Preparations for a potential move from US to UK.

I've lived in the US for almost 40 years and recent events have made me seriously consider moving back to the UK. It's not a done deal yet as it's an intimidating process with many moving parts. I'm a planner and worrier, but at some point I will have to say "Just Do It!" and deal with any problems along the way rather than trying to solve them before they happen. Still I want to figure out the major issues and arrange things sensibly before I make any move. So this is a place to post and discuss what I'm doing and maybe help others thinking of a similar move.

Nov 8th.
Feeling low and daunted by what a move back to the UK entails...selling house, shipping furniture etc, sorting out taxes (it looks like it will be expensive).
Positive actions:
1) Joined ACA and plan to open SDFCU account.
2) Asked some questions over in UK-Yankee/taxes.
3) Contacted 3 x US/UK tax consultants. Fees are a few hundred pounds for an initial consultation.
 I will set something up when plans are more developed. I want strategies for tax/IRA conversions, IHT and fees for doing US and UK tax returns.
4) Booked flights to UK to visit family and check out a few places that I might like to live.
5) Made contributions to US organizations that will fight to protect some of the things I value about America.

I think definitely a good long visit before you commit to moving back might be warranted. It won't be the same place you left. We were only there about 4 years, and it wasn't the same place at the end of our stay as at the start of it (thanks to Brexit and Covid).  So be sure it's what you really want to do before you invest all that time, sweat, and money into getting there.   It looks like you're doing all the other logical things....

Reminder:  "things" here will change again in another four years. What form that change takes is anyone's guess.

Before we moved back after 29 years we were fortunate to be able to afford to spend a lot of time in England to see how things were. We rented here for a 6 month spell in 2011 and again in 2016 before deciding to “abandon“ the kids in Texas and California and make the move in 2017. 

Before we retired early 2010 we planned on spending lots of time traveling and sold our house and moved into an apartment complex so we could “lock and leave”. As well as various long stays in places in the USA we spent 5 months in Canada and 5 months in Australia.

You have plenty of time to test out the waters and being a dual citizen don’t have to mess with visas and such.

I think definitely a good long visit before you commit to moving back might be warranted. It won't be the same place you left. We were only there about 4 years, and it wasn't the same place at the end of our stay as at the start of it (thanks to Brexit and Covid).  So be sure it's what you really want to do before you invest all that time, sweat, and money into getting there.   It looks like you're doing all the other logical things....

Reminder:  "things" here will change again in another four years. What form that change takes is anyone's guess.

Nov 11th.
I'm flying back for a couple of weeks to visit friends and family, it isn't really part of any relocation plans, but I will take the opportunity to pop into a couple of real estate agencies. I will take an extended summer holiday of a couple of months next and rent an apartment to see more of what it's like living in the UK now, doing things like food shopping, cooking etc. and just getting into a day to day vibe rather than the usual hectic nature of my visits.

Back in the US after an extended stay in the UK to visit family and friends. I drove a lot visiting some pretty remote spots. I looked in a lot of estate agents windows and talked to a few, really not much information I didn't know from Rightmove. The Scottish Borders or North Yorkshire look like good bolt holes. My plan is to continue long term preparations for a move...those are probably something I should do whatever I decide as it's mostly decluttering and organizing finances. On the financial side I now only hold Vanguard ETFs in my general investment accounts and I'm doing IRA to ROTH rollovers as fast as I can and also gifting money to beneficiaries under the more generous US gifting tax rules. I will monitor what's happening in the US and if things get "too strange" I'll be ready. I will also take SS before any move to the UK...just in case.

That is where I would go - the borders - if it were in the cards for me.  Best of luck with it!

Sounds like you had a very good trip and are getting things into a good position should you decide to move.

I find that gifting in the UK is very easy to do and each year I maintain a spreadsheet based on the IHT form that my executor will need to file to make it easy.

There is no filing required at all when making gifts of any value, just a look back over 7 years by the executor for gifts that have been passed. You don’t need to keep track over your lifetime  of how much you have given, just the last 7 years. As you can see from the form I linked to you can gift as much as you can afford out of income every year, income coming from pensions, salary, rents, dividend and interest. The form even provides the categories to list expenditures so my spreadsheet mimics that, and shows the excess income available each year.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f60b44cd3bf7f7234487bf0/IHT403-05-20.pdf

Sounds like you had a very good trip and are getting things into a good position should you decide to move.

I find that gifting in the UK is very easy to do and each year I maintain a spreadsheet based on the IHT form that my executor will need to file to make it easy.

There is no filing required at all when making gifts of any value, just a look back over 7 years by the executor for gifts that have been passed. You don’t need to keep track over your lifetime  of how much you have given, just the last 7 years. As you can see from the form I linked to you can gift as much as you can afford out of income every year, income coming from pensions, salary, rents, dividend and interest. The form even provides the categories to list expenditures so my spreadsheet mimics that, and shows the excess income available each year.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f60b44cd3bf7f7234487bf0/IHT403-05-20.pdf

Good to know. My comment about the US approach is basically that there's no need for spreadsheets. You can gift up to $18k per person per year without doing anything. Above that you have to inform the IRS, but it just goes towards your lifetime allowance which is $14M. The UK gifting from income is a good wrinkle as most of my money is in IRAs and withdrawals from those are classed as income, but big withdrawals would get dinged at 40% income tax anyway.

Good to know. My comment about the US approach is basically that there's no need for spreadsheets. You can gift up to $18k per person per year without doing anything. Above that you have to inform the IRS, but it just goes towards your lifetime allowance which is $14M. The UK gifting from income is a good wrinkle as most of my money is in IRAs and withdrawals from those are classed as income, but big withdrawals would get dinged at 40% income tax anyway.

Agreed, and that is the approach we used except the year we gifted our son the money to help fund his first house so had to complete an IRS form, (709?), to record the gift as it was above the annual limit.