₦airaland Forum

First person i'm seeing on here moving to Southampton. Been here for over 6months and I can tell you accommodation aint easy. Try and get your company to sort an airbnb or hotel for at least 2 weeks while you search around for a place. Other than that its a chilling peaceful place.

brandmix:
Hi everyone,

My coy is transferring me to the UK permanently. So I am very green on this train.

Reading up 500 pages no be beans, but will try.

With regards accommodation in Southampton, can anyone recommend a good area to settle?

I was just screaming Omo in my head... this is amazing

Ticha:
Pension and wealth planning for the future - very long read.

To access full pensions, we have to pay 35 years of national insurance to access the full state pension in the UK and in New Zealand, a naturalised Kiwi aka us has to pay at least 10 years of income tax. It means we can't access the full state pension in both countries.
In both places, I doubt if we could live on the pension anyway even if we qualified for it. The full UK pension is about £7k a year so £14k for both of us. Yes, you could potentially access other benefits, but it means from age 65 for women and 67 for men, you’ll be living on approx. £1k a month unless you have savings to draw on. If you have savings of more than £16k, you also can’t access any state benefits either. So we have been planning for retirement.

We have a Global Vanguard All Shares account (the name has changed over the years) - managed by Henderson Securities. We've had it jointly for more than 12 years (husbot for much longer) and have dipped into it sometimes (mainly to pay for IVF). We haven't touched it for years now and the funds have grown exponentially. If we continue paying into it consistently, we should have about £600k worth of shares (yay compound interest) by the time I'm 55 and husbot is 52. To give an idea, we've always paid a minimum of £150 each monthly into it since 2010. Henderson does the investing and taxes on our behalf. We haven't bothered to check what they invest it in, but we picked an aggressive growth fund for a long time and that really paid off (hence using the profits for IVF). Now it's in a mid-range growth fund and will remain there. We have upped our monthly minimum payments to £250 each a month now because we can afford to do so. The SOA comes every March, but we don’t check it or even look at it beyond seeing how much is there when the SOA comes.

In New Zealand - we pay into the government Kiwisaver scheme (pension scheme). I contribute 3% of my earnings and husbot contributes 5% of his earnings, the government contributes $521 every year. We can withdraw our Kiwisaver once we've been out of NZ for 12 months (6 years of payments), so we plan to withdraw it and dump it into Henderson when we leave.
Onto tangible assets – We have property in both countries. I sold my house in 9ja once I realised it was an albatross and put all the funds into a UK purchase. Our UK family home although rented out is on a full repayment mortgage. Thanks to the current property boom (which can also go bust!) we have some substantial equity in it. We also have other BTLs on interest only mortgages. We can always sell one to clear off the mortgage on the family home if needed.

The move to New Zealand has been the best thing for us financially. I have no employer loyalty. No one goes into education to make money as the pay is poor compared to the level of work and qualifications involved. I often jump ship every 2 years because that's the only way I can increase my wages. Wages in education are much higher in NZ than in the UK which is weird (5m v 67m) but good for me!
Anyhow, when we moved to NZ, we took opportunity of the higher wages and saved and saved and saved but buying a house seemed out of our reach. Then we met another couple who seemed to have the same values as us (family, financial, moral you name it). We pooled our resources and we bought a house in our name (we bought first because we had higher incomes and better credit). With property values going crazy, we within 6 months refinanced that property and gifted the cash to this family (basically paid them back their initial contribution and extra) so they bought one too in their name. They then refinanced and gifted us the cash and we bought another in our names.
Because we want to exponentially grow the money, we are demolishing the first house to build 5 new ones and then leverage that to give them enough to buy a 2nd property for themselves. They can choose to develop or hold or sell but we will have both walked away with 2 initial properties each.

It does mean we're financially tight until we finish the build March/ April 2023 (build starts in Oct 2022) but it's for our future financial security so we're totally happy to have a few tight years. It also means I can't help my extended family as much as I used to and boy! am I hearing about it! I've thoroughly enjoyed the consent and planning process for the development. We now have land use consent ad have just applied for building consent. It has been stressful and a huge expenditure but also a big learning curve. I almost decided to retrain as surveyor last year when we got the engineering bill ��. When the houses are completed, it'll be leased to Housing New Zealand on a 5 year repairing lease. The income from the 5 after tax is about the same as my before tax income (imagine fa) so we know we can comfortably live on that should shit hit the fan workwise.

Our current NZ home was bought with retirement in mind. We went for the biggest house on a large land. We also deliberately bought in a medium density zone. Basically, we can build up to 6 four bedroom houses on the land if we demolish the existing house. If we decide not to retire in New Zealand, then that is what we would do in about 7 years’ time. If we choose to retire in NZ (I seriously doubt it) then we'll sell the UK family home and pay off the mortgage on the NZ one. It has bedrooms and a full bathroom downstairs and is disabled friendly – no stairs to access the whole of the ground floor. I have no intention of going into a nursing or care home.

Shareswise - we've now opened targeted growth fund accounts for the children with Lansdown Hargreaves. We pay £100 a month into each child's account. They will get full access at 18. Hopefully, they can use that to pay uni fees, supplement apprenticeship wages, down payment on a house or even go traveling before uni/ work starts.

We have also created a family trust. I look at the truly wealthy and what they have for going for them is generational wealth and good financial planning. In my family, I'm the first to be in a position to actually start building generational wealth. The trust will hopefully go on forever as it's for the direct progeny of my husbot and his siblings (both his siblings have no children and want none) and me and my siblings so it means my nephews and nieces will get payments annually out of it once they hit 21 but their parents can’t access any of the funds. We've currently set it so it can only be dissolved by a court and no beneficiaries can sell assets out of it including us once the asset has been placed in it.

2 reasons we have done this – divorce/ separation for us or our children. Even though we all hope to remain married till death, the truth is that divorce and remarriage happens. The trust is set up to protect the financial interests of all beneficiaries. If either of us divorces, we will continue to be paid out of it. Should any of us re-marry, the spouse will not be able to access any funds from the trust. Same with the children. Stats also show that first generation immigrants usually create the biggest wealth and subsequent generations waste the accumulated wealth. It is very likely that our children will not have the kind of drive we have because they have been born into or have lived in plenty enough to be happy with state handouts in the future. Therefore, they might actually see us as a burden as we grow older and infirm.

So hopefully at retirement, the trust can top up our pension but also ensure we remain at home till end of life and not be a burden on the children.

This is not financial advice. Just sharing what we have done.

Using this link now madam

canadaishome:
Someone used my referral link and I got ten pounds. I'm sure you got yours too
Thank you o
In case anyone else wants,

See below

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Ohh I grab now thought he meant runs.. udemy has loads of courses on sql, advanced excel and powerbi, Google is also running a course in partnership with cousera that teaches, excel,tableau, and R . With those courses and plenty self practices one is ready for entry level jobs . For full programming knowledge I doubt you can learn that in 6months while doing uber on the side .

northbird:
He was talking of specifics... What kind of certification (s) to become a DA and get a chance to escape from this country . If it's programming,(python n R or sql) what's the fastest pathway... Say in 6 months... And what specific skill set should we aim for.. I think that's what he meant by link.

Link how pls ? Get a certification (s) and start applying for jobs, there are a lot of Shortage I.T vacancies abroad , even from LinkedIn they will start approaching you. So which one is the Link youre saying bro?

GeneralZodd:
The patient Dawg eats the fattest bone. Pearl might be cooking something special for us this coming easter. E fit be 2.5 surge all through
the easter period, you never can tell.

As for BazOoo, You sure say he go gree drop link so. Obalala don come drop motivation for boys without link. Nobody wan drop link for JAPA process , dem dey fear Boyz fit bastardise the link

Anyway I don pay for my Dubai visa this morning. I will be travelling this weekend for vacation, shopping and business opportunity. I will be back before Easter

Dm . Will gladly share

Sirhethat12:
If you finished with this schedule in 2 months then I should be able to. Will get the course by month end. Thanks

It'll be nice if you can share your job application and interview process

Yes boss .. till now I occasionally feel back pains for last year driving routine ... nah bicycle I dey use go work now ���.. maybe next year I go apply for driving license

northbird:
That's great. Congrats. Driving 247 in Lagos damages ur mental process. You won't be able to think critically.
One lesson I got here: Consistency, take steps towards your future goal daily.

Udemy has loads of content to learn but , google in partnership with couserea is currently running a training that covers everything you need for entry role

AgentXxx:
More blessing bro, please can you help with website where you took the courses? Was the course a data analyst course? Did you have a background already? Thanks for this motivation

Send a dm .. Will hook you up . Cheers

obinoral1179:
Congratulations bro. Please can you help with the site for the online courses I'm particularly interested in the data analyst. Thank you

Yeah, Microsoft DA-100 and maybe an excel certification should be enough for starters . I have an MCSA and excel certification with over 8 online course certification from udemy

Hinokami:
I guess its only certification I don't have.

I am already quite proficient, probably I don't have enough exposure online to be seen by recruiters.

Hey guys, just a short motivation for some1 out there, I remember coming here early last year to find out full details needed to join uber and bolt with my hybrid pruis, (majority said it was risky and all, cos of the cost of maintaining the hybrid), anyway the onus of the post is to encourage everybody out there to have a primary focus on something more long term rewarding aside this hustle. I picked up courses online and everyday I read btw 4am-7am before entering the streets to pick up passengers, by the end of 2021 I did two certifications and started applying online, all these while I was still on e-hailing hustling and VIO showing me pepper.
To cut the long story short I am currently working abroad as a data analyst based on my 1year focus on online courses. Last night a close friend of mine that joined the uber platform thru me also got his first job interview (praying he scales thru) .
In conclusion PLS HAVE A SIDE GOAL AND DO SOMETHING EVERYDAY THAT TAKES YOU CLOSER TO THAT GOAL ( LET THE UBER HUSTLE BE A TRANSIT THING).. have a great week

Depends on you, you have to find a pattern that fits your schedule. I was doing uber from 8am-4pm everyday and was reading 4am -7am everyday(3hrs ). So find something that works for you. I stopped waking 4am some few months back cos of the winter, but once spring come I will resume 4am back use that time to learn python .

Sirhethat12:
Thanks a lot. I intend going for the 3 month package but scared I might not finish up within that period since I currently work 8-5. Or is there another way to enroll for the course aside this

Im still an entry level data analyst so I don't know it all, just practice practice if possible everyday if possible.
Then pick up a certification, that will boost up your chances. Then start applying like mad. Got over 50 rejection till one clicked . Watch a lot of YouTube interview training also cos it seems their interview questions and answers formats is quite different from 9ja .

Hinokami:
God this is just amazing.

What am I doing wrong.. Excel knowledge that is just laying dormant in my head people are getting offers for it.

Please what do I need to do different. I'm begging you

Yeah...infact been seeing other offers sef

Hinokami:
Wow....wait you mean to say you got a job from self learning in the UK

Not sure about the courses disappearing but I ran thru it in 2 months, and their were options for you to download the video tutorials. The tutorial covers R, excel and Sql teaching which is enough to give you an entry data analyst role .

Sirhethat12:
Thank you. I just checked out the course, unlike udemy I guess one loses access to the course after the specified number of months? I saw the subscription fee differ based on the month. So if I subscribe for 3months does this mean I'll lose access to the course after 3month?

Full 1 year , I was stopping and starting in btw the 1 year ... a good bet for entry role would be to take the google data analytics course on coursera

AnthCunny:
If you don't mind, please tell us how long it took you to learn and your experience in finding jobs.

It just occurred to me to trace this thread and show appreciation.. this thread contributed to my ginger to read and practice more on data analysis.. relocated December and currently working as an analyst in uk... everything I learnt was from self research, youtube + udemy + google while still running uber during the day time in Lagos, so for guys out there fill overwhelmed with much to read NEVER GIVE UP OOOO.... XOXO

Boss pls educate us on this ooo, been following this conversation with keen interest

Lexusgs430:
Slide into my DM ......

Yeah I was told there will be a induction and training time .. yeah I'm good with SQL and excel

beryour:
It is usually not a big deal. There will be time for induction into the team and they might organize trainings for you on their tech tools.

Most time no pressure in the NHS. It will also be beneficial for you to learn SQL and some Excel.

Congrats

Thanks... no experience ooo just certification, udemy & google courses.. but the JD looks like something I can handle

LagosismyHome:
Good news ....congrats

Many jobs dey this UK when person never heard of . Workforce analyst , fraud analyst. That's good to see a break from the usually jobs you hear

Do you have relevant work experience in this ?

See experience ooo lmaoooo

Mamatukwas:
Pour into small black nylon bags.
Double nylon
Freeze till it’s rock solid
Wrap in pampers
Place in check in luggage
Rinse & Repeat.
You’re welcome

Thanks boss.. got an offer letter today, to start as workforce analyst with NHS...1 crate of beer for you sir

Lexusgs430:
But chief, I never said so .......... Whilst looking for an alternative, my expectation would be you worked on honing your skills, network with data analyst, understand the working environment better, use YouTube to research interview questions etc etc .........

Remember, it's not about your today, but your tomorrow..........

45 days later I got a job as workforce analyst....... thanks for all the advise ....

LagosismyHome:
Covid has opened many companies eyes and many roles can be remote now so don't limit yourself to only Southampton. Sometimes it not even listed on the job that it can be WFH.

I would apply for anything. Then when offer comes you can turn it up or down based on your needs. It even gives you the experience to grow yourself in interview

I use giffgaff so far no more

Akorkor:
Hello Everyone, please help ohh. I noticed no one talks about Giffgraff. I registered for Lebara sim, but it's taking them so long to deliver, and I need to register for Bank and everything else. The post office guy gave me a free Giffgraff sim. Maybe he is advertising for them . I also read some good review about them but needs to be sure if they are okay before my Lebara sim get to me

I'm the person that complained about the flies earlier and I'm beginning to think my neighbour is either dead or travelled on holidays with something rotten in the apartment. cos last weekend it just occurred to me I don't see any lights on, through his/her window + loads of those house fly around his window. I just moved to the apartment, so I don't know who stays next to mine only info I have is that the apartment belongs to my Landlord's brother cc @phyl123 .

Viruses:
Why you wicked like this

Available for sale ����

canadaishome:
Wonderful
The Nigerian high Commission's website is down

https://www.nigeriahc.org.uk/visa-requirements

It's like they did not renew their hosting

Okay boss . Thanks

Lexusgs430:
Enter Poundland, buy fly spray..........

Hello elders Trust your day is good, finally settling in nicely after almost 40 days in. It was stressful finding an apartment but finally got a good one (even tho the agent is a rude ass), thanks to all the advise from this platform . One issue that came up this last few days is house fly, I did a Google search and I read its normal when transitioning to spring or summer. I'm worried cos these flies are bigger than the ones i see in Lagos plus it seems they leave a red pigment,like blood when I kill them. Should I call up the agent in charge ASAP and complain or its a seasonal thing... thanks once again

I for like change ooo, finally gotten an apartment on Monday and the energy provider is scotish power, the reviews I have been seen about the scotish power isn't good at all .. got an idea on the process to change ?

Myati:
Hello,
How's everyone doing?

How's everyone gearing up for the increase in bills come April?

Anyway, for anyone looking to switch energy provider, you can join E-ON NEXT. They have a good rate, and if you sign up with my link, https://share.eonnext.com/iron-wren-281


you get £50 credit towards your bill.

With energy prices going exponentially up come April, if you can, you should switch now.

Thanks madam na to package myself more.. I will come back and testify soon . Thanks

Irenenwaka:
Haa baba lexus if he packages and prepares well he has a 99% chance oh.

Obalala i would suggest yu dont lay emphasis or even mention *fee months experience in Nigeria* when u apply for jobs.

Just think of the projects you worked on and try to quantify your achievements.

Then also do ur gap analysis on your knowledge of tools and softwares.
Ensure u are on par with the uk market.

Nd as baba lexusgs highlighted, work on your confidence…packaging matters alot sir.

Take a shot, don’t allow yur analytics skills go down the drain.
Humble opinion from a little girl�

Thanks for the advice . gat to start making friends out here [quote author=gratefulme40 post=108962136][/quote]

Lool not confident yeah.. I'm self trained and sat for certification and only 2 months+ physical working experience I don't think that is a crime chief .. I actually got an NHS job in Scotland as an information analyst( a softer cushion into data analyst role) while applying from 9ja but my wife got a better medic job package. Presently my job search for info analyst is limited to Southampton and no job openings as at yesterday. That is why have I been considering starting with anything or just child caring at home

Lexusgs430:
From OP's explanations, do you sense a confident data analyst..........

This would not be a certificate employment role, but ability to apply learnt skills, within a presented physical environment...........