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Moving to America

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    #32
    BorneTobyWilde
    Registered Users Posts: 36,070 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    mrhoppy wrote: »
    I have some friends in the U.S. who said that Ohio would be perfect for me - a mix of urban and rural life, nice cities like Columbus, and easy to get in and out of via the interstate highways

    Even that has a population of 3 Irelands. What City in Ohio ? The Cities in each state are very much like counties in Ireland.
    I think Cities with populations of 100k- 250k would be great. Moving to cities with 8m people would be very different than living in Ireland.


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    #33
    Fr Tod Umptious
    Registered Users Posts: 15,242 ✭✭✭✭Fr Tod Umptious


    mrhoppy wrote: »
    Guns, race and public transport aren't concerns for me

    I'm studying electronic engineering

    And nor should guns or race concern you. People like to throw them out in anti US ramblings.

    Public transport I'd keep an eye on though, unless you plan on getting a car straight away.

    As another poster implied, US is no just one place, it's loads of different places with different rules and regulations for the same thing, it even varies from city to city in a given state.

    Electronic engineering is a good technical field to be studying.


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    #34
    Jim2007
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 10,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jim2007


    Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »
    Did you yourself ever work and live in the US ?

    Yes on and off over the past 30 years.
    Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »
    Did you ever experience any of the above situations you listed ?

    ALL of them are based on my experience of working with Americans over the past several years.
    Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »
    I've always had 7 un-certified sick days a year (I'm very healthy and used these for hangovers)

    And if you were sick and out of work for three to six months, how would that work out for you? In my case it is 85% of my salary for an absence of up to two years. It is all well and good when you are young and healthy, but from your 40s on wards you start to have problems of some kind or other. And being concerned about medical bankruptcy etc is not much fun.

    I have one very old friend from NY who is retired, he got his MBA at Columbia but unlike his colleagues he spend most of his working like in Ireland. Most of his colleagues did well in business and probably have more money than he does, but his is one taking trips abroad etc. while they stay at home. And the main reason is that all their health policies have life max limits and they are afraid to spend too much money in case they get seriously ill and their policy plus medicare will not be enough. That is not a way to enjoy retirement.
    Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »
    As an employee I always had the option to join a company pension plan with matched employer contributions.

    In is not about the contributions, it is about the fact that under US GAAP, American companies do not accrue benefits. For example: US faces crisis as pension funding hole hits $3.85tn

    Pensions are not something you think about much when you are young and healthy. But when within you're 10 years of retirement and there are major concerns about your pension fund and your ability to finance your retirement as a result, it is not the situation you want to be in.

    The US is fine when you are young and health. But is is a poor choice when you are middle aged, trying to bring up a family, pay for their education and still put money aside for a pension.

    Note that when it comes to median net wealth, the US falls way behind. It is even 7 places behind Ireland! America's middle class: Poorer than you think


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    #35
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here! :pac: The OP is still a student so (unless very "mature") not yet burdened by mid-life challenges.

    I'm still hoping to hear what he/she means or expects by "much more to explore and much more opportunity in the U.S." compared to learning/working/exploring opportunities in Europe and Asia. A company up the road from me here in France is desperate for electronic engineers, with opportunities for the lucky candidates to work for short periods in their sister companies on three other continents, aswell as using the local road and rail network to travel all over Europe. What does the US offer that makes it worth the effort and uncertainty of jumping through visa hoops, when you could just walk into this place and say "any chance of a job?"


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    #36
    mrhoppy
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭mrhoppy


    Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »
    And nor should guns or race concern you. People like to throw them out in anti US ramblings.

    Public transport I'd keep an eye on though, unless you plan on getting a car straight away.

    As another poster implied, US is no just one place, it's loads of different places with different rules and regulations for the same thing, it even varies from city to city in a given state.

    Electronic engineering is a good technical field to be studying.

    I'm aware all the states are different


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    #37
    mrhoppy
    Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭mrhoppy


    CelticRambler wrote: »
    I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here! :pac: The OP is still a student so (unless very "mature") not yet burdened by mid-life challenges.

    I'm still hoping to hear what he/she means or expects by "much more to explore and much more opportunity in the U.S." compared to learning/working/exploring opportunities in Europe and Asia. A company up the road from me here in France is desperate for electronic engineers, with opportunities for the lucky candidates to work for short periods in their sister companies on three other continents, aswell as using the local road and rail network to travel all over Europe. What does the US offer that makes it worth the effort and uncertainty of jumping through visa hoops, when you could just walk into this place and say "any chance of a job?"

    I mean much more to explore and more opportunity in the US as compared to Ireland


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    #38
    Kablamo!
    Registered Users Posts: 879 ✭✭✭Kablamo!


    mrhoppy wrote: »
    I mean much more to explore and more opportunity in the US as compared to Ireland

    In relation to what exactly though?


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    #39
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    mrhoppy wrote: »
    I mean much more to explore and more opportunity in the US as compared to Ireland

    But explore what ? And opportunity to do what ?

    I understand (and support) your interest in getting out of Ireland - I did it myself twenty-five years ago and can't see myself moving back any time soon - but you don't seem to have any clear idea of what you're looking for.


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    #40
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    CelticRambler wrote: »
    I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here! :pac: The OP is still a student so (unless very "mature") not yet burdened by mid-life challenges.

    I'm still hoping to hear what he/she means or expects by "much more to explore and much more opportunity in the U.S." compared to learning/working/exploring opportunities in Europe and Asia. A company up the road from me here in France is desperate for electronic engineers, with opportunities for the lucky candidates to work for short periods in their sister companies on three other continents, aswell as using the local road and rail network to travel all over Europe. What does the US offer that makes it worth the effort and uncertainty of jumping through visa hoops, when you could just walk into this place and say "any chance of a job?"

    Any chance of un commencement dans les plus brefs delais?


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    #41
    CelticRambler
    Registered Users Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    Nah - they're not interested in French speakers! :pac:

    Chinese, maybe, otherwise American-English is the language of "le Cluster" :cool:

    From one of the current ads for an electrical engineer with Astronics PGA La maîtrise de l’Anglais technique est requise sur ce poste.
    (mastery of technical English is required for this role)


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    #42
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    CelticRambler wrote: »
    Nah - they're not interested in French speakers! :pac:

    Chinese, maybe, otherwise American-English is the language of "le Cluster" :cool:

    From one of the current ads for an electrical engineer with Astronics PGA La maîtrise de l’Anglais technique est requise sur ce poste.
    (mastery of technical English is required for this role)

    mmm. I guess the language warriors are angry with this en France?


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    #43
    Jim2007
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 10,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jim2007


    'It's like a war zone,' says parent as expelled student shoots down 17 at Florida high school

    This is exactly why I would not want to bring up a family in the US. No kid should have to head to school everyday, wondering if to day is the day he might get shot.

    source


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    #44
    Palmy
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭Palmy


    You have to remember the U.S is a huge country with a population in excess of 320+ mil. I have never felt in a unsafe situation yet but I made sure I lived in a nice city in a nice neighbourhood. I have a great lifestyle for the amount of money I earn and I love the weather ( Florida ) . I don’t understand people who move and go to places like Ohio to live where it snows for 4 months of the year. I immigrated for a better lifestyle with a work life balance and nice weather year round. The gun culture here is everywhere but if you know your surroundings and be vigilant like anywhere else you are less likely to run into any problems.


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    #45
    Wompa1
    Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    Palmy wrote: »
    You have to remember the U.S is a huge country with a population in excess of 320+ mil. I have never felt in a unsafe situation yet but I made sure I lived in a nice city in a nice neighbourhood. I have a great lifestyle for the amount of money I earn and I love the weather ( Florida ) . I don’t understand people who move and go to places like Ohio to live where it snows for 4 months of the year. I immigrated for a better lifestyle with a work life balance and nice weather year round. The gun culture here is everywhere but if you know your surroundings and be vigilant like anywhere else you are less likely to run into any problems.

    You must have developed the American optimism. I've been to half of the states and of the states the one's I've spent the most time in are New York, Florida, Arizona and California. To me, the worst is Florida. It's reasonably affordable, particularly for a coastal state but it comes at another cost. I live in Arizona which has probably the most lax gun laws in the country and I still think well, at least I don't live in Florida!

    I have stopped following local news on Twitter and stopped listening to the local talk radio to keep my sanity over here. We moved to a more quiet part of the Valley but it's still not without it's problems. I'll be happy to move back to Ireland. My wife is from here so we'll just come back on holidays (which we'll have more time for when back over there)

    Also, Europe by land mass and population is larger than the US. The US is a union of 50 states. Europe is a union of countries. European countries follow some EU directives but also govern themselves. Ditto US states setting their own laws and control aside from federal laws. People here tend to say you can't compare Europe with the US. I don't get why not.


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    #46
    Palmy
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭Palmy


    It depends where in Florida you live. The east coast of Florida Miami etc I don’t care for. I live in Sarasota on the gulf coast. Our beach which is five minutes from my house is Siesta key, voted one of the best beaches in the U.S. I do agree if you go inland in Florida it’s backwards alright. I wouldn’t move back to Ireland if you payed me to be honest. I drove a cab in Dublin for 3 years after my construction business folded. I have seen and heard everything What a fricken kip . I would never bring my kids up there, my son looked out the kitchen window on a Dailey basis because it rained so much and he couldn’t go outside. If your not happy in the States you obviously haven’t found a good spot to live.


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    #47
    Wompa1
    Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    Palmy wrote: »
    It depends where in Florida you live. The east coast of Florida Miami etc I don’t care for. I live in Sarasota on the gulf coast. Our beach which is five minutes from my house is Siesta key, voted one of the best beaches in the U.S. I do agree if you go inland in Florida it’s backwards alright. I wouldn’t move back to Ireland if you payed me to be honest. I drove a cab in Dublin for 3 years after my construction business folded. I have seen and heard everything What a fricken kip . I would never bring my kids up there, my son looked out the kitchen window on a Dailey basis because it rained so much and he couldn’t go outside. If your not happy in the States you obviously haven’t found a good spot to live.

    Been to Sarasota and one of my work colleagues just moved back to Washington State from there after 18 months. He moved down there for the wife, she wanted the sun but they didn't like it. Most of my family live in Naples. It all probably depends on what you look for and what you can tolerate. My favorite parts of the US that I have been have to are central California (Monterey, Pacific Grove area) and Hawaii but both aren't affordable and have higher crime rates than Ireland. Also, even those states have quite a few shootings too.

    Spent 26 years in Ireland. Tended to go out in the back garden and kicked a ball around rain or shine. The only time I wouldn't is when it was freezing. (except when going to training). During my time in Florida, I tended to get back in the house from about 10:30am-11pm other than going to and from the car or house. It's true what people say, at least with Arizona it's a dry heat. Anything below 110 degrees is manageable. I can't stick the humidity in Florida, Louisiana, Georgia or those other Southern states.


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