Whether to Move

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
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I’m debating whether to move to Taiwan from the US, for a job at one of the best universities. Even though it’s highly ranked, the pay would still be half what I make now in US$ not factoring in the cost of living (it’s probably NT80-90K per month is my guess, though I don’t have a definite quote at this point).

Thing is, I’m 50, so it feels like a massive move at this point in life. I’m single, but long to be married and have a family. I live in a small town pretty far from large cities, and dating here is really rough at my age. It’s even hard to make friends I connect with. I’m wondering if those two things would be easier at my age in Taiwan. I’m guessing initially the friends thing would be, long-term it’s harder to say. I know a few people there professionally, but no one who is a good friend. I know Western men get attention there, I’ve experienced a little of it (I’m not interested in sleeping around much, just want to settle down really, but I am looking for someone I can connect well with).

There are also other considerations, for example, I’m guessing the university pension would be really small compared to what I currently have. I’ve been told it’d be pretty much impossible to buy property - but maybe not many do. There may be no way back career-wise to the US for me - in my field, it’s very tough to find decent positions, and it’s hard even to move on from my current one. Long-term, I have concerns about the China situation (am I allowed to raise that here!?), although I’m guessing many here would dismiss that concern. My mother is in her 80s so I feel I’d need to visit her back home a minimum of twice a year, and have the resources for that (right now I also live nowhere near her, so it’s not a matter of leaving her - she’s in the UK). I’m guessing financially if I did ever have kids that might be challenging to support there on the university salary maybe, I’d probably need to work extra on the side also, and possibly even into later life (the opposite of having a good US pension)? Not sure how I’d fit in at work either - that’s certainly a risk, given that what I have is very stable. It’s a good job, but not especially above where I am now, in fact some elements may be a little less desirable.

These are all negatives, but on the other hand, I’ve visited Taiwan a few times just for a few weeks at a time, and loved it. I like the weather, friendly people, the lack of crime and comfortable feeling, I find the women very attractive, even had some romance there in the past. I’m frankly also rather miserable and lonely where I am, not seeing a lot of avenues here to find a partner, so I need some new type of life. But it’s so impossible for me to tell how all that might pan out in the long-term at this point.

On this forum, I’ve read threads where many say just do it, others where the majority actually were warning against it, without a way back, and later in life. Did anyone go there on their own as a settled move at my age? It feels kind of terrifying somehow, the feeling of permanence.

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Sorry for the long post. I should maybe also have said: I don’t speak Chinese. I’m open to learning, I think I’m OK with languages, but I know it takes a while.

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That’s too low. Is it a professorship? In that case your total comp should be around 150k. Which is enough to buy property outside of Taipei after a few years.

I’m not gonna say if you should move to Taiwan or not but honestly if you haven’t made it in the states by your 50’s maybe it’s time for a change.

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If you are an educator you probably get long holidays right ? Why don’t you use them to visit a place to make friends in the US or Taiwan or whatever.
When are you due for the pension ?
Is it a kind of government pension that you could take with you if working in another state institution?

90k ntd a month to work in the 'top institution in Taiwan ’ isn’t great and you’ll be paying tax and also you have to fund those trips to the UK.

Maybe you should consider working in another country but not Taiwan , some place they can pay you (much) better if you are a recognised lecturer or professor already.

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Write down a list of negatives and positives.

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You’d be lucky to even get one although I know they have started going to some foreign professors.
Would you get a permanent contract ?

Serious idea…why don’t you look for a lady from south east Asia or somewhere like that to get her over to Marry you there and have a family.

One last question…how much money do you have in the bank?
If you have a certain amount of money then the whole conversation changes.

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You may be overthinking this. We tend to imagine we have a far greater ability to predict the future outcomes of our life decisions than we really do, and although there are some obvious dumb moves that one can make, my personal experience (at the same age as you) is that the trajectory following any given decision can be completely different to what one might expect.

If you’re unhappy with the way things are going for you right now, it’s pretty unlikely that your contemplated move would make things worse. Life will at least be different, and sometimes that’s as good as being better.

As others have mentioned, the salary being offered is poor, but that’s the nature of university positions here. It’s one reason the quality of tertiary education is relatively poor - it just doesn’t attract the best and brightest. You can probably negotiate a better package than that, perhaps with some perks (e.g., housing subsidy, travel subsidy, or similar, as opposed to direct remuneration). You ought to be looking at 120K (or equivalent) absolute minimum. Bear in mind that once you’ve settled on a number, you’ll be unlikely to see much in the way of annual increments.

As for your personal aspirations, you’ll probably do OK at 50. Obviously, your options are more limited, but make sure you’re in good physical and financial shape and you probably have more chance of settling down than you would in the US.

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I think he was talking about his living costs, in which case 80-90k for a single person is probably too high of an estimate. My family of 3 is only spending roughly 80k a month now.

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It sounds like there is not much chance at starting a family where you live now. Your 50, this is your last chance, and in Taiwan there are people everywhere. As long as you are reasonably presentable you’ll find a partner here easily, extremely easily if you can accept a divorcee or potentially someone with kids already. I would do it, you can always go back to the States if things don’t work out in terms of work.

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In my personal opinion Taiwan is a great place to live but a comparatively crap place to work. Although i think Australian’s have high expectations of their employers so maybe that’s a me problem.

But at 50 and the goals you’ve mentioned it sounds like it would be a good move for you. You never know until you try.

To clarify I should say it’s a crap place to be an employee being self employed would be fine

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Another way to look at it would be, ask anyone who has a family if they would give them up if it meant doubling their salary, I doubt many would say yes. You are just doing it in the opposite direction; halving your salary but gaining a family (and it wouldn’t even be permanent… you could take your new family back to the US and have the best of both worlds).

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It is.

Sounds like you need a cool change.

Meh, the more important question is can you stand your own company when you’re alone?

Depends on how you look for one, and how positive and outgoing you are, I suppose. And how much money you have to get settled in and happy.

Meh, it was way better in the 1990s. Taipei is lousy with western men these days. But some older fellas use the dating apps and seem happy with the results.

Then she better speak really good English and not be overly attached to her family, because jfc, horror stories abound.

What have you got to lose? Money and the prestige of teaching in a university in small town America? lol

Think it through. Write it down. Make the change in stages.

What does your contract allow for? Can you take a year off? Talk to your HR. What kind of “medical leave” can you get? They don’t need to know about your plans, just get your shrink to write you a note. “Jimmy is under my care for the foreseeable future. Be back in 3 months (or whenever your medical insurance runs out.)” I took Family Medical Leave from my high school gig in NY a couple of times in the past few years, used up all of my sick days getting paid at 100% of them and not the cheapo buyback retirees get, and that fast forwarded me to Taiwan and early retirement. :banana:

It’s your life, dude.

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Been here from the US since the late 90’s. I hear what you’re saying and Taiwan would be a good move for you. It’s been good for me beyond my wildest imagination. If you can’t get what you need here it’s because of you and not Taiwan.

Re: China I’ve done a 180 in recent weeks, based on what family members with contacts in the government have been telling me. I no longer believe a Chinese invasion is just a matter of time. If Taiwan doesn’t assert independence the thinking is China will go along with the status quo indefintely and not force the issue. I’m adjusting my long term planning accordingly.

One of the tweaks I’ve made over the years which has been very beneficial is I bought country property in Japan and spend several months a year there, mainly Christmas/New Year’s and summer time. It takes the edge off living in Taiwan fulltime very nicely.

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I think Taiwan’s not a bad place to live, but it is a terrible place to work. If you got a shrink you’ll need it because mental abuse is how taiwanese boss improve productivity.

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Reciprocal citizenship?

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For me Taiwan is a pretty good place to work. It’s not a bad place to live.

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Taiwan ain’t for everyone that’s for sure. Half of the country looks like a factory. The noise never stops and Chinese is hard as nails to learn.

It would be challenging to move here. Especially at your age. It sounds like you just want a cushty life with a no hassles woman to appear conveniently before you. It ain’t the right attitude to have for moving overseas. If you are up for the challenge and adventure, and have the grit to navigate the left over women dating scene then yes you might enjoy it… if not then it will probably just be a headache.

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Classy :laughing:

But not wrong …

In the OPs favour, “left over women” includes some perfectly serviceable models in their 30s.

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So you are saying when you are in your 50s girls in their 30s are still on the table?

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For me permanent residency is a need. Citizenship is a want.

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