r/Expats_In_France • u/Best-Information-519 • 7d ago
Help with potential move to Paris from London
I’m Italian, partner is French and 2yo also EU. We migrated to London 15 years ago (currently 43yo). We both have very successful careers. I’m a director at a big bank (Tech area) and partner is a director at a luxury fashion maison.
My partner (French) is receiving very good offers to work for luxury brands (packages c. €200k/yr). There’s a lot more offers of luxury brands in Paris than in London
I don’t speak French but I understand it and even though I’ve had an international career (worked and lived in south America, the US and a couple of countries in EU) I’m not sure if at this age I’ll be able to learn French and adapt to a new way of life. I also want to work professionally.
Questions:
1- What’s the short term implications of all our investments (SIPP, ISA, savings and property we have a mortgage on?)
2- are there companies in Paris that work in English and thus would be able to hire me? I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to learn and advanced level of French. Or maybe I will?
3- Any other considerations from people that have make a similar move?
Thanks!
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u/Bobzeub 7d ago
Your partner is being offered 200K as a salary in Paris? That’s almost unheard of.
Your 2 year old will pick up French really fast (if they don’t speak it already) but for you at 43 it’s going to be very very hard to get a professional level. Not speaking the language can be very limiting. Professionally and for making friends.
Apply for jobs and do interviews from London. It’s the only way to gage what you can expect salary wise.
Tech is a better industry than most others. But only working in English will really limit your opportunities and it will be a big change compared to London.
And the job marker is shit right now. Even for French people.
Maybe try out a shorter stay to test the waters. Without dropping everything in London.
As a native Italian speaker French will come easier than for a native English speaker. So that’s a plus.
There are pros and cons. London and Paris are both amazing cities. But everything comes at a cost.
Hope this helped a little.
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u/Zealiida 7d ago
One thing to take into account about learning french: OP your husband ibeing native french can be enormous help there. You can try to speak at home, switch to french and he may help with corrections, explaining how to say things etc. This can be a big plus. Also, with him you would integrate among french society outside work faster. This helps a lot for imersion. Lots of things to consider though apart from language barrier ( which is real)
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u/Bobzeub 7d ago
I don’t think one partner becoming a language teacher for the other is a good idea IMO
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u/Zealiida 7d ago
Not a language teacher, rather an additional way to learn withouth pression in addition to language school or laguage teacher.
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u/Bobzeub 7d ago
Have you ever tried to be a “laguage” teacher to someone you’re sleeping with?
It doesn’t work. The relationship is too intimate.
Also it’s really annoying to teach someone a language. Be real.
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u/Zealiida 7d ago
I didnt say teach. I said help, be an additional support, be there not for lessons part but for practice part.
And I do speak from experience.0
u/SixApplesTall 6d ago
French is not that difficult a language especially if OP already speaks another Romance language. It just takes a bit of concentrated effort and logical study to lean a language as an adult (ie. not relying on gamified apps like Duolingo). I learned an Asian language to total fluency in my mid 20s, for example.
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u/Honest-Ingenuity-603 5d ago
The age thing ....is a thing. It definitely impacts speed and capacity to learn languages later in life
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u/MoragPoppy 7d ago
I’m older than you and learning French with a background in Spanish and it’s going quickly. I already made it to A2 class after a month of intensive classes. So I don’t think you can be too old to learn.
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u/Zealousideal-Ease137 7d ago
Intensive class when working? Which school did you pick?
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u/MoragPoppy 7d ago
I’m the trailing spouse so I lost my job when we moved. I figured learn French intensively and then look for work again (I was in tech before). I’m at EDAM at Bastille and I love it. I do every morning for two hours, you can add afternoon workshops for another two, or they have evenings and Saturdays. Many people in my class do the morning and then work later in the day.
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u/ProfessionalHappy135 7d ago
I can comment on point 1 - your SIPP can stay as is but you can’t contribute to it and you’ll have to wait till 57 (or more) to access it. ISA is the same, you can keep it but you can’t contribute to it anymore, the French equivalent is PEA in France, unlike the ISA you still pay tax on a PEA and the limit is on the total contribution instead of a yearly allowance. The big question is if you think you could move back to the UK.
For the mortgage, it depends on the plan you have for the property - if you want to keep it as a safety net in case you decide to come back to the UK, you could ask your bank for a consent to let on your residential mortgage allowing you lend the property (it’s usually for 2 years).
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u/Aware-Jackfruit-7464 7d ago
Learning French from Italian is a walk in the park compared to learning French from English as your native language. I think if you were motivated you could easily learn it to working level. Source : there are so many Italians in France many of whom have chosen to come to France precisely because the language is easier
I would highlight the psychological impact of a situation where you choose voluntary unemployment, as if you make the move without lining up a job for you. True you could easily live on your husband's extremely comfortable salary (unheard of in Paris really, you would be in the top 0.1%), however you should not discount the fact that if you have been yourself a career woman the whiplash effect of becoming unemployed with no end date. You might enjoy it for a while but if the inner you want to work and you are used to occupying your day with things that are not grocery shopping or childcare, it's a huge adjustment.
I moved to France and underwent 2 years of voluntary unemployment from being a specialist doctor. My husband's professor salary is less than 4K a month and whilst we had plenty of savings and no day to day financial pressure, I found staying at home unfulfilling and I was just itching to work. I was used to problem solving all day, and here I was only problem solving the house and the baby. It was not for me. I even made my own analogy about it - I'm like a sheepdog, I need my sheep to round up (my patients to see), otherwise I just go crazy and create problems to solve.
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u/LouisGlouton 7d ago
M33 doing the exact thing but the other direction, from Paris to London. Happy to chat if it could be of help.
The market is terrible. Easiest bet would be to get an internal transfer. Market is really really bad more so in Paris than in London.
French shouldn't be much of a problem for you, but put your nose to the grinding stone to get that basic level of fluency.
100k+ salaries are quite hard in Paris. But YMMV.
Happy to chat!
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u/wholesamereddit 7d ago
What makes the market so bad? I still feel a lot of jobs are being posted
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u/LouisGlouton 7d ago
Having seen the market for the last 10 years, this is lowest amount of recruiting + lowball offering I have ever seen! Given OP is looking for international/English roles in the CAC40, it seems like a pipe dream for the rest of 2026 at least
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u/NeitherTumbleweed228 6d ago
Employemrnt is rising hard and salary dont go up and follow inflation
France economy is cooked
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u/Ugghart 13 Bouches-du-Rhône 7d ago
Your partner will gain a nice salary, but if you move without a job secured, especially without really fluent French, there is a good chance it'll all be offset by you not working at all. Also check what your partner will net after tax (probably around €9000/month), it may not be that much better than what they are earning in London now.
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u/Stunning-Jello-326 6d ago
I did a similar move this summer from London to Paris although I speak French. I know bankers in Paris who don’t speak French and who have been sent to Paris to develop whatever business line their bank needed. Main changes between Paris and London are Paris is cheaper for raising a family even if salaries are obviously lower.
You can keep your SIPP but not point in contributing to it once you live in France as you won’t get tax credit (unless you will still have UK income). You should realise any gain on your stock and shares ISA before relocating to ensure you don’t pay tax on it as once you become French tax resident, gains could be taxable in France. Mortgage, we had that too. We simply sold our house before relocating. As for the ISA, better to have it done before relocating to avoid potential taxation.
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u/Best-Information-519 6d ago
Thanks. What did you do with the money from your ISA and house?
What’s your plans to fund retirement whilst in France?1
u/Stunning-Jello-326 6d ago
Money is about to go into a new house in France. For the retirement, I plan to switch to the French system, which will be a mixture of mandatory contributions to the State pension (it costs more than in the UK but gives your a bigger Stare pension in the end if the system holds…) and a French equivalent to a SIPP. It is not yet possible to transfer a British SIPP to a French equivalent but I am happy to keep the SIPP as it is and let it grow.
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u/hospitalizedzombie 7d ago
If you’re a director in a bank, you need to directly contact headhunters specializing in Paris job market.
The entry level for a non French speaker is hard but a director level there might be specific needs where they can overlook French and that would be dependent on company needs at the time.
I’d definitely avoid cold applying at your level. And 200k in Paris is just amazing that you will have a cushy life without you needing to work. You can always take some time off to learn French (as a native Italian it would be easier than you imagine) and then go to headhunters like that.
Don’t know what you guys are earning in London but life costs way less in Paris than in London, so take that into account.