Essential considerations before retiring overseas

Retiring overseas is now a realisable dream for many but, dependent on your chosen location, getting there successfully will involve considering a number of practicalities before you depart.

Knowing before you go is essential if you’re thinking of retiring abroad, and Google isn’t always your friend. Enticing descriptions of glorious sunsets over stunning scenery, delicious meals at half the cost in your home country and all the other seductions of online advertorials should be taken with at least a pinch of salt, if not an entire grain of the stuff. Practicalities need to be researched carefully, thus ensuring your retirement dreams come true.

The first and most important issue is your visa. Up until the Brexit referendum you could just show up in another EU member state along with your goods, chalets and even dogs and settle in without any hassle, Nowadays, double-checking visa requirements in advance is a necessity, even if you’re still planning to land in an EU country.

Outside the EU, it’s a different story, with visas dependent on health, your chosen country’s definition of adequate funds which may not agree with yours, and other mundane issues such as criminal records. Specific retirement visas do exist, but are normally expensive, may require an actual investment and can be reversed at will by governments or newly-appointed military supremos after coups. Standard immigration visas might well be suitable, but checking individual countries’ requirements is an absolute must.

As regards receiving benefits such as pensions overseas, would-be UK expat retirees need to check whether their state pensions will be frozen the minute their plane takes off. US socially security payments are more complicated, but bilateral agreements do exist and should be researched, preferably by a professional adviser.

Checking healthcare standards in your chosen retirement bolthole is essential, as is the possibility of factoring in private healthcare insurance. UK citizens can no longer pop back for an urgent operation on the NHS, and the very useful EHIC card will hit the dust for UK retirees in March 2019, thanks to Brexit.

Researching banking provision in your intended country of residence is important, especially if you’re a US citizen. Thanks to FATCA, you might well find you’re not welcome as a customer in many overseas banks. Many retirees keep their cash in a home country bank account, using ATMs to access it when necessary. UK expats with even long-standing British bank accounts are now finding they’re no longer welcome, and are turning to offshore banks for their everyday money management needs.

If you’re in receipt of a personal pension, you’ll need to ensure the provider is happy to send your regular payments to overseas banks. Some, it seems, do not, leaving pensioners with no option but to contact a financial advisor specialising in this problem.