I was recently asked a simple question by a Unique member.
Should the family move to
The question is so simple, yet the answer
is nothing short of a thorough-going mess.
First, what the heck is involved in
Brexit? I don't
think any of us know. I certainly don't, and yet I make it my
business to find out.
My questioners were concerned that half the folks they spoke
to warned them off because of
Brexit while the other
half said get a move on before
Brexit ruins things.
My conclusion here is that where
Brexit is concerned,
don't listen to advice as none of it amounts to much use as
it's all based on guesswork.
There is another issue about advice. People give it all the
time, but what use is anybody else's advice on these matters?
Has anyone got a degree in Brexit? Does any one know what is
involved? Of course not, so their advice is utterly valueless.
The Italian problem is striking at the heart of the
EU,
and there is a whole lotta shaking going on. One way or
another this problem with
Italy, their budget and
their economic woes, strikes at the heart of the
EU
economic system and the way the euro functions. This is either
going to hobble the
EU for the foreseeable future or
bring it down or at the very least cause massive changes.
No-one can sensibly guess which way things will go, or when
something disastrous will happen, or even quite what form the
catastrophe will take, but there will be a catastrophe. Trying
to foretell the future for this crazy continent is not
possible. Best not to try.
There is only one question you need to ask if you are
considering moving to somewhere in Euroland. Are you moving
for personal reasons (you fancy uprooting and moving to Turin,
or Naples, or the Dordogne, or even Benidorm)? Or are you
looking for an investment property? If the latter, then I
think you should first read my next bulletin which will put
forward the case for
buying in Germany. If the former,
then
Brexit is irrelevant, except maybe for the
health reciprocity. How that may change as yet we don't know.
If you want to move, my advice (oh dear, I'm not supposed to
give any advice) is to get on with it and don't pay any
attention to anybody else. All you need to do is rent for at
least six months to check whether you can stand the place for
longer than a holiday, whether you can get back to see the
kids, afford the lifestyle, actually like the lifestyle, and
maybe can you get by with the language, and the cost of living
(remember the currency can go up or down, it is another
unknown), and do check the hospitals, you may need them.
Brexit? What's that going to do for you? Some of us, in
fact, rather a lot of us have been living on the continent for
decades, well before the UK joined the
EU. Not much
has changed. And if you think the EU has brought with it
harmonisation of rules and regulations, forget it. If you
think it has ushered in free movement of goods, just try
registering your car in Portugal, and so on.
Closer to the end of the year I will do my usual guess as to
what the next year holds in store for us across the continent,
but that is for those who are concerned more with money,
value, and investment, rather than the boring routine of
ordinary family living. However, the
real estate market in
Germany is rather interesting. Next week we'll have a
look at what I mean.
Moving abroad and
Brexit Part 1 <<<<<