Pangur
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Posts posted by Pangur
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My husband has been informed that he can still pay into his private plan in the UK, but contributions will be taxed. He did the sums and bascially it is not worth his while continuing with it. I suppose this will depend on the individual plans, so its probably worth asking your pension provider to calculate it out for you.
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"De Valera I think it was said of being Irish "to be Irish is to be Catholic, to be Catholic is to be Irish".Well, he was born in New York, his mother was Irish, his father Spanish and it was his US nationality that stopped him being hung by the British after the Rising. So no wonder he had a flexible notion of nationality that didn't include parentage or birthplace!And it was of course another (more reluctant) Irishman, the Duke of Wellington, who said that being born in a stable does not make a man a horse...
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"How many riots will there be in the UK do you think, about cancelling town Christmas lights and Carol services because it might offend someone of a different religion?"The UK does suffer from regular riots sparked by religious intolerance, normally during the marching season. In fact, 50 policemen were injured in Belfast last year because of rioting, not unlike what France has been experiencing. British citizens attacking their own police force just gets ignored and forgetten about.http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1568875,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1568596,00.htmlPart religious intolerance, part organised, lack of tolerance for other cultures and beliefs, alienation from mainstream society, poverty and probably a big dollop of oldfashioned juvenile delinquency and boredom. Perhaps there are more similarities between the two societies than people are willing to admit?Just interesting how people in this forum have fixated on rioters who are dark skinned, foreign and muslim and forgotten about the white and christian rioters who want so very much to remain British.
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We're in the midst of looking at these and some of the most popular ranges sold where we are (74) and those that seem to be most regulary featured in French homes magazines are:GodinLacanchewww.lacornue.comarcoYou can email these and ask for dealers in your area.
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www.notaires.fr has lots of information on marriage regimes in both French and English."You can always modify or change your marital regime during the course of the marriage. After two years of marriage, you can visit a notaire to sign a deed that changes your arrangement."Our notaire has given us lots of booklets outlining the benefits and risks of different régimes (still have to plough through them but they are very useful.
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http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=279&messageid=185549#bm185947http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=279&messageid=85209#bm84980I think the rule of thumb is, if you're working and living in France permanently, you need to pay social charges and taxes here. There are ways of paying into the UK system for up to two years, but if you are here permanently, you need to be paying into the French system. You can become legal representatives of the company in France, which means you take responsibility for paying employer and employee social insurance contributions. We've found it a staightfoward process to set up with our accountant, but we now know why there are so many complaints about the high cost of employing someone here. If as owners, you are paying your own wages, it is going to cost you a lot more. For example, about 66% of my husband's UK gross salary, including UK rate of employer social payments is handed over to the French government.
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Has she tried the La Redoute catalogue? www.laredoute.fr It's definitely not frumpy, aimed at all women, and a quick flick through, has sizes in some things going up to 52 European (which I think is about a UK 24?) and lots of them seem to go to at least 44 (size 18). I haven't actually ordered anything from them yet but it does come highly recommended.
You get about 2 weeks to try on and return and this goes up to a month if you get their store card.
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I just don't understand how, practically speaking, people can live in a country where they cannot communicate in basic terms with people in the shops. How on earth do they get things done? Do they have to buy everything from other anglophones or import directly from the UK? How can you decide what insurance to buy if you can't read basic French or communicate with the salesmen?
It's a tough slog with the language and unless you work with French speakers (which I assume most non-fluent speakers don't), it is hard to improve at a decent rate. My comprehension has improved immensely in the last year, and I have a pretty good level of reading but without very regular practice, rather than shopping, reading and a night out a week, it's hard to get to a stage of feeling comfortable. I reckon trading my husband for a French man might be the quickest route to fluency.
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From ANIL, a statutory agencyhttp://www.anil.org/guide/calculs/notaire/notaire.htmYou just put in the type of house and price and it will give you the notaires fees. They should be calculated as the price the vendors get - i.e. without the agency fees. The Notaires de France also have a pretty useful website, with English pageswww.notaires.fr but their calculator is still under construction.
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There's been a plastic bag tax in Ireland for a few years now: 15 cents per bag - the money raised goes to the taxman for re-investment in the environment. Use of plastic bags has dropped by 90%, which is obviously great for the environment.
It doesn't take long for people to get used to the idea of bringing a bag along with you. And after a week of shopkeepers saying "do you want a bag with that" you realise that you really do waste a lot of plastic bags and that the bags for life are a great idea. Though cloth bags seem to be the shoppers' choice in Ireland...
Around us in France, Intermarché & Casino have now a no bags policy.
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On the USSARF site, over 3 years, it works out at an average of 30% a year. But what happens in Year 4? Does it remain at the Year 3 65% or drop down a bit again?
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On a similar note, we've been advised to look into getting a VMC system (Ventilation Méchanique Controllé) to help with damp problems. Anyone know who does this kind of thing: a plumber?
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We've had terrible problems with HSBC who seem to be incapable of transfering the same amount of money between two accounts on the same day every month, despite a STG29 charge... They've told my husband that any changes must be signed in person at his London branch Even without making changes, sometimes they forget to transfer it...In one of his many many conversations with HSBC, they told him that his SO was bascially a piece of paper and each month someone would update the details. I find this very difficult to believe but that's their excuse.
So, we've given up and will do it through my First Direct account. I instruct them on the telephone and they transfer the money at a charge of STG21. I've been using them to transfer money for a while between Ireland, UK and France and their service is always first class.
Some banks also give a choice over who pays the charges and it generally seems to work out cheaper when the account sending the money pays... Credit Agricole used to charge me €28 to receive my money.
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I found the David Hampshire book "Living & Working in France" extremely useful in planning the move. It's the most comprehensive guide I have come across either on paper or on the net. Read it to get a good overview and then you can use sites like this to ask more detailed questions about your own circumstances.
As others have said, everyone's circumstances are different and if you are not a retiree or planning on setting up a gite, it can be hard to get information from UK-centric sites. If you can't speak French, start learning, fast!
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He's insured and accredited as a professional architect, specialising in building techniques and that is good enough for me. Architects don't just design houses - there are a range of specialisms and you wouldn't necessarily ask the same people to give you structural advice and design an avant-garde loft conversion.
If the house fell down, we would also have to take responsibility for the decision we made based on the information we were given. I'm not British, and have never gone through this exercise in the UK so I'm afraid I don't know the differences between French and UK architects and surveyors.
Anyway, I'd recommend them and others can make their own decisions based on their own needs and wants
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You're so cynical Ron
The guy was a registered liberal architect who specialises in building techniques/diagnostics. He doesn't do chef de projet, so the only further work he would ever get out of us was drawing up plans for a possible extension. All other work that he recommended be done was not going to put another cent in his pocket, nor was he pushing or recommending others, other than to stress how important it was that they were registered and we got references.
As I understand it, a registered architect in France is a professional covered by insurance and all the architects used by Adia are similarly qualified. We weren't buying a barn that needs a lot of renovation so this survey seemed right for us.
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We have just commissioned a building survey using www.adia.org and I thought others might find our experiences useful.
I contacted them a week before I was planning to get a surveyor in and gave them the surface habitable. They told us once we'd confirmed, they'd send us the contact details of an architect in our area (74) who'd be able to do the survey for us. When I confirmed, they said they would send me the contact details the next day, which they duly did. We called the architect on Friday morning and he fixed an appointment for the following Monday. We may just have been very lucky with the chosen architect, but he was helpful in the extreme, and quite happy for us to follow him around the house as he explained all the elements he was surveying, offering tips and pointers. We received a detailed BSI report which basically gave us a to-do list for the next 10 years The report was posted to us within 2 days and he called the day it arrived to see if we'd got it and to tell us to make sure to call him if we had any queries.
He also came out on a second visit as we couldn't get into the cave on the first, which he certainly didn't have to do, and came for a coffee to discuss the findings further and gave advice on the best way to progress. Obviously it is a good client introduction for him, and we will certainly be going back to him when we need an architect. I'm sure it may be pot luck as to who they send, but we were extremely happy.
They charge €450 standard and a couple of hundred extra for larger places. I have to say it was money very well spent, and we feel it gave us a very realistic idea of exactly what needed to be done if we were to buy the place. This is the first time we have tried to buy a house so I'm not sure how the BSI might compare to the usual UK survey. We do have a reasonable standard of French so didn't need to get a translator but the website is also in English so I'm sure they are used to anglophone clients.
Obviously I reserve the right to take it all back if we buy and the place falls down
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This is an option I looked into myself...
It seems to be commonly accepted that the best course to do is the Cambridge tefl, with Trinity a close second. In terms of finding employment in language schools across the world, these are the most commonly requested qualifications. Both are full time for a month and do cost around stg1k. They're advertised all over the UK - have a look at the Times Educational Supplement or the Guardian on a Tuesday. Friends have done the Cambridge one and highly recommended it. Having looked a job ads in those papers for a few years, they almost always want someone who has done at least a month' training and many specify CELTA. Also look at www.eslcafe.com for info and forums
As the others have pointed out, clients in rural France might not know or care about the qualifications but I reckon the celta will stand to you, especially if you want to take it seriously. In my experience of language classes, most English native speakers have an extremely limited grasp of English grammar, especially if they've never learnt another language. Also, some people might be natural teachers but most aren't - a bit of training is going to help a lot and give you confidence. As a student it is easy to spot the teachers who don't know what they're doing and they don't get the repeat business.
My sister worked as an English teacher in French private and state primary schools - it's now obligatory for the schools and certainly where she is, they are desparate for native speakers with some experience of teaching or with children and enough French to communicate. She's a qualified teacher but that's not necessary. She also built up a healthy private tuition service from that so it is certainly worth a try.
Good luck!
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In case it helps with accountants -
URSSAF du Bas Rhin has issued our siret number and they also produce a leaflet called 'Employeur non établi en France' so if your accountant is looking confused, (s)he could call them.
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We were in a similar position in that my husband wanted to continue working for his UK company while resident in France. From our experience, there are two main options:
- either he sets up as a representative of the company in France and pays his own and the company's social security contributions into the French system
- he sets up as an independent consultant in France with all the security payments that entails.
You should be aware that the employer's contributions to social security in France are much higher than in the UK (more than double I think) and if the company is not willing to pay this, you will be considerably out of pocket. My husband's company agreed to pay him gross and he pays the social insurance directly to the French system but he has to cover the excess himself, which greatly reduces his take home pay. It may be better in the long run for your husband to set up as a consultant and charge the company accordingly to cover all your social security payments.
In any case, as Iceni says, you definitely need to find an accountant to take you through the process and there may well be other options. It can take a long time - we started the 'representative in France' process in February, have supposedly been ìn the system since 1st May and have only just received the paperwork that we can take to CPAM to set up the carte vitale process. We still haven't actually paid any NI and are nervously awaiting the first bill
If you have started the carte vitale process already, I wouldn't worry too much about it: you are entitled to enter the system due to your UK NI payments. In any case, it will probably take you months to get any official paperwork to show CPAM that you have paid any French NI.
There has been some discussion on the forum about this, but as Iceni says, an accountant is definitely the first step. Good luck!
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You're right TU, just an illustration.
I don't think you'd be able to get a one bed apartment around us for that kind of money. We certainly didn't move here for cheap houses...
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Thanks Will, the 'net vendeur' explanation makes a lot of sense and the seller signing first tip should reduce the number of sleepless nights!
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Hmm, expats and now romantic pioneers: why can't Brits just call themselves immigrants like the rest of us
When I was an immigrant living in Britain, I certainly never heard any guff about our pioneering spirit moving to the UK. People have always moved around, whether out of economic or political necessity, or just because they fancy a change. Most of the British moving now are simply making a lifestyle choice which has been made easier by the EU and rising house prices in the UK.
I don't think you can equate the experience of Brits moving to France now with 19thC emigrants.
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Thanks for the feedback. Well, I suppose all we can do is give it our best shot and hope we are first and highest
What does rioting achieve?
in The Complete France Post Bag
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