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Many retirees who can afford to come to Australia not only have money but have pensions from their own countries, and don't forget they will spend quite a bit of money while they are here as well as paying taxes.
Nobody in their right mind would want to comehere to live on an Aussie pension and not have health Ins. It's basic living.
So, if my daughter moved down there for a job as a nurse and I wanted to move with her, I would be prevented from doing so? Despite having my own income and means to pay for my own medical insurance?
What if moving to Oz had nothing to do with wanting 'free stuff'. What if it was about the lifestyle, the beaches (especially the beaches) and the beautiful country? I'm a liberal and would expect to pay my own way; I'd even buy a home there for my daughter.
I guess the answer would be for me to visit her for up to six months a year and return to the US for the remainder. Great.
Yes, that is pretty much how the system works, I my self are Aussie but married to a Korean Immigrant, who also happens to be an Australian Registered Nurse. We have looked into how we can get her mother over here, and a 6 or 12 Month tourist visa are the only real options we have.
You can get permanent visas for parents, however they are either extremely expensive to obtain (well north of $50,000 in application fees) or take 10 years plus to process if you can't come up with that money. We could not get the visa for her anyway, one of the other conditions of the Visa is that half your children must live permanently in Australia to obtain it, my mother in law still has 2 sons in Korea.
CA hosts the largest number of welfare recipients in the US...I don't think that is a coincidence.
The state with the largest % of its population on welfare is Rhode Island, followed by Tennessee. And looking at a welfare rate as a percentage of population, California is somewhere right in the middle.
California is not a "broke state". Where do you get this stuff? As an economy, it would rank as the world's 7th largest country. It's got the highest access to capital of all 50 states, some of the highest valued housing, 10th highest average household income in USA, less than $3,000 of debt per person with an average wealth of $240,000 per person.
I would say to all self funded retirees from UK or other countries do not come here, the ones that came are only on 4 years visas, the Government refuse to give them Permanent Residence even after 8 years of spending their pensions here paying GST on goods and services. Actually the Government is missing out, as the retirees stil pay tax in their country of origin. If permanent it would be paid into OZ Govt. coffers. They have no real security, not a good thing when elderly, at the mercy of Government of the time as to whether you get you visa extended for further 4 years.
Australia seems like the perfect country to retire to: friendly people; open space; 1st world living conditions.
BUT!!
Take a gander at what they require from a person seeking a retirement visa:
I should add that even after investing minimum 1 million dollars in Australia you still do not nor will you ever qualify for state-sponsored health care.
Needless to say I won't be moving to Australia any time soon.
How depressing. My dreams of escaping third-world Mexifornia have been shattered. This idiotic state immediately serves welfare on a silver platter to the lowest of the low, including their sick elderly relatives who contribute nothing to the country. Thanks for the information.
Before I first retired, about 10 years ago, I looked into the Australian retirement visa requirements. Of course, back then the Australian dollar was worth a lot less, in terms of US dollars, than it is today, if I recall correctly. Anyway, even then the requirements seemed extreme. It seemed like they only wanted millionaires.
Today, I could still do it, I think. They'll allow you to buy a condo, "off the plan," with some of the money you're supposed to bring in, so that would normally help somewhat. Unfortunately, the Australian residential real estate market has an extreme property bubble at the moment. I think it would be silly to buy anything there.
Fortunately, the Chinese economy is cooling down. That should eventually weaken the Australian dollar. Maybe at some point retirement there will be more affordable.
The Sydney property market will never go down. We don't have enough housing for the people who live here, want to live here, & those who are within the expected population growth of the future. The market may plateau & even out for a few years but it won't go down. Peoples expectations of what they think their property is worth, due to the current boom, may make them believe prices have gone down. No they're plateauing - as of the past couple of weeks. I read the REA section every week, it's in front of me right now . Property is a Sydneysider obsession. Rates are very low at the moment as well.
I know this thread is a few years old now, but seriously if you don't have the sort of cash and assets they're talking about, as a minimum, you won't retire very comfortably here.
The AUD is about .72 to the USD so it's dropped a lot. One news article this week suggested it might go down to .60, another said back up to .80.
I heard China just lowered their interest rates as well. So it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.
How depressing. My dreams of escaping third-world Mexifornia have been shattered. This idiotic state immediately serves welfare on a silver platter to the lowest of the low, including their sick elderly relatives who contribute nothing to the country. Thanks for the information.
You're welcomed.
Actually, it was your (I think) rep that brought me back to this nearly 4-year-old thread I started. Back then I had dreams of living in Australia. No longer. The requirements are just too stringent.
On the positive side, In the interim Obamacare is now law and healthcare is available in the USA to all at reasonable premiums ( if the *&^% Republicans don't find a way to gut it---their wet dream). So things are looking up in the US.
If anyone wants to get a good travelogue/info on moving to Australia they should watch House Hunters International as many episodes are about relocating to various parts of Australia. We've seen a couple dozen Aussie episodes in the last couple of years.
Recently heard of time that Australia has exempted their local residents free of tax. That's really amazing and their locals must be really happy to be that way. An ideal location to be.
Recently heard of time that Australia has exempted their local residents free of tax. That's really amazing and their locals must be really happy to be that way. An ideal location to be.
Oh yes, I haven't paid a cent in tax for a few years. I am very happy. Our free healthcare, free roads, and free education are great perks.
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My dreams of escaping third-world Mexifornia have been shattered. This idiotic state immediately serves welfare on a silver platter to the lowest of the low, including their sick elderly relatives who contribute nothing to the country. Thanks for the information.
. Property is a Sydneysider obsession. Rates are very low at the moment as well. 
