The best countries to retire abroad
How many Aussies are retiring overseas and where do they most commonly go?
Some estimates suggesting that more than 60,000 Australians are currently receiving their Age pension overseas. However, the rules in this area are both complicated and unclear in certain areas - particularly for current expatriates the numbers of Australians retired overseas are probably much higher and not accessing Australian Government Pensions.
When considering relocating overseas many Australians are seeking relocation to Malaysia, Thailand, Bali, Vanuatu and New Zealand. However I choose the Japanese Alps, and the town of Yuzawa, for its lifestyle, proximity to Tokyo, facilities and affordability.
What are the key things you need to achieve a successful overseas retirement?
Success means different things to each of us however if one is to consider relocating and retiring overseas it would be advantageous to love travel and have and adventurous spirit willing to try new things. However if one is relocating out of escapism, then it's important to address these inner personal issues before relocation or simply you maybe revisiting the same personal issues in a different location.
How much money do you need?
This depends on the quality of life one wishes to live and ones expectations i.e. will relocation require purchasing a property or is renting the preference? There are websites such as http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ that can provide comparisons to daily living expenses.
A $50,000 AUD pa can support a comfortable lifestyle in SE Asia however infrastructure, health services, bureaucracy, language, weather, expat premium (applied by locals) to daily goods and services, also needs to be factored in to ones relocation decision.
What sort of additional things such as healthcare and flights home and loss of government pension access should you factor in?
This is individual assessment and would require knowing an individuals needs, this would lead to personal advice and as a recommendation one should seek financial, taxation, medical and centrelink advice before making the decision to retire and relocate overseas and the country they are considering to relocate to.
What are the benefits and pitfalls of overseas retirement?
There are no real benefits or pitfalls, i.e. it simply is what it is. On balance it's about what are your values and what is important to you.
Making choices and doing the things in life aligned to you values will directly heighten your quality of life, enrich your experiences, allow you to be more present and be more authentically you.
This post was written by Me, as such they are my personal views and not financial or general advice.
You should always seek independent financial advice when it comes to choices about your personal finances. This is one area of your life where it’s worth paying for it to be done right.
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