Cyprus-Forum.com

[Pyrpolizer]

And of course things are not that straight forward neither as the US has its strengths.

For instance, you may call the US health system diabolical for many. But the US tax system is the best in the world and it’s a low tax country. The tax is barely half of what it is in Australia.

Therefore, more money left in the pockets of the worker,

Let’s analyse it further.

In Australia, I’d pay over $6k in medical insurance. In the US, I pay $10k in insurance. But in Australia, I pay thousands more in tax. In the US, I’d pay thousands less. And this tax saving is well in excess of the $10k

So yeh, it really depends on your circumstances. In my scenario, medical care is more free in the US than Sustralua because of the lower tax rate.

But at the other end of the scale, you wouldn’t want to be a waiter or on minimum wage.

But America still has its advantages. Many advantages too. Advantages which make it attractive.

Let me get this straight. Did you finally move to Ammerica? (intentional spelling error)

[Lordo]

Can you believe this?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/three-killed-as-15-year-old-student-opens-fire-at-his-school-in-michigan/ar-AARjzMF?ocid=entnewsntp

[Pyrpolizer]

Paphitis, first of all, welcome to the USA when you have/are fully moved there.

No, last time I was in Australia was about 5 years ago and does not seem that I will be returning anytime soon.

My post on the 16 Americans moving out of the US has nothing to do with the problems with the police, but rather, more to do with their quality of life improving having left the US. Having lived in Switzerland since 2004, I can vouch for their experiences.

I personally know an American lady here in Switzerland who not only moved here many years ago, but she has actually abdicated her American citizenship 3 years ago as she has no intentions ever going back again or filing her yearly income tax forms.

That's the most exciting news in this forum for a long long time.
How did I miss these wonderful developments.

[Kikapu]

Paphitis, first of all, welcome to the USA when you have/are fully moved there.

No, last time I was in Australia was about 5 years ago and does not seem that I will be returning anytime soon.

My post on the 16 Americans moving out of the US has nothing to do with the problems with the police, but rather, more to do with their quality of life improving having left the US. Having lived in Switzerland since 2004, I can vouch for their experiences.

I personally know an American lady here in Switzerland who not only moved here many years ago, but she has actually abdicated her American citizenship 3 years ago as she has no intentions ever going back again or filing her yearly income tax forms.

That's the most exciting news in this forum for a long long time.
How did I miss these wonderful developments.

Preview: Re: Turkey is bankrupt
Paphitis wrote: November 27th

But I don’t vote anymore. There is something that grinds me about voting for a Master, to keep their chair, and acting like a slave. I’m now a permanent resident of the US. So that status has allowed me to remove my name from the electoral rolls in Australia. It’s liberating. Because it was an illusion of democracy.

[Pyrpolizer]

Paphitis, first of all, welcome to the USA when you have/are fully moved there.

No, last time I was in Australia was about 5 years ago and does not seem that I will be returning anytime soon.

My post on the 16 Americans moving out of the US has nothing to do with the problems with the police, but rather, more to do with their quality of life improving having left the US. Having lived in Switzerland since 2004, I can vouch for their experiences.

I personally know an American lady here in Switzerland who not only moved here many years ago, but she has actually abdicated her American citizenship 3 years ago as she has no intentions ever going back again or filing her yearly income tax forms.

That's the most exciting news in this forum for a long long time.
How did I miss these wonderful developments.

Preview: Re: Turkey is bankrupt
Paphitis wrote: November 27th

But I don’t vote anymore. There is something that grinds me about voting for a Master, to keep their chair, and acting like a slave. I’m now a permanent resident of the US. So that status has allowed me to remove my name from the electoral rolls in Australia. It’s liberating. Because it was an illusion of democracy.

Great news Kiks. Now watch our fantasy boy getting straightened out by the Americans. I give him maximum 12 months. His brains got a lot of thin air down there in Australia, time for remedy.

[Paphitis]

And of course things are not that straight forward neither as the US has its strengths.

For instance, you may call the US health system diabolical for many. But the US tax system is the best in the world and it’s a low tax country. The tax is barely half of what it is in Australia.

Therefore, more money left in the pockets of the worker,

Let’s analyse it further.

In Australia, I’d pay over $6k in medical insurance. In the US, I pay $10k in insurance. But in Australia, I pay thousands more in tax. In the US, I’d pay thousands less. And this tax saving is well in excess of the $10k

So yeh, it really depends on your circumstances. In my scenario, medical care is more free in the US than Sustralua because of the lower tax rate.

But at the other end of the scale, you wouldn’t want to be a waiter or on minimum wage.

But America still has its advantages. Many advantages too. Advantages which make it attractive.

Let me get this straight. Did you finally move to Ammerica? (intentional spelling error)

I'm currently in St Louis, Missouri till end of January.

[Paphitis]

Paphitis, first of all, welcome to the USA when you have/are fully moved there.

No, last time I was in Australia was about 5 years ago and does not seem that I will be returning anytime soon.

My post on the 16 Americans moving out of the US has nothing to do with the problems with the police, but rather, more to do with their quality of life improving having left the US. Having lived in Switzerland since 2004, I can vouch for their experiences.

I personally know an American lady here in Switzerland who not only moved here many years ago, but she has actually abdicated her American citizenship 3 years ago as she has no intentions ever going back again or filing her yearly income tax forms.

That's the most exciting news in this forum for a long long time.
How did I miss these wonderful developments.

Preview: Re: Turkey is bankrupt
Paphitis wrote: November 27th

But I don’t vote anymore. There is something that grinds me about voting for a Master, to keep their chair, and acting like a slave. I’m now a permanent resident of the US. So that status has allowed me to remove my name from the electoral rolls in Australia. It’s liberating. Because it was an illusion of democracy.

Great news Kiks. Now watch our fantasy boy getting straightened out by the Americans. I give him maximum 12 months. His brains got a lot of thin air down there in Australia, time for remedy.

The US is very different to Australia. The way the Americans operate is very different.

It’s a very pleasant and professional environment which is extremely helpful every step of the way provided you put in the effort. The Americans are experts at dumbing everything right down and that’s the way it has to be because the system is far too big. The system works too.

But the best thing overall is the mentoring and the corporate ethos. They bend over backwards to help anyone. No politics or harassment. Americans are extremely business and corporate minded.

And being Australian already is a big head start. They literally worship Australians.

But you are also just a number in a sea of people. In a system that large, there is no room left for interpretation. You have to know the FCOM inside out and off by heart. Not one word can be out of place. The same patter, every single time.

All the instructors are ex US Military as well.

The biggest problem is Sim slots and some of us might be going to Ireland for our checks. Hundreds are in the pipe getting their checks done including many who haven’t flown for the last 2 years.

I’ve been preparing for this for the last 6 months. I was even sent latest copies of the FCOM, plus updates. Plus been swatting for the FAA ATPL which is a doddle compared to the Australian one.

One thing you will notice about Americans is that they are extremely patriotic and proud of their country and their company. You feel it very much.

As long as you don’t insult them, work pretty hard, then it’s a very easy environment to be in where everything is well structured, well organised and with all the support you would need. I believe they will wash out those they don’t want in the first 3 months and you would have to piss them off in order to wash out as their intentions are to pass as many as they can. Even if you failed a check, you get a second attempt and then you go back into retraining before your third and final.

[Kikapu]

Paphitis, the truth is, you are going to have a great time living in the US. It is normal. However, gradually you will be stressed out from the day to day events, may they be overcrowding on the streets, malls, destitute people, massive traffic jams, worries about your kids at school and their comings and goings with their friends because most kids in the stated do drugs in one form or the other, or else they won’t be cool with their friends. They will likelihood brush with the law because of the friends they keep. Your kids will need to become streetwise living in the US quickly as everything will be new and exciting to them and also be very trusting of their bad friends. By the way, this also applies to adults when they first come to the US.

The US has a lot to offer, from things to do, places to visit and foods to eat and drink. I loved living there the 25 years I had spent there and was making 2-3 trips there every year whilst living in Switzerland until recently due to Covid restrictions, now, I much prefer to live in Europe. As long as you can pay for something, you can do it without too much hassle. You want to buy a sailboat and sail around the world, no problem as no license is needed. You want to buy a big bus size RV (recreational vehicle/mobile home) to travel the US, no problem as you do not need a commercial license. Just your car license will do. You want to play golf at public or private golf courses, no problem as you do not need to get a handicap license. Police are basically professionals as long as you allow them to step on your rights. Most things are cheaper than they are in Europe, but so can be the quality too.

One more thing. In America often you do not have friends. What you will have are acquaintances. Big difference, but most Americans do not know the difference, but just know that you can’t count on them in times of need as you would do on real friends.

Enjoy the USA.

[Get Real!]

Fellas, it's income tax time in CY and I didn’t really know where to put this message but...

those of you who are CY government employees or receive income statements in the PDF format, can use this excellent online PDF to Word converter:

https://pdf2doc.com/

...which is the only converter that has proper international support and can convert Greek or other foreign language characters properly.

Don’t waste your time with other online crap, and there are many which can only handle English.

Kudos to the author.

[Kikapu]

Paphitis, some of the interesting places for you to visit in the US....more photos to come!

Death Valley, California.

68318FD4-9577-42CE-A61E-5AEB3957C9A0.jpeg