Disillusioned 30-something year olds looking to potentially move to Belfast from Ireland

BorderHopper91

I am totally Disillusioned as a 30 something year old, living at home with mum and the girlfriend and feeling like I am putting my life on hold. I should be getting married and having kids, but instead I am waiting and waiting to try and buy an overpriced house that I am worried will end up getting me into debt, especially on the precipice of a potential recession/depression.

So, I have come up with an action plan and want to do a litmus test to make sure I'm not bonkers:

Current Position

• Location: Currently in County Wicklow, Ireland
• Living Situation: Living with mother and girlfriend
• Assets: €86,000 total (€60,000 cash, €20,000 stocks, €6,000 Bitcoin)
• Employment: Currently unemployed, seeking opportunities

Proposed Strategy

I'm considering relocating to Belfast instead of Dublin for the next 5-10 years to build financial security through a tax-optimized investment approach.

Key Financial Differences

Monthly Cash Flow:

• Belfast: €833 higher monthly savings potential due to significantly lower housing costs and general cost of living
• This amounts to approximately €10,000 additional investment capital per year

Investment Approach:

• Belfast Strategy:
  • Maximize UK ISA allowance (£20,000/year tax-free investments)
  • Utilize tax-free Gold Sovereigns (unique to UK)
  • Maintain small non-sheltered investments below capital gains thresholds
• Dublin Strategy:
  • Standard investment portfolio with higher tax burden
  • No equivalent to ISA available
  • Higher capital gains tax (33% vs. 10-20%)

Projected Outcomes

5-Year Projection:

• Belfast: €265,848 total wealth
• Dublin: €187,599 total wealth
• Difference: €78,249 (41.7%)

10-Year Projection:

• Belfast: €521,867 total wealth
• Dublin: €315,546 total wealth
• Difference: €206,321 (65.4%)

Rent vs. Buy Analysis (10-Year):

• Renting and investing in Belfast produces significantly better results (€742,289) than buying property (€281,619)
• This suggests potentially delaying property purchase to maximize investment growth

Personal Considerations

My girlfriend is uncertain about relocation, and I appreciate that financial factors are just one part of this decision. Family proximity and potential job opportunities need to be considered alongside the financial advantages, although it is only a few hours drive so no problem to visit at weekends etc.

Questions I'd Value Feedback On

1. Does my tax strategy utilizing ISAs and Gold Sovereigns seem sound?
2. Are the projected growth rates (6% for stocks, 9.5% for gold) reasonable?
3. Are there downsides to this Belfast approach I might be overlooking?
4. Any experiences with cross-border financial planning between Ireland/UK?
5. Should I consider a different timeframe or a hybrid approach?

Thanks for taking the time to review this plan. I'm particularly interested in feedback from anyone with experience living/investing in both jurisdictions.

celtic_oz

Pfft dont be so analytical and take advantage of your youth for a few years, move to a country with no income tax. Buy a house outright when you come back

https://nomadcapitalist.com/global-citizen/countries-no-income-tax/

Former Former Former

You’re unemployed in a country with full employment, but you assume you’ll be able to earn enough money in Belfast to max out all the tax allowances available to you?

You have 86k in savings but you’re forcing your girlfriend to live with your mother instead of renting or buying a place of your own?

This is either a wind-up or you’re leaving out key pieces of information. It reads like one of those “How I became a millionaire on passive income” videos on YouTube.

JayRoc

If you don't know Belfast is in Ireland I'm not really sure you should move there

CelticRambler

I have come up with an action plan and want to do a litmus test to make sure I'm not bonkers:

Seeing as your action plan doesn't include any variation of the phrase "get a job", yep: you're bonkers.

You have 60k in the bank. With that, you could buy a decent house outright somewhere other than Ireland (for info: Belfast is in Ireland) and not have to spend so much time obsessing over five-year tax planning.

ELM327

Belfast is in Ireland.

The rest of your post is from chatgpt.

the O Reilly connection

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058405626/disillusioned-30-something-year-olds-looking-to-potentially-move-to-belfast-from-ireland

It all depends on whether you like Unionists or not. A lot of the middle class upper/class areas of Belfast are Unionist. So unless you like the idea of waving a Union flag on the 12th of July I would avoid it. Getting around discussions such as politics might prove difficult. People from the Republic are generally wealthier than Nationalists in the North. It is changing but it hasn't changed a huge deal imo.

NIMAN

Threads like this are one of the reasons Boards is on life support.

So many new threads are obvious windup trolling.

creeper1

It might make sense if you can do your job fully remotely.

As for gold sovereigns you can buy them and sell them in the UK without needing a UK address so I'd dismiss that entirely from consideration.