Information Greatly Recieved

[Ricky&Ruth]

Hi ! As a new user here I would appreciate any info that anyone can provide for us. We are a family of 4 from Northern Ireland wishing to move to Limousin/Auvergne sometime within the next few years after holidaying in these regions for the past few years. So........ we are starting our research early to try and avoid a lot of the pitfalls involved in moving for a new life in France. We have been totaly bewildered by the French tax system, and have a few, or should I be more straightforward and say a "lot" of questions we're seeking answers to. Firstly our main concern is our eldest child 15yrs, who is in his last year at school. We would like him to serve an apprenticeship but wondered should we wait 4 years until he is time served here, or can he obtain an apprenticeship in France, and how would we approach this ? Secondly our youngest 6 yrs would manage quite well in the French school system now, as he is very outgoing, but how well would he adapt in 4/5 years when he will be starting higher secondary education, with little knowledge of the French language ? Next up, we come to ourselves..... We will be selling up here and buying a house cash in France and hope to have around £40/50K left over to use to build our new life there. But how far is that amount likely to get us ? I'd hate to think we had "burned our bridges" here only to realise a few years down the line we cannot afford to live anymore as our savings have been swallowed up with living costs. Which is where the taxes come into play. How difficult will it be to find employment, do we qualify for any kind of state benefit if things go "pear shaped"? future state pension? do we pay social tax contributions for this even if we can't find employment ? How much will healthcare for all 4 of us cost per annum? How do we find the right school for our youngest ? Is gite rental a good source of income or is the market flooded ? Apologies for the long winded post, but as you can imagine these are all things playing on our minds. Many many thanks in advance for any information anyone can provide us with. BTW if you can think of any other questions we've left out here then we'd appreciate your input also. lol