Is late 30s too old to shut up shop and go working abroad?

scrotist · 12-08-2023 12:15am #1

I have been eyeing up a lot of remote working opportunities recently. I work in IT.

Some more background: I am single, no kids, no house (renting). Yes I'm renting in late 30s due to and engagement not working out. What can you do. But that's not what this post is about.

Don't have anything really attaching me to the country other than my parents. And they're relatively young and still working so I'm not worried.

Would I be mad to apply to "remote work from anywhere" jobs and move somewhere foreign? There are lot of job sites these days that specialize in remote work and it looks very enticing. I have nothing tying me down here.

I would do this without thinking in my early 20s, the only thing that's holding me back now is my age. I feel I shouldn't be doing it.

Has anybody here (in my age group and circumstances i.e. single) done that?

Pros & cons appreciated.

Gusser09 · 12-08-2023 12:19am

Mah mate. Get out of here while you can.

Somewhere warm and a decent quality of living.

If your in your late 30s and dont own a house you probably never will.

Best of luck.

TheAnalyst_ · 12-08-2023 12:23am

No.

You can do it at any age depending on your mindset and your situation. I've done it before and would do it again at any point in my life.

TheAnalyst_ · 12-08-2023 12:24am

scrotist · 12-08-2023 12:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120967986#Comment_120967986

I should have added to my OP, and I will.

But I was this close >< to buying a house with my fiance but we broke up. At this age it's really like starting from scratch. That's why I don't have a house now.

scrotist · 12-08-2023 12:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120967993#Comment_120967993

Congrats. Would love to own somewhere out foreign and be paid the same wages as here.

Did you move somewhere in EU our outside of EU? And what age (or thereabouts) were you when you moved abroad?

TheAnalyst_ · 12-08-2023 1:06am

I'll have to PM you as its personal. Ireland is a very small place in the world and you realise how much limitations it places on you mentally as much as anything.

ghostfacekilla · 12-08-2023 3:58am

You're never too old. Look at football managers, they switch countries to work for clubs like changing socks well into their 60's. I've emigrated five times, the most recent when I was 32 and have been away for around 8yrs and would never return again, outside of a short holiday to see the relatives. The difference in leaving as I aged was more fear. Lots more unnecessary overthinking. A lack of that blind stupidity and greater sense of adventure that comes along with youth is helpful. The thing that always would stick in my mind is, 'What if it's my greatest regret of my life to not make a permanent move abroad'. Dublin is a rip-off for property prices. Terrible quality of apartments/houses and overinflated prices for mortgages and rent. There's plenty of places now in Europe where you will make equal or more money for most professions and get more bang for your buck when it comes to housing, and not have to wear a jacket inside in winter because nobody bothered to insulate the place.

randomname2005 · 12-08-2023 6:35am

Go for it. The only issue might be proving that you can support yourself there.

pat_sconce · 12-08-2023 8:25am

If you have the right IT skills you have the choice of many countries.

NZ, Oz, USA, Canada all looking for experienced people. Portugal is another option to consider - especially Lisbon/ Porto.

But be warned, any major city will have the same accommodation issue as Dublin.

Lisbon is worse than Dublin, but go 60km - 80km North and prices are great and lifestyle can be superb. (Obidos would be my choice)

zig · 12-08-2023 8:32am

I think the only real boundary to this decision should be kids, which you don’t have so go for it.

Jim2007 · 12-08-2023 9:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058308977/is-late-30s-too-old-to-shut-up-shop-and-go-working-abroad

Well, despite what people think there are very few opportunities to work legally as a remote worker, even the EU rules on FMOP don't grant you such a right. So strictly you'd be working illegally, but you will get away with it for the most part, provided you don't want to settle in one place. Once you need to access any kind of local services it becomes a problem. And of course it is not a very social way to live - holidaying is very different from sitting in a room eight or more hours a day working away.

As to whether to do it or not, only you can answer that question. But if you are not tight down and it is something you want to explore, why not? You have a good skill set and are young enough to give up and recover your Irish career if you decide after a while that it is not what you want.

In terms of what to do, I suggest you consider contract work in one of the smaller countries of the EU/EEA/CH. You'll earn good money, be able to integrate into local life and settle into a new lifestyle. The smaller countries you'll find that most IT is done in English which will help you settle in and give you some time to learn the local language. There also tends to be a higher number of expats, so again it is easier to establish a social life. And of course you are only a couple of hours away from Ireland.

Mrs OBumble · 12-08-2023 1:05pm

I did just what you describe, when I was just 40. Came on a career break, found a husband and didn't go home.

I'm glad I did it eventually (had hoped to 10 years earlier, but family events got in the way). But it's not something I'd recommend.

Lots of social systems are based on the fact that you've been in the workforce earning for 10+ years by the time you are 40. If you become unemployed, sick whatever - the number of "stamps" you have may matter. You may not qualify for any social-welfare at all. Even if you have the option of packing up and coming home to Ireland, you may need to wait two years to meet habitual residency conditions again (there are alternative ways - but only if you have the right paperwork). If you need to do any further training, it may cost a lot if you have to pay international-student rates. Your medical history will be eerily-incomplete (GPs and hospitals don't really do international information exchanges.)

Also, it may be career suicide: you are starting again as a migrant worker (hopefully a legal one! or else you're gonna be one of those Deliveroo drivers) . You probably won't get a job which uses all your experience, and you won't have a network of local contacts to help. Yes there are some jobs where your Irish accent will help (eg pulling pints in Irish bars), and some countries where people will "warm" to you 'cos they think they're Irish too (like feck they are, sez ye!), but you'll still be the software tester, not the applications manager.

Thinking you'll be fully remote is wishful thinking. Jim2007 above outlines the issues from an EU perspective. Similar-but different applies in non-EU countries too: over 35, you won't have permission to work unless you can get a skills visa, which means having a local employer. Sure you can go in on a tourist visa and just work from your kitchen table - if you can get an apartment: the housing crisis is NOT just an Irish phenomena. And even if you do, signing up for good-enough internet can even be a challenge if you don't have a right to work legally.

CelticRambler · 12-08-2023 1:26pm

At the ripe old age of 36, with wife and 4 children as willing accomplices, I "shut up shop" in England - i.e. closed my business and sold the house - and took of to "The Continent" with no work and no plan other than to find a cheap house in a nice place.

Twenty years later, I'm still nominally living in the same house and only ever work when and where I want. For "administrative" reasons as highlighted by Jim2007 and MrsOBumble, I limit myself to contracts in France, but that means I have easy wandering access to pretty much all of Western Europe.

Wife and children are now self-sufficient, so I can comfortably reject numerous offers of work yet still have enough to convince the authorities that I'm economically active.

AndrewJRenko · 12-08-2023 1:44pm

The big question would be about what are your goals over the next few years. If you're hoping to get a partner, settle down in Ireland, 2.4 kids and a dog, then you'll need to factor that into your plan now. If that's not on the cards for you, you have a lot more options.

Jim2007 · 12-08-2023 2:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120969157#Comment_120969157

That last sentence if very important, because most of the BREXIT hype about FMOP is incorrect. The FMOP rules are there to facilitate the working of the single market. And unless you are there as pensioner or for the purposes of family reunion, you need to establish and sustain economic activity, otherwise you can be sent home. It is rare but it does happen, the last one I recall was Germany sending back a polish family who collectively spent more time claiming benefits that anything else. In fact their game was to work just long enough to qualify for benefits and when the benefits ran out start all over again.

mykrodot · 13-08-2023 9:42pm

Just do it!

Is late 30s too old to shut up shop and go working abroad?

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