united

Its the same nonsense with online check-in where you are asked if anyone WILL have interfered with your baggage.

Just to give the counter view. We live in Edinburgh and our local ferry is Rosyth- Zeebrugge. Our house is south of Nantes. We take the car for 3 of our annual visits ie (6 trips) and have tried a few routes. We think Nantes, Angers, Le Mans, Rouen, Calais is best. Its all pretty fast except the road around Rouen. I allow 7.5 hours for the trip, its better for us than going through the UK after a south of England crossing. The other factor is how easy is it to get to Nantes from your starting place. In our case we dont have room for champagne with our dogs taking the whole of the back of my estate car. If you want more detail please pm me.

First of all sorry I cannot put para breaks in! I think it helps to have a clear set of selection criteria you want before looking. Here are a few suggestions. New property, renovation project or someting in between? What size of garden? a lot of land may seem great but you can feel like a farmer with some big gardens. Do you to be in a town with neighbours, do you want to be near shops, reataurants, a station, airport. Is mains drainage important or would you rather have something more rural with a septic tank. Also do you want the town to have some visible activity during the day many towns can seem like ghost towns. What sort of climate do you want and do the areas you are looking at match your requirement? There can been great seasonal changes. Do you want to be near other British people or would you prefer not to be? Re the English lawyer lots of people will have positive experience with and without them. It depends on your appetite for risk. Its like insurance you probably won't need it but when you do you are very glad to have it. Thousands of purchases go through without a problem (as in the UK) but when things go wrong they really do. Remember notaires do not act like UK solicitors so you will need to do some of your own work regarding potential current or local impacts on your property. Good luck

When I am here in Edinburgh I have weekly conversations with a French student who is on the  Etranger year of her political science degree. This is the 2nd student I have met from the course the 1st recommended the current student. We meet in a cafe and talk about a subject of my choosing for an hour. The fact it was in a cafe put me off to start with but its a real confidence booster after a while and whilst its more comfortable in a class/home it can be artificial. Also with meeting a female student its a safer environment for the initial meeting. I buy the coffees and pay £10 for an hour. Its vaguely symbiotic as they get to hear views different from their fellow students a point they have both made.    

The minimum for the specialist I use, Moneycorp, is £5000 they do say they can be flexible on this but I have never tested this. 

We pay sterling cheques into our French Bank when we want to transfer sums under the currency specialist minimum and the charges are as Will said. The exchange rate our bank uses is compares well with the specialists.  Do not forget to sign the back of the cheque. 

Ernie, The Telegraph says it is a 1937 Type 57S Atalante and is one of 17 made. It was owned by Earl Howe first president of the British Racing Driver's Club. Also found in the garage were an E Type and an Aston....might keep your soul and and own one of those!

Having had a few less than enjoyable trips to IKEA in Nantes we went online to their French site from here in Edinburgh and ordered some furniture to be delivered when we returned to France. In Nantes they sub-contract delivery so its a couple of weeks from order to delivery. IKEA said they would deliver on a Tuesday at 9.00am, they arrived at 7.30am. We also know we can hear the doorbell from the shower!  

Well Ulsterrugby I wonder if you decide that anything you disagree with is not open minded or fair even if its true. I can trump your 25 years in Financial Services by some margin. You say the banks have been allowed to run ahead unchecked this is a regulation issue so I take it you agree with my first point about ineffectual regulators . Another  point you are make is essentially a micro point lending at an individual bank level. This has been impacted on a number of fronts by the points I made. The borrower faces a downturn and has reduced ability or confidence in the repayment. The bank because of the erosion of its asset quality and the degredation of its capital ratio reviews its past decisions in the light of the current situation and it becomes a vicious spiral. On top of that banks not lending to each other compounds the problem. You say shareholders have as much responsibility well that pretty much all of us as pension funds and income unit trusts are significant holders of  bank stock. My reponse was to the question raised by Gastines, you disagree that is the nature of fora such as this one......but it does not mean you are right!

The roots of this crisis lie in bad Government policies, stupid laws, and ineffectual regulators. Back in the days of President Carter in the US a law was passed called the Community Reinvestment Act which forced banks including Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac to give loans out to low credit, no hope families. Sensible bank lending policies were called racist and discriminatory. More recently, President Clinton added further teeth to that legislation, and banks were judged on how much they gave away in these NINJA loans (no income, no job, or assets). Legislation by Democrats also created ACORN (the Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now). ACORN, backed by this law, were activists intimidating lenders judged not to be giving sufficient loans to low credit, no hope families (sub prime). In the late 1990s, a leading light of ACORN was Barack Obama. Bad as that sounds, it gets worse. Following the collapse of Enron, Western Governments forced through new accounting practices known as mark to market. Under this directive Banks must base their profits not on how much income they expect to receive in future, but on how much money they can raise immediately if they sold all their loans in the marketplace at the best price they could fetch at the time. In the current wildly volatile conditions of the last 12 months, it’s estimated this artificial accounting method has contributed 70% to the current crisis. Currently, banks are forced to evaluate their loan books on a fire sale basis. This leads to a spiral of credit unworthiness driving loan book values down close to zero. Hence the run on the Banks, their shares, leading to the present crisis. It gets even worse. It’s widely reported the $700 billion bail out is about US taxpayers saving the skins of greedy bankers and Wall Street fat cats. But it’s far from that. One of the world’s most respected Bond managers, Bill Gross of PIMCO, makes it clear it’s actually a great deal for the US taxpayer. The plan is to buy up the loan books from Banks, freeing up liquidity and allowing the economy to grow again. Because the US taxpayers can buy at significant discount currently, he’s estimated over the next two years taxpayers could earn, including income and profits, somewhere in the region of $200 billion. I think the same will be true in the UK the Government(or us!) will make big profits from the equity and preference shares they will have in RBS & LLoyds TSB

As I run or cycle around town I can recognise a number of the the famous French people streets, roads and squares are named after eg De Gaulle, Clemenceau, de Lattre de Tassigny et al.  However, I do wonder about the reason why some of the other less well known people have merited a memorial in the form of a street or road. Does anyone know if there is a book or directory giving background to the people. Thanks

There is no need to wait for the envelope, if you wish you can check for winnings on http://www.nsandi.com/products/pb/haveYouWon.jsp. The site is updated by the 3rd working day of each month, frequently before Some friends still prefer to wait until the postman arrives, its still a good check to make certain he/she has delivered what they should. 

According to the Pru website the with profit asset mix at 31/12/07 was UK Equities 35% Non UK Equities 17% Fixed Interest 28% Property 14% Alternative Investments 3% Cash 3% I would imagine the percentages will have changed a little as a result of investment decisions and current valuations. Re the tax position on cashing in I understand there can be a higher rate tax charge if the policy has run less than 10 years.

Interest rates are one of the levers used to try and control inflationary pressures, at present this pressure has eased with commodity prices falling and the likelihood of industry output falling. Added to this is the reluctance of banks to lend to each other. If intrest rates increased many business would fail or contract leading to higher unemployment and lower tax. Its not all doom and gloom in the UK we taxpayers may well get a significant percentage of the bail out back.      

Digby, If you care to look at Angela's site you will see that the site very clearly states  the following. All material on this website © Angela Bird unless otherwise indicated. Reproduction forbidden without written permission. Is that not clear enough? At best its just plain lazy and piggy backing on the work somebody else has done.

I had planned some decking earlier this year and found the same problem about costs, especially as I looked around suppliers here in the UK.  When I went to the timber merchants in Challans, Douet, the price of grooved decking was eye watering, however, they also sold none grooved fully treated wood at 1/20 of the cost of the grooved. I chose it from a brochure they gave out. Any cut ends need to be treated as you build and there are products specially made for this. I initially thought it could end up looking like a big pallet but I am pretty happy with it and my neighbours think its good. All my paperwork is in France so I cannot be more specific about materials. Good luck

Albert, Sorry if I lacked clarity. Yes depending on how iffy your heart is you could get a better rate. These are generally known as impaired life annuities not all companies offer them. Re your 3% increase it does show what a complex issue it can be. If only we knew the date we pop our clogs! I stick with my point about quality advice. I try and keep upto date so I can assess if an adviser knows as much as me I then know he/she is not what I want. I did a quick google on impaired  life annuities there do seem to be a few companies offering comparison services that may be worth a look. good luck

Albert part 2 first. If the assets backing the annuity give a improving rate of return then this can be reflected in improved annuity rates, Typical assets would be gilts both conventional & index linked along with investment grade bonds. I think rates have improved recently for level annuities but I am not certain about index linked annuities (because of the current inflation risk). Downward pressure is exerted by us all living longer although this can be offset with some providers who offer better rates if health is not 100%. Re the Euro I remember so years ago a pension provider offered what it called asset backed annuities which provided X units of their investment funds (eg UK Equities, Property etc) per annum, depending on age. The supposed attraction was that the value of the units would increase over time an could provide a better return than the more expensive index linked or escalating annuity so if these are still available and a provider has a Euro designated fund it may be be available. I am not a Financial Adviser but I have read about the huge variety of options now available drawdown, phased retirement, a whole raft of different annuities and the QROPS this is Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes under which after 5 years the proceeds can be taken out in one lump sum with beneficial tax rates. I try and keep upto date on these issues from a personal interest point of view but would always seek good quality professional advice, with an annuity you cannot change your mind a few years down the line.  

It seems to be a problem with German cars I have a Mercedes with xenon lights and there are dire warnings in the handbook about adjusting the lights yourself . The book says only a dealer should do it. I went to the dealers who then showed me how to do it myself its a real fiddle but can be done, I think they would rather I did it than go before and after each trip. There is a small lever on each headlamp unit.

I am a big fan of Angela Bird's book on the Vendee (she contributes to this forum) she also has a website with a calendar of events on http://www.the-vendee.co.uk/april.htm there is an event for children in St Jean its a bit of a trip for you but you may get desperate, there are other things going on as well. Good luck  

Vivi, My understanding is that en Tontine meets your need but it is pretty inflexible. Once adopted it cannot be cancelled. In the event of a dispute no one owner can transfer his/her share to the other and that if you want to alter the form of ownership the only solution is to sell to a third party. There are some tax implications for valuable properties. The French regime of Communaute universelle (for married couples) is similar to joint tenancy in the UK. It ensures the survivor retains the full ownership of the property and is tax free between husband/wife. This is implemented by a deed drafted by the notaire. The downside is that you have to be in France to sign the deed, however, it can be signed at before the property purchase is completed.

Crevette, I agree top class advice is the key here. There are a couple of additional points I will add. Firstly you may not have to buy an annuity there are other methods of obtaining income from pension arrangements. Secondly I understand the 'tax free' cash element that is attractive to UK taxpayers is not a concept recognised by the French taxation system ie you will pay tax on it. Your adviser should know a heck of a lot more than I do!  

Stefan, I think you identified the problem in your first post your architect. We had extensive work done, rooms altered, new bathrooms, new windows complete new wiring all designed and project managed by an architect. We arrived at our home on a Friday to examine the completed work and I had arranged a review meeting with our architect on Monday thinking that we would find out any problems over the weekend.  When we arrived there were a number of visible snagging issues so we brought forward the meeting to the Friday afternoon. The architect accepted all our points and by 6.30 Friday night the plumber, electrician, tiler and painter had all been and completed their outstanding tasks and in a good humour to boot! Your experience is invaluable to others I would add that time spent choosing then building a relationship with an architect is invaluable. We recently had a van crash into our front gates and our neighbours emailed us as did the architect who was driving past and has now helped sort out our insurance claim.

JJ I've sent you a pm as I do not know if the company can help in France

I guess most people who respond will live in their 'best place to buy' and we all have different houses and live in different locations. I would be tempted to further define your criteria, you mention weather and rural location. What about transport? Will you need to go back to the UK if so how ferry or flight. If you are showing dogs is proximity to major roads needed. How about a rail station to visit your friends? Do you want to be near to super/hypermarkets or a village with a restaurant or even one that seems alive during the day? Will you be happy not having mains sewage, gas etc in your rural location? Do you want broadband? Six months into your home what will an ideal day/week be. Once you have defined all your criteria your search may be easier. Good luck.