What You Need to Know About Retiring in a Foreign Country

The number of people who choose to retire outside of their home countries is significant. Consider these statistics. According to the U.S. State Department, around 8.7 million Americans live overseas, and more than half a million continue receiving payments from the Social Security Administration. Further, while around 247,000 British citizens aged over the age of 65 live in other EU countries, around 85,000 EU citizens from the same age group live in the UK.

If you wish to retire in a foreign land, it is important that you plan your finances well in advance. Fortunately, access to a range of online resources tools helps simplify the process.

What You Need to Know About Retiring in a Foreign Country

Image Source

Do You Receive State Pension?

Whether or not you may qualify to receive pension payments in a foreign country depends on where you have lived and worked through your life. Residents of the United States may qualify to receive their social security payments in foreign countries once they spend at least 30 days outside the U.S. The department provides an online tool that lets you determine if you qualify.

Citizens of the United Kingdom stand to receive their state pension payments in most countries the world over, unless the country in question does not have a formal social security agreement with the UK. Some of the nations that do not make the cut include Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa. You may view the complete list online.

 

Is Receiving State Pension in a Foreign Country a Good Idea?

When you receive pension payments in a foreign country, there is a good chance that you will lose some money during the process. This is especially the case if a bank is involved in the process, where you have to deal with unfavorable exchange rates and steep fees.

In such a scenario, you might be better off continuing receiving your pension payments in a local bank account. Then, you may use the services of specialist money transfer companies to carry out more cost effective international money transfers. Some of the market leaders from this realm include TransferWise, XE Money Transfer, OFX, and WorldFirst.

 

What About the Cost of Living?

One of the main reasons behind people wanting to retire in foreign countries is the lure of living a good life, especially when it involves countries with typically low costs of living. Calculating just how much you might need over time based on this factor is vital, because you don’t want to run short of funds somewhere down the line. To determine costs of living in different places, you may turn to websites such as Numbeo and WorldData.

 

Have You Saved Enough?

Don’t even think about moving to a foreign country if you don’t have enough money to get you through the first year comfortably. Account for costs such as rental deposits, money involved in setting up your new home, shipping fees, and legal fees. You may continue keeping a large chunk of your savings in a bank account in your home country, especially if you’re worried about the absence of federal protection. You can then keep transferring money to yourself as and when you need it, by using the services of specialist money transfer companies.

 

Conclusion

There is more to retiring in a foreign country than having your finances in order. For instance, you need to determine how good you’re at dealing with cultural differences or different types of cuisines. Some countries have strict guidelines when it comes to the purchase of property by foreigners, so this aspect requires your attention too. All in all, moving overseas to retire requires that you do your groundwork ahead of time.

 

This informative article was contributed to Leisure Freak by Gavan Smythe.

About the Author

Gavan Smythe is the founder of iCompareFX. You may use this online platform to compare the world’s best international money transfer companies across offered services and features. When he’s not working, Gav likes spending time with his family.

4 thoughts on “What You Need to Know About Retiring in a Foreign Country

  1. Thanks for the insightful tips. Retiring in a foreign country can be a thrilling experience but it’s important to be aware that there might be unfamiliar laws and systems that can lead to unexpected expenditures. There is also the issue of culture shock that requires proper groundwork before leaving.

  2. Excellent content. The right path of detailing all in this particular piece of writing is really nice, everybody is able to easily be familiar with it. But, to start with go with your content title, it is necessary that you strategy your finances in the beginning.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.