u/RAG_89

For those who have seen my posts, my husband has decided to take the job in London after all. We are aiming to get there at the start of the break after term 1 (end of October). We have narrowed it down to a few areas (Richmond, Chiswick, Wimbledon, and a couple of others near there) but one thing that is causing me anxiety is that we are planning on sending our kids to state schools and the process seems…complicated.

Any Americans who have made the move and sent your kids to state schools have any advice?

ETA: I have 3 kids, who will all be in primary (ages 10, 8, and 6).

I posted a few days ago asking for advice when one parter is more enthusiastic about a move than the other. My husband is being offered a really amazing package to move to London with his current company. As it stands right now, they are offering him an expat package for 2 years that would include:

1. Salary match to what he’s making now
2. A monthly stipend for me and each of our 3 kids (£1000 each)
3. Covering our rent
4. Paying for 2 flights back to the states to visit family each year.
5. Tax equalization

After the 2 years of expat, if we wanted to move back to the US, they’re saying they would make that happen. We’d have to move to Boston (right now he works fully remote from our house on a few acres outside of Denver—foothills) and my husband says he hates Boston (don’t come at me; I like Boston).

Alternatively, we could stay in London after two years and move to a local contract. That would mean a pay cut, but they have sweetened that part of the deal now too: initially they said it would be £175k annually, but now they’re saying it will be £228k (written into the contract that way).

Even after all of this (!!!) my husband is feeling 50/50. His hang ups are

1. That he doesn’t want to leave his current team because he feels they have so much left unfinished.
2. He doesn’t feel prepared to be successful in the role they’re offering.
3. We just went through a very stressful move last summer (though this move was totally unsupported, whereas London would be very supported).
4. He’s going to miss baseball (playing for our son, watching for all of us).
5. He’s worried London is unsafe (crime)
6. He’s worried that the UK has very low GDP (“would be the 51st state in many metrics if it was part of the US”)

I don’t know how to navigate this with him without bullying him into it lol. Any thoughts about his specific objections?

Learned yesterday that we are getting a full expat package for the first 2 years of our move, which opens up possibilities of where to live quite substantially. Company will pay for our housing (up to £5000 per month) and they are matching his current salary (~£265k).

I have been focusing mainly on southwest London (Richmond, Surbiton, Kingston Upon Thames) but with this new info I’m wondering if I’m missing anything. We have 3 kids but will still probably (maybe?) send them to state schools. Where would you live in this situation?

ETA: we would prefer a detached house.

Hi. I posted a few months ago when my husband started an application within his company for a job in London. It was initially a long shot, but here we are in the offer stage. He’s got a call with the VP tomorrow in which the recruiter has told him she’s going to ask what he needs from them to make the move happen.

We currently live in Colorado (outside Denver) on a couple of acres. It’s very nice here. Weather is great, outdoor activities are amazing. He works fully remote right now, which actually hasn’t been a great fit for either of us, though nothing too detrimental. The UK job would be back in the office.

The job is a lateral move for him, but to a different side of the company that he’s interested in. He would be taking about a 30% pay cut, but the base salary would be £175k with a 25% target bonus, so we’d still be super comfortable. We are planning to ask for some substantial relocation assistance.

Now that this is real though, my husband is getting cold feet. He says we have a good thing going here (true) and there are a lot of things he’s excited about in Colorado. I’m pretty upset because we have been dreaming about moving abroad ever since he started working for international companies (we always thought it would be Copenhagen based on his sector, but London is awesome too.) I don’t want to push too hard, but I also hate to miss this chance.

I guess I’m looking for advice? We also have 3 kids, ages 9, 8, and 6. How hard should I push for this if I am content where we are?

Hi. My husband has a job offer in London through his current company. It’s the same “level” so, lateral move but potential for more growth down the road—he’s mostly maxed out where he is.

My main concern is that we will be taking a 30% pay cut, simply based on the pay structure of the UK side of the company. Their pay structures are just more rigid.

We are a family of 5–we would send our kids to state schools. His base pay would be £175k with a 25% bonus and a £9k car allowance. We love to travel and would want to make that a regular part of our lives. This is doable in London, right? We don’t ever come close to spending his current salary (we just aren’t very extravagant), but it is very nice to not really have to think about money. We live in Colorado if that matters.