Who's considering it after thinking they would never...?

[Crema Americana]

I can relate! We've been kicking the idea around, but are still pretty comfortable here. I too have had all these same questions... Would leaving be worth it? How will he deal there? Would it be fair to raise children here having the US as an option? Can we make it?

As for the last question, hundreds of thousands of immigrants move to the US and make a life for themselves (many without papers.) So if they can succeed, why not an educated couple with family support and completely legalized? It may be rough at first and it will certainly be an adjustment, but definitely doable.

When I first decided to move down here I had a lot of doubts as well. I wondered if I wasn't a bit crazy... I hadn't heard of this site and didn't realize there were so many people in very similar situations. As long as you do what you think is best and put your energy into making it work, with a little luck all will be fine.

 

[earlyretirement]

Been here since early 2007. Have spoken positively and negatively on this forum of a city I have come to dearly love. I met my husband early on, and we never talked about making a move to the States. Never. We were happy here. We still are if we can manage to momentarily separate ourselves from all the chaos the government continues to throw at us (and everyone). We have a good life here. Family (his), friends, property, my job. He was let go after 15 years at a bank a little over a year ago and has really struggled to find something since then. I'm just wondering if there are people in our boat who have either made the move after doubting it or are currently having doubts while planning an escape route just in case? I read about everyone who can't wait to leave and who is planning to leave, but we haven't taken that mental jump yet. I guess it's really hard to picture us in the States. Just for more info, any potential move would be to Austin, Texas, back closer to my family and safety and the Hill Country and oh the list could go on. But I'll be honest. I don't picture us there. I'm worried about his English (decent but extremely far from fluent), about work, about him missing his country, family and friends even though he says he's ready for a change...

Anyway, I've just been really torn. You would think I would be excited that the Argie is the one ready to leave and make a life near MY home, but I'm nervous, and if you've been there too, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

First of all, congratulations on the news of the baby. You will find that is probably the greatest thing you will ever do (become a parent). It totally changed my life and is my greatest job in life being a parent. So congrats on that front!

Here is my take and 2 cents on this. You can have a great quality of life in both places. I lived in Argentina since 2003 and only moved out last year. I had a great quality of life in Argentina.

I had wonderful life long true friends in Buenos Aires. I had wonderful family (my wife's family) living there. We owned our property outright and lived in a great place in a great part of town. We had a full time maid that made life easier doing all the laundry, all the cleaning everyday, cooked all the meals, went to the dry cleaners for me, paid bills, etc.

When we moved out, I wasn't one of those bitter people that was antsy and anxious to move back to the USA. I truly loved many aspects of Argentina but things just started annoying me. Back then there weren't even all the restriction and controls that there are now. But I felt they were coming soon..which we can see came true.

The big wildcard and motivating factor for me to move was having kids. My kids were both born in Argentina and it will always be a special place to all of us.

But I started also noticing an uptick in crime and more and more friends report things happening to them. I honestly didn't want to have to worry about something happening to my kids and that is what got me motivated to move back to the USA.

I grew up in the big house with the white picket fence and I also wanted to give that to my kids. It's almost impossible to have that without going far outside of Buenos Aires which I had NO desire to do.

In both places you have great quality healthcare if you have a great insurance plan. So on that point you can get great quality healthcare both in the USA and Argentina.

I think the key thing to do is map out on paper a good game plan and best case and worst case scenarios for both staying and leaving and living in the USA.

For the USA, the economy is still poor and the job market is not great with high unemployment. The realistic downside for you will be you have no experience in your degree. You mentioned "your job" but I'm not sure how it relates to your degree. But you're going to be competing with many qualified and experienced people in this job market. There are many people with Masters degrees that are unemployed and these people have lots of experience.

Your husband sounds like he has experience but again, the job market is poor. I'm not sure how strong his background is but just make sure you have a good game plan for moving back to the USA and have plenty of savings.

If you are both unemployed and have a child coming, it's going to be essential to get private insurance and a good insurance plan is not cheap in the USA. I own my own company so I self-insure here in the USA and it's not cheap at all. But the quality of care I feel is head and shoulders above Argentina.

I think the USA is one of those places where if you have a solid job or lots of savings or cash flow from investments...it's probably one of the best places in the world to raise a family with affordable quality of life all things considered. But it's one of the worst places to live if you don't have a job or any savings.

Austin is probably one of the best cities to live if you have to live in Texas as far as scenery goes. Also, real estate there isn't too expensive. And no state income taxes in Texas so that's always nice. But if you can't find a job then income taxes are a moot point.

There are problems in both places but I definitely would rather deal with the problems in the USA vs. Argentina. It just became not only a better quality of life issue but also safety issue and I didn't want to raise kids with the increased crime.

I don't regret my decision to move to the USA. We go back to Argentina for only holidays now and much prefer it that way.

 

[Dipoots]

A lot of good comments have been made and I shall only repeat one.. takes time to go over, in the mean time can plan for it, do the paperwork, and pull the trigger when you have the option to do it.

Employment is important. One of the worst thing that can hurt a man self esteem is unemployment (man as in the Male species). Here, he has his family to support him, over in Austin, nadie besides you. And if your husband cannot find a job soon and is not the optimist type, then it could be real tough.

On the flip side, he can prepare for his move now while doing all the visa/ legal paperwork. Since he has an MBA he can figure out what connections and resources here that he can tap on that may be useful in the US. He could be Wealth Manager targeting rich South Americans who wish to "save" abroad, or start a business using "cheap" resources in South America... and so on...

All the best.

Citygirl, as far as jobs go, I have no idea. We haven't started looking, but I know Austin isn't the worst place to be looking for work right now. I'm 29. He's 38. His degree is in Administración de Empresas and I came here with a college degree but still no experience in my major so far (Marketing). I've done well for myself here, and if I can do that here I feel confident I can make ammends in my own country. Ha, oh a little detail I left out. I'm pregnant with our first child. I know that the pregnancy has made me doubt our life here even more...there are just things I can't get over when thinking about raising a child here. The States has its faults. I am well aware of that, but when you start thinking about raising a family, you start comparing a lot more and there are certain factors that just weigh more heavily. We wouldn't be going anywhere until after the baby's born (early next year). But man that growing belly makes you do a lot of thinking. As far as property goes, one of our 2 is on the market, but it's not a deciding factor in whether or not we can move. If we got more serious about moving, we would talk to contacts about selling it to a buyer abroad (in the States). I suppose the only thing holding us/me back is fear (and believe me, I never thought I would ever fear moving back to my own country). I appreciate everyone's thoughts. Thank you.

 

[earlyretirement]

he can figure out what connections and resources here that he can tap on that may be useful in the US. .

Definitely the best thing you BOTH can do is really tap into your connections and network with people that you know both here and in Argentina.

If you aren't using things like LinkedIn, really tap into it and utilize it and most importantly don't leave any possible networking source unturned. Your greatest probability these days of finding a job is via someone you know or someone that someone you know, etc.

Especially in this kind of job market, you really have to network. Many people really hate networking and reaching out to people but it's so very important these days.

 

[John.St]

... Tired of going to 28273 different places in order to get something done.

But that's what is really good about Argentina - you always have problems to solve, never a dull moment.

 

[citygirl]

Whistling and singing "Always look on the bright side of life....."

 

[expatinowncountry]

I do not have much to contribute to this post but I would like to say that I find it very interesting and honest. Good luck to everyone.

 

[allcraz]

Whistling and singing "Always look on the bright side of life....."

Yes, let's make that our theme song! I'm trying...I really am.

 

[allcraz]

But that's what is really good about Argentina - you always have problems to solve, never a dull moment.

I sense sarcasm here, not sure, but I posted that there's "never a dull moment" as something I like about living here in another thread. It's true, and part of me appreciates the drama every once in a while.

 

[John.St]

But that's what is really good about Argentina - you always have problems to solve, never a dull moment.

I sense sarcasm here, not sure...

Absolutely not.

At "home" everything worked smoothly, as in: you enter a shop to buy something and they have it on the shelves, if you wait more than 5 minutes in your bank the manager apologizes and helps you, ...

But I love to solve problems and i have been missing them after I handed my business over to the next generation. Here in Argentina I can find as many as I please.