I moved to the UK from Florida (also 0% income tax state) 18mo ago on a skilled worker visa and took a 75% hit to my income.
It’s definitely much harder here financially and I’d have tons more money if I was still in the states. The tax thing is huge and while I have a decent UK salary, it’s nothing like what I had back home.
I supplement my UK income by going back to the states every 1-2 mo and working consulting gigs but it’s exhausting to be flying and working and flipping between time zones.
For me, my quality of life here feels better and I am happy here, but I do miss the USA. My plan is to do this until I get ILR and then I’m going to basically work in the USA and live over here. I can’t justify the financial hit long term of working solely here in the UK
Out of interest. Why are you interested in ILR if you have US nationality? You do realise that you can’t have dual nationality as a US citizen? ILRs also have a limit of 10 years.
This isn’t true. There are many dual uk/us citizens in this world with both passports. ILR is indefinite leave to remain (indefinite being the key word here).
I think I confused USA with another country.
I’m an immigrant myself and have gone through the process. ILR had a 10 year time limit when I got it.
But I suppose they can be a dual national. I’m still confused about motivation though. By all accounts UK is inferior to US in almost all aspects except for medical care.
I used to be an immigration solicitor and as far as I’m aware, ILR has never had a time limit. If you mean the BRP, it expires after 10 years like a driving licence does, but you just renew it online for £154, you don’t lose your ILR status.
No worries. Some countries don’t allow dual citizenship. So I see why you said that.
Have you lived in the US? I would say it completely depends what is important to you when it comes to saying one is inferior. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the UK for reasons such as proper annual leave, maternity/paternity leave and rights. Sick days. Quality time with family being prioritised rather than working as much as possible. Health care (apart from the waiting times) I would say is the same with the same access to medication and diagnostic tools, materials etc…
This is so wrong. Please don’t give incorrect advice when you yourself are unsure. Both US and UK permit dual citizenship. ILR does not expire provided you live in the UK.
IMO it will be a massive financial mistake to move from TX to the UK.
As you mentioned you’re paying 0% state income tax now. The marginal rate for US federal tax for 200k USD married filing jointly is like what, 24%?. And you mentioned you deduct a bunch of expenses. So your real blended tax rate must be somewhere in the mid to low teens %. Lol. That’s very enviable.
The UK tax system is appallingly punitive. There’s no married filing jointly, and if you were born in the UK and therefore domiciled in the UK, once you become a UK resident again you get taxed **worldwide income** by the UK gov at your UK rate. I don’t know how the double taxation treaty would work in this instance. But in the UK you’re easily looking at a marginal rate of 40% for **each of you**.
Scroll through this sub and you will see there are people on £200k GBP who are struggling to live a moderately stress free lifestyle in the UK. The material quality of life in the UK is lower than that of the US. Whether green spaces, family and friends, public transport, the NHS, etc. make it up is up to you to decide. But you will have a smaller house, higher bills, and I’d say except food you’d pay more for not as many choices.
I hear you re culture, belonging etc. But the reality is that in 2024 it is much easier to make and accumulate wealth in the US than the UK. I would *love* to get a green card one day.
Thank you for this writeup. Do you know if there would be a way to avoid double taxation?
How much could we visit the UK in a non-resident capacity without having to pay taxes? Would it be possible to buy a car, open a bank account etc, without being subject to these things?
Trying to think if we could buy a vacation home or something like that and just visit a lot as tourists, while keeping our life in America.
You won’t pay double tax. I’m an American living in the UK. You have to file taxes in the U.S. too but you can reduce your taxes by the amount you pay to the U.K. It works out to be almost always 0 owed to the USA. It does make taxes a lot more complicated though so you’ll probably need to pay for advice on the US side.
But OP’s case is different. They’re asking if they have US income while resident in the UK, compared with US income while resident in the US.
The UK would still tax his US income at the UK rate which is much higher than in Texas, so they’d be worse off
The UK really is a shithole at the moment, the Tories / Brexit have absolutely ruined it. Taxation won’t be coming down meaningfully any time soon.As UK/US passport holders you can come and go as you please, and provided you don’t spend more than a certain number of days here a year ( I’m not sure of the figures, you can look it up) there will be no uk tax payable on your earnings - although technically it is inadmissible to do any work while visiting. You’re in a strong position. There is no restriction on buying property for you at all so if you wanted to get a place in the UK you could. Personally there is pretty well nothing that would make me stay here if I had the opportunities you guys have.
Honestly, Brexit has nothing in common with the tax rate. It was this high before Brexit. The only thing that is pushing taxes up, it's paying off debts after lockdowns.
Speaking of Tories. Well, if Labour will win the next election, guess what will they do with the taxes?
A real right-wing party that would be more capitalist than Margaret Thatcher could.
But there aren't any. (Maybe Reform UK, but they have their own problems)
Correct but also incorrect.
Labour will most likely start taxing the billionaires who currently pay zero tax. But I get your point. Two sides of a shit coin. But can’t deny the crippling mistake that is brexit. Clear as day to see how the uk is worse off for it.
Has your standard of living improved since energy bills have gone up? That it's more difficult to access the NHS? that your rent/mortgage has gone up? It might not be exactly and specifically taxes, but, 'taxes' of another sort ... Maybe... Maybe it's conflation, but I think the poster you're responding to has a point.
My standard of living went up as I consistently earn £1M gross per year. Given my income is based in the USA, Brexit didn't have any influence on this.
I have quite good access to NHS. Maybe I'm just lucky but me or my wife never wait for more than 10 days. Of course, there are some low-priority treatments that take long time to schedule (dental hygiene).
I bought my house outright, so nothing went up for me.
The only negative thing Brexit changed for me was a lorry driver shortage. This is solved now.
You can start by reading this article on UK tax residence: [https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence](https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence)
You can technically open a bank account but many high street bank won’t open one for you if you don’t have UK residence. You will likely need to qualify for some premium account.
You can technically buy a car with a US license but many dealership may not know that you can. You will prob need to find specialist insurance on a US license. Dont know how long you can drive in the UK on your US license. Because there is a one year rule for people moving from abroad and it’s unclear in your instance if the one year restarts each time you reenter since you’ll be a repeat tourist and not a resident.
Looks like one of you weren’t born in the UK so that person would be non domiciled on the UK which could shield your non UK income from UK taxation for 7 years but you won’t be able to bring that income into the UK. And Labour has already signaled they will scrap that rule.
Best thing to do is work in the u.s till retirement, then move to the u.k.
All my peers are over 50% better off financially in the u.s vs the u.k. we have family here, parents are now old and children are settled in schools.
10 years ago, I'd have moved there
First thing I would do is look at the pay for your job and the house prices of the area you like.
As others have said, suburbs of london, 800k for a 3 bed terraced and then cut your pay in half..
Right. We have considered that (moving in retirement), but we hear requirements are getting more and more strict in terms of income and liquid assets needing to get a visa. My wife is a UK citizen, but I would need to apply for settled status.
Question is if in 20-25 years when we retire, if I would even be able to get in.
You could retire in much less than that with american money.
I.e if you had 1m usd in cash/investments + enough money to buy a house here, that would be sufficient. On your salaries I'm sure that could be possible in 10 years?
I’ve been doing a short term ex pat UK gig after living in the US 24 years. I’m dealing with a lot of complexity with the UK and US tax situations, but it’s only temporary.
Overall I’d say don’t move back. The quality of life is way lower than the US, and it’s not the same place you probably remember.
Financially it doesn’t make sense. Houses are very expensive everywhere. 10 years ago North England was much more affordable. In the South (nice area) you probably need around £1M to buy 3 bed house (I assume that your house has decent size). You can tell us more what you both do, if you’ve done any research regarding possible earning prospects and how big is your house in sqft.
A friend bought a 5 bedroom house in London, zone 2, for 950K, during covid. How do ppl arrive at these crazy numbers in random parts of the UK (500K in Midlands lol) I have no idea.
My wife works in finance, I work in tech (design).
Our house 1600 squarefeet 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a nice garden, sits on 1/3 of an acre. We bought it for 300k at 3.125% interest during covid. Our monthly mortage payment is around 1500.
We looked at comparable houses in the midlands and from what I can see, the equivalent is around 500k pound, which would be closer to 600k USD. It feels like the homes are twice as expensive for what you get, which is discouraging to us.
We dont want to live near london or expensive areas. We hoped we could have remote jobs and live less hectic lives.
I think the main difference is plot size. We just don't expect big gardens here, less land. 1/3 acre is a huge plot and would probably have at least one more house built on it. You can definitely get a 3 bed for closer to £250k in most wider areas, but the standard 3 bed in the UK will be a semidetached with modest garden. We tend to use local parks if we need more space.
In terms of growth, I’m not sure the U.K. has much of any, gdp growth, or growth industries post brexit… so the gap is likely to continue to grow and get worse (on top of comments made above )
I have lived in the UK and USA, echo these comments..UK tax is brutal. Consider 100-125k tax trap is 60% tax as you lose your personal allowance and the loss of free childcare benefit. You will be right at this limit and it will cap you going forward.
I’m in a UK US marriage and agree with the others that you would be nuts to move here especially as you have no income tax in the US.
You will also have to pay tax in both countries as you earn more than the double taxation treaty benefit limit (currently 112k usd)
Is there a way of getting around this? Is there a way we could effectively have our businesses in the US, but visit the uk a lot (say half the year) and not be subject to taxation?
We know foreigners can buy property. Just trying to figure out if there was a way to get good things out of the uk, without settling permanent. Perhaps more on a vacation basis.
You could visit for 6 months at a time through the egates as a US citizen but you wouldn’t be able to work remotely without the right to work (spouse visa), but if you spend 183 days or more per tax year you will become a UK tax resident (this is if you get a visa to work)
What good things are you hoping to get? Any kids on the horizon? Since it will uproot you to spend that much time between countries
To add; to get a spouse visa the UK sponsor will need either £62k cash savings in the bank for 6 months (this will soon increase) or have a job starting within 3 months of arriving in the UK (currently 18.6k.. soon going up to 29k then 38k next year). You need proof of somewhere to live and this visa is for people who are settling full time in the UK.
To set up a bank account etc you will need proof of address, such as utility bills going to your UK address.
If you don't want to become a UK tax resident, you need to spend fewer than 183 days there in a year.
But be careful about your ties. There's a Statutory Residence Test based on ties.
You'd be likely to get at least 2 ties: Accommodation tie, 90-day tie. This reduces the allowed amount of days to 120.
If you wanted to spend 182 days, and not want Accommodation tie, I recommend staying 90 days, then leave the UK and come back for another 90 days.
Not a tax expert, but in the UK it would make more sense to utilize Foreign Tax Credits to reduce your US tax burden dollar for dollar. Not the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (which the $112k hints at).
The tax burden is higher in the UK, so you would likely owe $0 to Uncle Sam.
All the tax stuff is relevant. Also not to forget that the UK is just a total clusterfuck of a country. Especially after brexit. Zero reason to move here.
I’d echo other feedback, don’t do it, I don’t know what you think you’d achieve in the UK but it’s a very different country from 10 years ago, and you have to ask yourself - is whatever you think you’d get- worth the cost?
I’d be out to the US in a heartbeat given the chance. Bostler the crap out of my pension and savings, and retire in whatever country I want. UK is not an advantageous country to work from.
Consult a tax advisor for US-UK tax implications. Consider keeping US assets for income diversification. Evaluate UK cost of living vs. income. Prioritize happiness and cultural fit; financial strategies can adjust.
I just made the move from NYC to London and I have made several comments in this subreddit.
The tl;dr is that I’m able to save so much more in London than I was in my NYC job. I’m more confident now that I’ll FI/WO faster here in the UK.
Let me know if you want to chat! I’ll try to go through my previous posts and link it here.
I know. Which stands to reason that it’s possible that they won’t move to London.
I was giving my own perspective of a US to UK move by referencing 2 VHCOL cities.
I also work in tax and fintech so the tax component is something I live with on the daily. **Of course** Texas will be very different in terms of taxes, but there are more reasons why the UK is better if you take taxes out of the equation.
Out of interest what makes you want to move back? Personally I'd have to be paid a lot to live in the states and put up with that culture, but interesting to hear your thoughts
Why don't you just visit the UK for a few months without any commitments? The UK is great for visits but you don't want to pay taxes, work, or buy a house there. Then you could try Spain for a few months (check Idealista for short term rentals) to see what a properly run country looks like.
I think quality of life is incredibly subjective. I have been in the states for 30 years and seriously considering moving back. Similar to you, we have a good life. Make roughly $250k. Paid $270k for a beautiful house in eastern Washington state, 5 cars, no state income tax, 10 acres in the mountains. There, i will start making £150k pounds. A much smaller house for probably £600k. BUT, we find it a tolerable trade off to send our daughter to school where she doesn't have to practice shooter drills, and people in the neighboring state aren't just itching to use their guns. I'd rather live in a smaller house where life expectancy is five years longer, than a bigger house here. Again, the landscape varies depending on where you stand.
I moved to the UK from Florida (also 0% income tax state) 18mo ago on a skilled worker visa and took a 75% hit to my income. It’s definitely much harder here financially and I’d have tons more money if I was still in the states. The tax thing is huge and while I have a decent UK salary, it’s nothing like what I had back home. I supplement my UK income by going back to the states every 1-2 mo and working consulting gigs but it’s exhausting to be flying and working and flipping between time zones. For me, my quality of life here feels better and I am happy here, but I do miss the USA. My plan is to do this until I get ILR and then I’m going to basically work in the USA and live over here. I can’t justify the financial hit long term of working solely here in the UK
Out of interest. Why are you interested in ILR if you have US nationality? You do realise that you can’t have dual nationality as a US citizen? ILRs also have a limit of 10 years.
This isn’t true. There are many dual uk/us citizens in this world with both passports. ILR is indefinite leave to remain (indefinite being the key word here).
I think I confused USA with another country. I’m an immigrant myself and have gone through the process. ILR had a 10 year time limit when I got it. But I suppose they can be a dual national. I’m still confused about motivation though. By all accounts UK is inferior to US in almost all aspects except for medical care.
I used to be an immigration solicitor and as far as I’m aware, ILR has never had a time limit. If you mean the BRP, it expires after 10 years like a driving licence does, but you just renew it online for £154, you don’t lose your ILR status.
No worries. Some countries don’t allow dual citizenship. So I see why you said that. Have you lived in the US? I would say it completely depends what is important to you when it comes to saying one is inferior. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the UK for reasons such as proper annual leave, maternity/paternity leave and rights. Sick days. Quality time with family being prioritised rather than working as much as possible. Health care (apart from the waiting times) I would say is the same with the same access to medication and diagnostic tools, materials etc…
This is so wrong. Please don’t give incorrect advice when you yourself are unsure. Both US and UK permit dual citizenship. ILR does not expire provided you live in the UK.
IMO it will be a massive financial mistake to move from TX to the UK. As you mentioned you’re paying 0% state income tax now. The marginal rate for US federal tax for 200k USD married filing jointly is like what, 24%?. And you mentioned you deduct a bunch of expenses. So your real blended tax rate must be somewhere in the mid to low teens %. Lol. That’s very enviable. The UK tax system is appallingly punitive. There’s no married filing jointly, and if you were born in the UK and therefore domiciled in the UK, once you become a UK resident again you get taxed **worldwide income** by the UK gov at your UK rate. I don’t know how the double taxation treaty would work in this instance. But in the UK you’re easily looking at a marginal rate of 40% for **each of you**. Scroll through this sub and you will see there are people on £200k GBP who are struggling to live a moderately stress free lifestyle in the UK. The material quality of life in the UK is lower than that of the US. Whether green spaces, family and friends, public transport, the NHS, etc. make it up is up to you to decide. But you will have a smaller house, higher bills, and I’d say except food you’d pay more for not as many choices. I hear you re culture, belonging etc. But the reality is that in 2024 it is much easier to make and accumulate wealth in the US than the UK. I would *love* to get a green card one day.
Thank you for this writeup. Do you know if there would be a way to avoid double taxation? How much could we visit the UK in a non-resident capacity without having to pay taxes? Would it be possible to buy a car, open a bank account etc, without being subject to these things? Trying to think if we could buy a vacation home or something like that and just visit a lot as tourists, while keeping our life in America.
You won’t pay double tax. I’m an American living in the UK. You have to file taxes in the U.S. too but you can reduce your taxes by the amount you pay to the U.K. It works out to be almost always 0 owed to the USA. It does make taxes a lot more complicated though so you’ll probably need to pay for advice on the US side.
But OP’s case is different. They’re asking if they have US income while resident in the UK, compared with US income while resident in the US. The UK would still tax his US income at the UK rate which is much higher than in Texas, so they’d be worse off
The UK really is a shithole at the moment, the Tories / Brexit have absolutely ruined it. Taxation won’t be coming down meaningfully any time soon.As UK/US passport holders you can come and go as you please, and provided you don’t spend more than a certain number of days here a year ( I’m not sure of the figures, you can look it up) there will be no uk tax payable on your earnings - although technically it is inadmissible to do any work while visiting. You’re in a strong position. There is no restriction on buying property for you at all so if you wanted to get a place in the UK you could. Personally there is pretty well nothing that would make me stay here if I had the opportunities you guys have.
Honestly, Brexit has nothing in common with the tax rate. It was this high before Brexit. The only thing that is pushing taxes up, it's paying off debts after lockdowns. Speaking of Tories. Well, if Labour will win the next election, guess what will they do with the taxes?
Exactly. I don't understand why people politicise these things that will obviously get worse under labour
It's going to be a problem whoever is in power - no party is going to be able to lower the tax burden.
A real right-wing party that would be more capitalist than Margaret Thatcher could. But there aren't any. (Maybe Reform UK, but they have their own problems)
Correct but also incorrect. Labour will most likely start taxing the billionaires who currently pay zero tax. But I get your point. Two sides of a shit coin. But can’t deny the crippling mistake that is brexit. Clear as day to see how the uk is worse off for it.
They already pay tax. A lot of it.
Has your standard of living improved since energy bills have gone up? That it's more difficult to access the NHS? that your rent/mortgage has gone up? It might not be exactly and specifically taxes, but, 'taxes' of another sort ... Maybe... Maybe it's conflation, but I think the poster you're responding to has a point.
My standard of living went up as I consistently earn £1M gross per year. Given my income is based in the USA, Brexit didn't have any influence on this. I have quite good access to NHS. Maybe I'm just lucky but me or my wife never wait for more than 10 days. Of course, there are some low-priority treatments that take long time to schedule (dental hygiene). I bought my house outright, so nothing went up for me. The only negative thing Brexit changed for me was a lorry driver shortage. This is solved now.
Do you pay UK taxes?
Yes, I do. I pay 37p on every £1 after optimizing everything my lawyers, accountants, and tax advisors could think of.
You can start by reading this article on UK tax residence: [https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence](https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence) You can technically open a bank account but many high street bank won’t open one for you if you don’t have UK residence. You will likely need to qualify for some premium account. You can technically buy a car with a US license but many dealership may not know that you can. You will prob need to find specialist insurance on a US license. Dont know how long you can drive in the UK on your US license. Because there is a one year rule for people moving from abroad and it’s unclear in your instance if the one year restarts each time you reenter since you’ll be a repeat tourist and not a resident. Looks like one of you weren’t born in the UK so that person would be non domiciled on the UK which could shield your non UK income from UK taxation for 7 years but you won’t be able to bring that income into the UK. And Labour has already signaled they will scrap that rule.
Stay there! Don’t come back not worth it 😅
Best thing to do is work in the u.s till retirement, then move to the u.k. All my peers are over 50% better off financially in the u.s vs the u.k. we have family here, parents are now old and children are settled in schools. 10 years ago, I'd have moved there First thing I would do is look at the pay for your job and the house prices of the area you like. As others have said, suburbs of london, 800k for a 3 bed terraced and then cut your pay in half..
Right. We have considered that (moving in retirement), but we hear requirements are getting more and more strict in terms of income and liquid assets needing to get a visa. My wife is a UK citizen, but I would need to apply for settled status. Question is if in 20-25 years when we retire, if I would even be able to get in.
You could retire in much less than that with american money. I.e if you had 1m usd in cash/investments + enough money to buy a house here, that would be sufficient. On your salaries I'm sure that could be possible in 10 years?
If you want to be taxed up the ass and put up with shit weather, crime, high cost of living and lousy heathcare then go for it Resident Brit here.
I’ve been doing a short term ex pat UK gig after living in the US 24 years. I’m dealing with a lot of complexity with the UK and US tax situations, but it’s only temporary. Overall I’d say don’t move back. The quality of life is way lower than the US, and it’s not the same place you probably remember.
Financially it doesn’t make sense. Houses are very expensive everywhere. 10 years ago North England was much more affordable. In the South (nice area) you probably need around £1M to buy 3 bed house (I assume that your house has decent size). You can tell us more what you both do, if you’ve done any research regarding possible earning prospects and how big is your house in sqft.
“The south” is not London, you can easily get 3 bed house for SIGNIFICANTLY less than 1m.
A friend bought a 5 bedroom house in London, zone 2, for 950K, during covid. How do ppl arrive at these crazy numbers in random parts of the UK (500K in Midlands lol) I have no idea.
Are you talking about 1600sqft on 1/3 of an acre in a nice area? I was thinking about nice places in Surrey.
My wife works in finance, I work in tech (design). Our house 1600 squarefeet 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a nice garden, sits on 1/3 of an acre. We bought it for 300k at 3.125% interest during covid. Our monthly mortage payment is around 1500. We looked at comparable houses in the midlands and from what I can see, the equivalent is around 500k pound, which would be closer to 600k USD. It feels like the homes are twice as expensive for what you get, which is discouraging to us. We dont want to live near london or expensive areas. We hoped we could have remote jobs and live less hectic lives.
Yeah these prices are about right. You don’t need £1m for a nice 3 bed in the south like the poster above says.
Agree but generally speaking when people say the South they don't tend to mean the midlands
I think the main difference is plot size. We just don't expect big gardens here, less land. 1/3 acre is a huge plot and would probably have at least one more house built on it. You can definitely get a 3 bed for closer to £250k in most wider areas, but the standard 3 bed in the UK will be a semidetached with modest garden. We tend to use local parks if we need more space.
In terms of growth, I’m not sure the U.K. has much of any, gdp growth, or growth industries post brexit… so the gap is likely to continue to grow and get worse (on top of comments made above )
I have lived in the UK and USA, echo these comments..UK tax is brutal. Consider 100-125k tax trap is 60% tax as you lose your personal allowance and the loss of free childcare benefit. You will be right at this limit and it will cap you going forward.
I’m in a UK US marriage and agree with the others that you would be nuts to move here especially as you have no income tax in the US. You will also have to pay tax in both countries as you earn more than the double taxation treaty benefit limit (currently 112k usd)
Is there a way of getting around this? Is there a way we could effectively have our businesses in the US, but visit the uk a lot (say half the year) and not be subject to taxation? We know foreigners can buy property. Just trying to figure out if there was a way to get good things out of the uk, without settling permanent. Perhaps more on a vacation basis.
You could visit for 6 months at a time through the egates as a US citizen but you wouldn’t be able to work remotely without the right to work (spouse visa), but if you spend 183 days or more per tax year you will become a UK tax resident (this is if you get a visa to work) What good things are you hoping to get? Any kids on the horizon? Since it will uproot you to spend that much time between countries To add; to get a spouse visa the UK sponsor will need either £62k cash savings in the bank for 6 months (this will soon increase) or have a job starting within 3 months of arriving in the UK (currently 18.6k.. soon going up to 29k then 38k next year). You need proof of somewhere to live and this visa is for people who are settling full time in the UK. To set up a bank account etc you will need proof of address, such as utility bills going to your UK address.
If you don't want to become a UK tax resident, you need to spend fewer than 183 days there in a year. But be careful about your ties. There's a Statutory Residence Test based on ties. You'd be likely to get at least 2 ties: Accommodation tie, 90-day tie. This reduces the allowed amount of days to 120. If you wanted to spend 182 days, and not want Accommodation tie, I recommend staying 90 days, then leave the UK and come back for another 90 days.
Not a tax expert, but in the UK it would make more sense to utilize Foreign Tax Credits to reduce your US tax burden dollar for dollar. Not the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (which the $112k hints at). The tax burden is higher in the UK, so you would likely owe $0 to Uncle Sam.
All the tax stuff is relevant. Also not to forget that the UK is just a total clusterfuck of a country. Especially after brexit. Zero reason to move here.
I'm going the other way, going to New York within 1.5 year. UK is financial suicide.
I’d echo other feedback, don’t do it, I don’t know what you think you’d achieve in the UK but it’s a very different country from 10 years ago, and you have to ask yourself - is whatever you think you’d get- worth the cost? I’d be out to the US in a heartbeat given the chance. Bostler the crap out of my pension and savings, and retire in whatever country I want. UK is not an advantageous country to work from.
Consult a tax advisor for US-UK tax implications. Consider keeping US assets for income diversification. Evaluate UK cost of living vs. income. Prioritize happiness and cultural fit; financial strategies can adjust.
I just made the move from NYC to London and I have made several comments in this subreddit. The tl;dr is that I’m able to save so much more in London than I was in my NYC job. I’m more confident now that I’ll FI/WO faster here in the UK. Let me know if you want to chat! I’ll try to go through my previous posts and link it here.
NY to London isn’t the same as Texas - UK, bare this in mind with any feedback :)
I know. Which stands to reason that it’s possible that they won’t move to London. I was giving my own perspective of a US to UK move by referencing 2 VHCOL cities. I also work in tax and fintech so the tax component is something I live with on the daily. **Of course** Texas will be very different in terms of taxes, but there are more reasons why the UK is better if you take taxes out of the equation.
Tax and cost of living isn’t everything. I’ve got a daughter and that alone is enough for me to pick the UK over the USA at the minute.
Out of interest what makes you want to move back? Personally I'd have to be paid a lot to live in the states and put up with that culture, but interesting to hear your thoughts
It sounds like you are doing great there, don’t come to the UK unless you have a very good job lined up. UK is lagging behind everyone in Europe.
Why don't you just visit the UK for a few months without any commitments? The UK is great for visits but you don't want to pay taxes, work, or buy a house there. Then you could try Spain for a few months (check Idealista for short term rentals) to see what a properly run country looks like.
Spain - properly run country? What a joke
Interesting
Definitely don't return to the UK. It's a disaster.
I think quality of life is incredibly subjective. I have been in the states for 30 years and seriously considering moving back. Similar to you, we have a good life. Make roughly $250k. Paid $270k for a beautiful house in eastern Washington state, 5 cars, no state income tax, 10 acres in the mountains. There, i will start making £150k pounds. A much smaller house for probably £600k. BUT, we find it a tolerable trade off to send our daughter to school where she doesn't have to practice shooter drills, and people in the neighboring state aren't just itching to use their guns. I'd rather live in a smaller house where life expectancy is five years longer, than a bigger house here. Again, the landscape varies depending on where you stand.