exciting!
Assume the answer is yes, but have you considered the tax implications of moving?
I won’t go into it here, but there are a lot of things to think about for an Aussie expat (especially one who will maintain income earning assets in oz whilst earning income from offshore)
I’d love to hear about your thought process on that?
Cheers
Hi there,
That’s awesome news. I’ve never been to the Caribbean but I’m sure it’s wobderful.
I have spoken to my account about it but I’m keen to hear from other peoples perspectives.
We hold all of our assets in a trust also, which means there’s a few more options for us.
The most important part about our tax situation is that we have two negatively geared properties in the trust (which was a mistake but you live and learn) which means the trust has yet to distribute any money to beneficiaries (because of the deppraciation of the properties).
I understand that if we were to have earned an income from the shares whilst living overseas we would not benefit from the tax free threshold.
Is this what your mainly talking about?
Hello!
For an individual, if you become a foreign resident you trigger a CGT event on all of your shares. Good if you don’t have a massive gain in your shares, bad if you do. Bright side is that you will get a cost-base “step up” if you become an Aus tax resident again (i.e., it’d be like you bought your shares again at whatever price they were when you come back).
BUT – I forgot about your trust situation. I don’t know if the above tax residency stuff impacts trusts? Suppose your accountant will be all over that.
Also, I think you also pay tax on dividends/rent at the highest marginal rate (as well as losing the benefit of the tax free threshold).
This might be outside of the scope of this blog, but I’m curious about this (coming from near-zero knowledge about it and considering a similar adventure before we have children reaching school age). According to the ATO age on Changing Residency, the section notes “(as) an individual, you can choose to disregard all capital gains and losses you made when you stop being a resident… those assets are taken to be taxable Australian property until the earlier of (a;) a CGT event… (or b;) you again becoming an Australian resident”.
My reading (disregarding personal circumstances, not as advice, and as an individual) is that assets held prior to departure and not sold/disposed of prior to return are not really impacted, but any taxable gains (e.g. distributions/dividends on shares, apologies if I haven’t used the right term) during the non-residency period would be subject to tax w/o the tax-free threshold, and that little else is required beyond showing this on a tax return for those FY’s. Is that the rough idea?
FWIW I haven’t seen anything about regular individual marginal rates not applying, just that the tax-free threshold only applies pro-rata with the number of months as a resident for tax purposes.
Whoa this came out of nowhere – for us (the readers) – but obviously it was rattling around in the background for a long time!
Awesome stuff man, I’m sure you’ll have heaps of fun! Look forward to hearing about your new adventures when you get the chance to update us 🙂
Also, pretty cool that your portfolio will continue to grow while you’re off cruising around…
Happy travels FB!
Thanks Dave. Having the compounding working away whilst we are gone sits very well with me.
Congratulations AFB!
I’ve recently gone the opposite way, having grown up in and around London and now in Perth. Moving to the other side of the world has helped me focus on what I want from life and I’m definitely happier because of the experience.
London is a great city to live in. Have you thought about which region of London? If you are looking at South or South-West send me an email and I’ll be able to give you the lowdown on different suburbs!
We’re pretty much going to get a job first and then try to get a room close by.
I was thinking about south London. I hear that’s where all the Aussies are?
Would you suggest to look for employment first and then a stable room. Or rent a room in a back packers or something while you try to get a gig. Happy to hear experiences from anyone who has been.
Dear AFB,
Congrats on the new life in Europe. What with the Brexit and all the that malarkey, be sure to give Dublin a go if London is not to your liking!
Best of luck,
Jeff
Will do Jeff. We will probably visit there anyway but would be cool to work also.
You will definitely bump into a few Aussies in South London but it’s nothing like being English in Perth!
I’d recommend Tooting, Balham or Wimbledon as places with plenty going on and good transport to the city centre. Everywhere within 30 mins commute of the centre is pretty pricey nowadays though!
As for finding a place, I guess it depends how quickly you think you will find a job. Can’t help you with that as my line of work is quite different to yours! Rentals seem easier to sort out than in Australia though so you won’t have too much issue finding a place.
Sweet. Good to know Jonny
Also, dont discount other cities in Britain if you come across any jobs – Brighton (my home city), Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh are all great places too!
Will do!
I knew you had a surprise in store for us but this was not it! (At least what I thought).
Congrats guys, enjoy the time over there. I spent 3 months in the States working and travelling and it was one of the best times in my life. Enjoy!
Thanks BHL 🙏
Good on you mate. You will not regret it one bit.
I’m slowly following the FI path, but have chosen a more balanced approach instead of all out frugality.
My wife and I ditched our jobs in Melbourne in our late 20s and moved to New York City. We ended up staying 5 years, travelling all over the country, meeting life long friends and even having our first child there.
We are now back in Melbourne (mid 30s, you really learn to appreciate our health care, education system after living in the US) for family stability reasons (kids school age now).
Our time living abroad is one of the greatest things we have done and we don’t regret it at all, despite it not being the most financially responsible thing.
Like you said, enjoy life while you are young.
Lastly, thanks for your contributions of FI content for Aussies.
Thank for sharing your story Matt. We hope to have a similar experience 😁
I have to say, congratulations mate. I think you’ve made the best choice. I left Australia when I was 21, and dedicated the next 13 years of my life to travel. Basically working for 1 year, quitting, and backpacking for 1 year. Rinse and repeat for 13 years. I would not exchange it for any amount of money. The crazy memories and experiences, have made me who I am today. I’m not in my mid 30’s, and starting my trip to F.I.
One thing I would advise you to do though before you get too far down the track, is to actually spend a whole heap of time travelling. Just travelling, not just working with small trips in between… I’ve done both (several times), in different parts of the world, and travelling long term is a completely different sensation and experience to a working holiday. Once you hit 3 to 4 months on the road, you reach an entire new level of relaxation. It’s bliss! Most parts of the world, you can get by for $30 a day (or under). I mean, I spent a total of $15k (including flights) for a year backpacking in South America. It’s a completely different lifestyle, that I think you’d fall in love with. So either before you start working, or after you finish working, think about taking the long way to your next destination (or, take the long way home) – a year stint, slowly drifting your way around the world.
I promise you, you will never regret it.
Sounds amazing Clint. We’ll see how things go but we might have an opportunity to do something like this at the end of our trip. Looking forward to it 🤙
Wow, you have so many positive responses. Your story ignited the passion in me & obviously so many others. And like Clint, I backpacked around South America for more than 6 months – the best thing I ever did – also was very fit climbing mountains at high altitude. I love the story about the man with 2 hours left to live, reporting what he wished he had done.
I actually took the courage to give notice at work (was worried) & I finished up leaving gracefully with a lovely farewell yesterday. I did offer to spend some time in future training the next person that they have not decided on.
I was discouraged by quite a few people about quitting work. I am almost 52 & reached financial independence quite some time ago. People ask “what are you going to do with your time” & one person said because I would be doing nothing, I would have the time to …
It is actually difficult to tell people that you do not need to work because you are financially independent. They may classify you as a “rich bitch”. I earned my money honestly & had the fortune of a free education & jobs in the IT industry for my entire career. I had poor parents from very large families & they never wasted a penny.
I find it hard to believe that people’s imagination cannot extend past their full time job. I don’t plan to be idle & I may do some work again that I am passionate about, whether paid or otherwise. Giving back to the community is important.
How do you imagine people would answer if they were asked what they would do if they won the lottery?
That’s always baffled me. “If I won lotto I’d still come to work”.
Like seriously?
You have nothing else that takes a higher priority in your life than your job? Sounds like most people need to expand their harizons and branch out a little. I don’t subscribe to the notion that the majority of the workforce are in their dream job. I’d wager if people were being 100% honest it would be lucky to be 2%.
I don’t mind my job, but if I won lotto tomorrow, no way in hell I’m rocking up to work for a 38 hour week for the next 30 years 😂
I always enjoy reading your blog and listening to the podcast but felt I had to comment on this one!
I love this post and completely agree that you only live once so sometimes you need to put amazing life experiences first even if might delay FIRE plans for a few years.
My husband and I have been on a bit of a FIRE journey since our early 20s and moved to London for 18 months at 23 after we became chartered accountants. Almost 5 years later we moved back! You will have the best time. We lived in a share house with another couple for the first few years and the money saved was spent on lots of holidays around Europe. We still managed to save and invest along the way, returning with 2 more investment properties that we purchased while we were over there so you might make more progress than you expect.
Best of luck! Looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Wow that’s awsome jess. Thanks so much and I look forward to posting about everything we get up to 👍
Legendary! Great to hear.
I was working as a nurse one night shift and one of my patients couldn’t sleep. He was in his 30s, and earlier that day had a whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer. The operation gave him 2yrs to live. He cried and told me about all the things he wished he had done.
It changed my life and since then I have worked only 6-9months of every year. When I’m finding it difficult to walk away from my secure permanent employment each time, I replay his words in my head and send the resignation email within a few minutes.
Wonderful to read you guys are not only planning for the future, but living the now too! Safe Travels and wish you guys a great adventure!
Congrats on making taking the step and moving overseas- best decision you will make.
We did something similar, but a little later in life. We spent 2 years in Bali when our kids attended school there (years 3 and 4) and we were 39 and my wife 40- never too late.
It can be hard at times, but I had my own business that I could do remotely, so had the advantage of not needing to look for work.
You guys are in a great financial situation, and you will be fine when you come back. Who knows you might even be able to save more there than before.
Enjoy
That would be something! I’ve had a look at the job market in my industry and I’m confident my pay will be higher over there. It’s just the living expenses and travelling will most likely mean a hit to our savings… I’ve essentially come to terms that our savings will be on hold for a year. If we manage to save anything it will be a bonus
Congrats on the big move.
Quick question: are you quitting your current job and look for work in the U.K?
Work gave me the time off but if we like it over there and want to stay, I’m not letting my job back home play into our decisions and end it early.
We’ll both be working in the UK
great post, life is definitely worth living
This resonates with me a bit too. I’ve only recently started taking to the FIRE movement. Last year I booked a big holiday for this year and at first, with my FIRE focussed mind, I looked upon this as a big burden to my early retirement goal. But then, no one ever knows what’s around the corner and as much as we plan, unexpected things can happen. It’s important to not sacrifice the present for the future. A plan is important though and I certainly wouldn’t discourage it; and I’ve updated my time to FIRE accordingly and factored in potential future holiday spending.
If you end up staying outside Aus. Ie non residents for tax purposes, gen up on the tax implications if you haven’t already. No personal allowance and a starting rate of 32.5%, as I understand it.
While that will have little impact on dividends, profit on rental income etc could be affected.
Congratulations! How exciting. My partner and I are planning to do this in a few years – take a year off work and really try to extend our side hustle while living in cheap somewhere gorgeous.
I’d really love it if you could do a blog post about why you chose to invest under a trust and what your experience has been with it. We have kids so we are thinking of of doing this but wondering if the ongoing management costs are worth it.
Anyway, most importantly- enjoy exploring the world!
Hi TeeJay,
I responded to the trust question in an Ask Firebug Fridays episode. You might need to do some digging to find it but essentially we went through a trust so we could distribute income at the most tax efficient manner each year.
But it adds complication. You don’t really need it if I’m being honest.
Definitely read up on tax status. You don’t just automatically become non resident. Actually, breaking Australian residency isn’t that easy. You have to show intent to permanently leave. If you are just going for a year or two, you would normally still be considered resident for tax purposes, from my understanding. Which may be better for you.
I am an Aussie living in London too. So so so excited for you!
While you’re living overseas, perhaps you can write about ways that Aussie expats can still maintain their Aussie FI plans even when living overseas temporarily?
Topics may include tax implications of someone still actively investing in Oz domiciled shares while being a non tax resident, looking after your super while overseas etc
Thanks Abby 🙂
Those are great ideas which I plan to cover fully! I already have an idea of the implications (I have chatted to my accountant about it) but I’m sure some other things will pop up.
Cheers
Hi,
I’m a Doctor from central London who moved to Melbourne a few months ago. I’m about the same age as you and it looks like we’ve mirror imaged each other in our international moves.
I’ve been on the path to FI for a while and am reasonably well versed in investing in the UK.
Learning it all again for another country wasn’t something I was looking forward to. And your blog has been extremely valuable.
I’d be more than happy to help you with any questions you have about the UK and London FI or otherwise to return the favor. My Dad’s in IT so I might be able to give you hints on your search for employment.
Best Wishes and Many Thanks for the blog.
v
Nice one V,
How are you finding Melbourne? Did you enjoy the summer weather?
I ended up getting a job in consulting and the plan is to keep investing in Australia by sending £££ back home…. Unless there is some killer investment here in the UK I should know about?
Cheers
AFB, i’ve only just recently discovered the FIRE community, you blog/podcast has absolutely stood out for me. I’m an Aussie that moved to Saudi Arabia for work almost 5 years ago and OMG i wish I discovered this before i arrived here. You’re podcast/page is truly helping me focus now and really plan my time here, what to do with my money, keep me in touch with investments back home. thank you thank you thank you!!
Enjoy all the travel that you can!!! Some places you’ll love, some places you’ll hate but every experience will be worth it! I did 6 weeks in Eastern Europe a few years ago… I would highly recommend Hungary & Poland (also, both very cost effective destinations!!) I’m in a very lucky situation here… i’m “forced” to take 38 days leave each year and i’m given a travel allowance of $7,500 USD to use for my holiday/whatever i choose. I can travel and not really feel guilty about it… but since discovering fire i think i’ll be working on taking my leave and seeing how much money I can save and add to my investments after the trip!!
Again! I can’t thank you enough for your blog!!
No worries Miss M!
Wow that’s incredible about your holidays. How did you manage that?
Hey Mate. Congrats on the move!! That’s massively exciting and I’m sure you won’t regret it at all. I moved from Aus to London in 2012 for a short trip, and never ended up going back to Aus, 7 years later.
A lot of Aussies talk up the cheap and cheerful weekend trips to Europe, but personally I think they’re not very cost-effective. Travelling takes a day (no matter how short the flight), and they pretty much embody the ‘go to landmark and take a selfie for the gram’ culture. I think it’s better to take less frequent, but longer breaks to Europe. Like 5-7 days at a time.
all the best mate, I’ve sent you a DM in case you want to catch up
Nice one.
Well I guess it depends on what your definition of cheap is right.
We are looking at flights to Ireland and you can get them for as low as £19. Any flight that’s £19 is insanely cheap in my book. Of course, you’re going to be paying for accom and meals and stuff, but compared to travelling from Australia… I think it’s a pretty sweet deal.
I would love to catch up mate. I’ll have a look at your DM now 🙂
I did a Europe and several other trips in my 20s with my partner.
Then a lot more travel in my 30s/40s as I worked for an airline.
Then I started a family and we still travelled a lot as a family.
Then I got divorced in my 50s (one of the hundreds of reasons was because my high paid ex-wife wouldn’t save for retirement. lol).
I now have a new travel companion and we’ve done a few trips (3 weeks including Coachella Music & Arts Festival in USA last year. Southern India next year). The memories are different but it’s still a blast – maybe more-so because I don’t have to worry too much about the money.
I think just get out there and do it… somehow.
Have a great trip!
Thanks Bradley 😁
It’s been amazing so far and there’s plenty more to see!
Just stumbled across this as I’m typing away in Prague. The missus and I have been on the road since May this year doing a similar trip (without the $600k net worth), albeit without a home base and basically moving from place to place on our own schedule. If I had my way again, I would do exactly what you would do – bunker down in London and then pop over to Europe on weekends and time off. I’m sure you won’t regret your choice!
Cheers Kan
Loving your blog and website, thanks for posting about your experience! My partner and I just moved to London earlier this year for similar reasons – travel and see the the world etc., not necessarily for our FIRE journey (although we are much earlier in our journey than you). My feelings yoyo between being stressed we are not saving as much while we were here & enjoying the experience, let our existing investments do the work and consider any savings as a bonus! Now we’ve been here for a few months, we are feeling a bit more settled and our finances are a bit more under control, but it was definitely hectic when we first arrived!
Good on you for making the move, I think it’s definitely a really valuable thing to do and I hope you’re loving it! I have also sent you an email in case you’re keen to catch up!
Hi B,
It definitely gets easier as you progress on your journey. I’m so chill about savings these days. We already have the habits established and it sorta just takes care of itself. The power of compounding helps a lot!
Have you seen the FIRE meetup in London? Check this out
There are a few Aussies coming. It would awesome to catch up with you there 👍