Sojourning
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2015
- Messages
- 79
I'm new here but noticed the sticky topic on countries that offer retirement visas. As someone who has spent most of my retirement years living in various countries, retiring overseas is a topic I am fairly familiar with and have experience of.
When I see the sticky on 'what countries offer retirement visas', the first thing that comes to my mind is that you first have to decide whether it is a good idea to retire overseas.
There are various factors that influence that decision and having an understanding of them before you go looking for a country to retire in only makes sense.
So I thought I would start a thread on the various factors that come to my mind that someone should consider to help make that decision. Some may seem quite obvious but my experience is that some people miss even the most obvious.
One of the most obvious is the effect currency exchange rates have on your retirement income. If your income is derived in one country and you choose to live in another country then fluctations in exchange rates will result in your 'local income' going up and down with those fluctuations. The question then becomes, how to deal with those fluctuations?
As an example, many Brits who retired to Spain in the last couple of decades saw their income fall drastically due to fluctuations in the British Pound to the Euro. In recent years, they have been returning to the UK in droves because they could no longer afford to live in their 'villla with a pool' in Spain.
Many people also tend to think things will be much the same in their new home country. An example of that is that in some countries if you leave your home to say visit family or travel, a squatter may move in to your empty home. On your return, you find that to get them out of your home is a major legal battle. To avoid it, some people hire someone to live in their home while they are absent. That additional cost can obviously impact just how often and for how long you can afford to leave.
People go to a new country and buy a home. That often turns out to be a mistake. I always suggest that it is better to rent for at least one year and preferably two before buying anything. You need to find out if you are likely to 'stick'.
In my experience (no statistical data, just personal observation) for every 10 people that move to their 'retirement paradise', 5 leave within 2 years and probably 8 are gone by 5 years. Only 1 or 2 actually 'stick'. There are two factors worth understanding about this.
One, the primary reason people don't stick is simply an inability to adapt to 'different'. It's not like home and the smallest differences can become major annoyances to some people. Once they start down the road of , 'I don't like this or that', they may begin to concentrate on the negatives rather than the positives. Not everyone is suited to living in another country. Some people simply 'miss home, family and friends' In other words they suffer from homesickness. I understand the concept but have no idea of what it feels like. Some people may realize that is the case for them but most people who entertain the idea of living in another country have no way of knowing until they try it. Back to the rent for a year or two till you find out.
Second, in many places where it is popular for retirees to move to, the locals are well aware of how many don't stick and want to sell up and move back home. Consequently, while it is easy to buy it is not easy to sell. At least not at the price you bought for. Locals know you want to leave and the offers to buy your house suffer accordingly. Of all the people I have seen move to their 'retirement paradise' in other countries, not one ever left with more money than they arrived with. That's not an absolute. No doubt someone did decide to leave and did manage to find another 'foreigner' who was still wearing rose coloured glasses and bought the house for more than they had paid. But that's the exception to the general rule. The general rule is they lose money.
People tend to concentrate on the financial factors when looking at retiring to another country. The bigggest attraction other than weather is always the lower cost of living. But you have to ask yourself WHY there is a lower cost of living.
When there is a lower cost of living there is generally a lower standard in everything. That could mean many things. For example, frequent and prolonged power 'brown outs'. Poor quality drinking water. Don't expect a fully equipped ambulance with paramedics on board to arrive within 5 minutes of a call. Corrupt officals and a culture in which bribery is the norm. Want the electricity turned on to your new house? You can wait a month or you can get it done tomorrow if you bride someone. Have you ever heard of doctors in a hospital that your family give 'gifts of money' to, to insure you get attention? I have. Have you ever heard of hospitals where family brings in your meals during your stay, or you don't eat? I have. Both of those exist in Greece which is not a particularly low cost of living country anymore.
If you retire to France or Australia or any real first world country, many of those issues don't exist. But they are not low cost of living countries. So retiring to a Caribbean island or Central American country may not be as wonderful as some people think it will be.
That is not to say you can't enjoy a comfortable retirement in some low cost of living countries but it usually requires that you have money. More money than you might have thought. A country that will give you a retirement visa if you can show an income of $1000 a month is not necessarily a country you want to retire in. Yes you can live on that amount but you may not like the way you have to live to do it.
Anyway, those are a few initial factors to get the ball rolling if anyone is interested in the topic and wants to discuss it.
When I see the sticky on 'what countries offer retirement visas', the first thing that comes to my mind is that you first have to decide whether it is a good idea to retire overseas.
There are various factors that influence that decision and having an understanding of them before you go looking for a country to retire in only makes sense.
So I thought I would start a thread on the various factors that come to my mind that someone should consider to help make that decision. Some may seem quite obvious but my experience is that some people miss even the most obvious.
One of the most obvious is the effect currency exchange rates have on your retirement income. If your income is derived in one country and you choose to live in another country then fluctations in exchange rates will result in your 'local income' going up and down with those fluctuations. The question then becomes, how to deal with those fluctuations?
As an example, many Brits who retired to Spain in the last couple of decades saw their income fall drastically due to fluctuations in the British Pound to the Euro. In recent years, they have been returning to the UK in droves because they could no longer afford to live in their 'villla with a pool' in Spain.
Many people also tend to think things will be much the same in their new home country. An example of that is that in some countries if you leave your home to say visit family or travel, a squatter may move in to your empty home. On your return, you find that to get them out of your home is a major legal battle. To avoid it, some people hire someone to live in their home while they are absent. That additional cost can obviously impact just how often and for how long you can afford to leave.
People go to a new country and buy a home. That often turns out to be a mistake. I always suggest that it is better to rent for at least one year and preferably two before buying anything. You need to find out if you are likely to 'stick'.
In my experience (no statistical data, just personal observation) for every 10 people that move to their 'retirement paradise', 5 leave within 2 years and probably 8 are gone by 5 years. Only 1 or 2 actually 'stick'. There are two factors worth understanding about this.
One, the primary reason people don't stick is simply an inability to adapt to 'different'. It's not like home and the smallest differences can become major annoyances to some people. Once they start down the road of , 'I don't like this or that', they may begin to concentrate on the negatives rather than the positives. Not everyone is suited to living in another country. Some people simply 'miss home, family and friends' In other words they suffer from homesickness. I understand the concept but have no idea of what it feels like. Some people may realize that is the case for them but most people who entertain the idea of living in another country have no way of knowing until they try it. Back to the rent for a year or two till you find out.
Second, in many places where it is popular for retirees to move to, the locals are well aware of how many don't stick and want to sell up and move back home. Consequently, while it is easy to buy it is not easy to sell. At least not at the price you bought for. Locals know you want to leave and the offers to buy your house suffer accordingly. Of all the people I have seen move to their 'retirement paradise' in other countries, not one ever left with more money than they arrived with. That's not an absolute. No doubt someone did decide to leave and did manage to find another 'foreigner' who was still wearing rose coloured glasses and bought the house for more than they had paid. But that's the exception to the general rule. The general rule is they lose money.
People tend to concentrate on the financial factors when looking at retiring to another country. The bigggest attraction other than weather is always the lower cost of living. But you have to ask yourself WHY there is a lower cost of living.
When there is a lower cost of living there is generally a lower standard in everything. That could mean many things. For example, frequent and prolonged power 'brown outs'. Poor quality drinking water. Don't expect a fully equipped ambulance with paramedics on board to arrive within 5 minutes of a call. Corrupt officals and a culture in which bribery is the norm. Want the electricity turned on to your new house? You can wait a month or you can get it done tomorrow if you bride someone. Have you ever heard of doctors in a hospital that your family give 'gifts of money' to, to insure you get attention? I have. Have you ever heard of hospitals where family brings in your meals during your stay, or you don't eat? I have. Both of those exist in Greece which is not a particularly low cost of living country anymore.
If you retire to France or Australia or any real first world country, many of those issues don't exist. But they are not low cost of living countries. So retiring to a Caribbean island or Central American country may not be as wonderful as some people think it will be.
That is not to say you can't enjoy a comfortable retirement in some low cost of living countries but it usually requires that you have money. More money than you might have thought. A country that will give you a retirement visa if you can show an income of $1000 a month is not necessarily a country you want to retire in. Yes you can live on that amount but you may not like the way you have to live to do it.
Anyway, those are a few initial factors to get the ball rolling if anyone is interested in the topic and wants to discuss it.