Too Old to Emigrate?

Shazanne

When are you too old to emigrate?
My husband and I are seriously considering moving to Canada. He is being made redundant (voluntarily) and I have a full time job. I am 50 and he is 54. He is a qualified tradesman and work does not appear to be a problem for him in Canada. Plus we have family there at present.
It is a major decision - giving up work, renting our house, moving all our belongings, leaving family (including elderly parents) and aiming to start a whole new life in a foreign country.
But we both want to do it and we feel that, if we don't do it now, we will never get the chance again and will probably regret not going.
But, of the few people we have mentioned it to, several have said we are too old and are basically "mad" to be even considering giving up what we have at this stage of our lives. Family, particularly mine, are giving me huge grief over it and are making me feel guilty for even talking of leaving.
I am torn apart at the moment. Do we shelve our plan/dream forever because other people say its wrong? Should be just be grateful for what we have and stop our "foolish thoughts"? Do we owe it to our families to stay here just in case they ever need us?
Its such a difficult situation.

VirtualWorld

Hi there,

Under no circumstances should you feel guilty for wanting to make a major life change. Would it be a terrible thing to decide to go on a play it by ear basis? You might be back in 6 weeks, 6 months or 6 years or not at all, but you are big enough and old enough to handle those decisions should the time come. When you say renting your house I'm not sure what you are saying. Either option to me sounds good. If you are currently renting you have no ties. If you're planning to rent out a house you own, this tells me you can afford to hold onto it and don't have to force a sale to move, then you are in a position to come back to it some day should you choose to. And that would not be a failure were it to happen either. Just the closing of that particular adventure.

Of the older people I know, and I mean older than you, the ones that are the most young of spirit and health and personality are those who are ACTIVE and take control of their own lives. Not those who let their lives happen to them. I'm not saying you HAVE to up sticks and move to do that, but it isn't a bad way if you ask me.

I say, you two make the decision yourselves between yourselves. Do the homework, become fully informed, discuss this only with those you know WILL support you no matter what you do, and when you are ready to roll, hold hands, but up a united front, explain yourself once without asking for permission and go for it. Jealousy is a terrible thing!!

Shazanne

Thank you so very much for that reply:)
It means a great deal to me to hear something so positive, when I am being indoctrinated with negatives at the present time.
I have always been the "odd one out" in my family! The one who travels, the one who got divorced, the one who moved out of the home town (albeit not too far!) and now the one who wants to emigrate. But I've also been the one that worked, took on additional courses, got involved in community activity and was always there for everyone.
Thank you for helping me to focus my mind a bit better at this time. Maybe it is time to put "me" first.

MidlandsM

Go for it! follow yer dream and gut .......good luck to ye

Maggie 2

I believe that Canada is closed to new applicants for the time being. I doubt you would get a work visa that easily, isn't there an age limit? If you have a job, why give it all up? Especially if you have elderly parents. My husband and I are in our 50's and I'm unemployed and he's on short time. We gave serious consideration to going to England, as my husband could get a job there, but when push came to shove, we couldn't leave our children or my elderly mother. Bad as things are here workwise, it's our home and we are happy here.

Shazanne

Maggie 2 wrote: »

I believe that Canada is closed to new applicants for the time being. I doubt you would get a work visa that easily, isn't there an age limit? If you have a job, why give it all up? Especially if you have elderly parents. My husband and I are in our 50's and I'm unemployed and he's on short time. We gave serious consideration to going to England, as my husband could get a job there, but when push came to shove, we couldn't leave our children or my elderly mother. Bad as things are here workwise, it's our home and we are happy here.

Hi Maggie,
Thanks for that, I appreciate your opinion.
Canada operates on a provincial basis and Alberta is not closed to skilled workers and is actually crying out for them. There isn't an age restriction for skilled tradesmen.
As regards giving up a job, I have been in my profession for 30 years and, while I enjoy it, I would relish a change of direction. I have been distance studying for a while now and really enjoying it.
Our children are grown and left home. Two are here, in committed relationships and both in good careers. One is in Australia and very settled and happy and with no plans to return to Ireland and the other is in Canada where we would plan on living.
I fully respect your decision to remain in Ireland. I also love Ireland and it is and always will be home to me. But we feel at this time that if we don't experience a new challenge in life and we may regret it in time and that, by then, it would certainly be too late for us.
But there is still alot of talking to be done!

Maggie 2

If you feel able to go, the do! You still have a good 15 years working life in you! I admire your ambition and wish you both well! Keep us posted!

Iospir

Dear God...Go !!!
Life is too short to be held back by negative people. You're far from old and with family already there you'll have a safety net against being lonely. Take a leaf from your children who have emigrated's books and take control of your own life. You'll be dead long enough :-)
On a practical side try to do as much research as you can before you go. Could you maybe go for a month long holiday to check it out before you decide?
Friends of mine went to France for a year, renting out their house etc. In the end they decided it wasn't for them but now they know and have a had a year's adventure too.
Any chance you could take a career break or leave of absence for six months or a year so you don't have to leave your job until you're sure?

Shazanne

Have thought of the career break idea but am doubtful my employers would agree. I will certainly ask, but am not factoring it into my plan at the moment.
We have been there on a holiday earlier this year and liked what we saw. And I get regular (sometimes daily!) updates of life there from my daughter!
The winters are a concern, as is the driving (automatic cars and opposite side of road) but there are only concerns, not major worries. Major worries are things life health - although we are both fit and healthy - and not settling happily and having no job to come back to here. That the big gamble and the one that comes between me and sleep some nights.

VirtualWorld

You're very welcome to my opinion. Glad it perked you up a bit.
I'm going to very badly try to requote something I heard a month or so back which I believe to be a great truth.

It doesn't really matter how dreadful a life experience a person has to contend with. It happens to us all at one time or other. Deaths in the family, terribly tragedies, tough separations, illnesses etc. In MOST cases, the people involved come through it and out the other side with flying colours. The experience will have touched their lives forever. The loss may always be with them. etc. But these are things that are beyond our control. We can't spend our time worrying about all the things that might go wrong, most of which probably never will. Instead we can put a few practical plans into place to prepare and to shield us against some of those where we can, and we accept that we will survive even if we do find ourselves stony broke for a while. Maybe that in itself might be a new adventure? Coping on a smaller budget etc. You have a choice in how you look at things. Negatively or positively. This is something you DO have control over. I'm not advocating being plain hair brained foolish. But you don't strike me as someone who hasn't been able to cope with things that were thrown at you in the past. Why think that you won't cope with the things that are thrown at you in the future?

I'm not really one for repeating philosophical quotes, but this one is a personal favourite.

Worrying about tomorrow won't make tomorrow any better, but it will steal strength from today.

In other words.. worrying is a pointless exercise. You have tremendous strengths. We all do. We are human beings. Incredible creatures. Trust yourself to be able to draw on those strengths as you've always done in the past.

ahernjohn

I am 49 and my wife is 51 and when our son finishes college next year we plan on moving somewhere else and were thinking of Canada. I have elderly parents and hate leaving them as we spent 20 years in London and are now back home 9 years.
We both love it in Ireland but it has been totally driven into the ground by our policy makers in the last 10 to 15 years. The way we see it we have a good 15 to 20 years of working left in us and need to make the most of it. I am self employed and cannot make any kind of a decent wage here now and my wife thinks her job will be gone by January. I contacted a company called Global Visas and gave them my details, They said that they charge €3000 to find you a job and deal with the visa and if they are not successful they refund your money

mandrake04

ahernjohn wrote: »

I am 49 and my wife is 51 and when our son finishes college next year we plan on moving somewhere else and were thinking of Canada. I have elderly parents and hate leaving them as we spent 20 years in London and are now back home 9 years.
We both love it in Ireland but it has been totally driven into the ground by our policy makers in the last 10 to 15 years. The way we see it we have a good 15 to 20 years of working left in us and need to make the most of it. I am self employed and cannot make any kind of a decent wage here now and my wife thinks her job will be gone by January. I contacted a company called Global Visas and gave them my details, They said that they charge €3000 to find you a job and deal with the visa and if they are not successful they refund your money

Have you done a google of Global visa review?

ahernjohn

I have not googled for a review of them, I only contacted them a few days ago but will certainly be checking them out before I would use them

ahernjohn

I have just googled Global visa and the reviews are not good so I wouldn't go there

Shazanne

Hi ahernjohn,
We are obviously thinking along similar lines, but we have probably gone a number of steps further than you at this point.
The process for moving to Canada is very complicated, particularly if you are hoping to stay there (residency) and you certainly need expert advice. Most definitely do not consider handing over a sum of money to ANY company on the basis of them finding you a job and securing a visa!!
I have not come across the company that you mention but I will have a look and see what they say. We have been dealing with a specialist company for over a year at this point so I am pretty familiar with the rules and regulations that apply.
Did you happen to attend the Working Abroad Expo in Dublin two weeks ago? The age profile of people there certainly answered my original question on this thread! It's not the only the youngsters anymore, it families with children of all ages and couples or individuals of our age who are seeking a more fulfilling life where effort is rewarded and there is an opportunity to progress.
If I can be of any help to you please feel free to drop me a PM and I will give you any pointers I can. Like I say, it's not an easy process - but then again nothing really worth having ever is!!