Planning a retirement/move overseas can be overwhelming if you’re a first timer or if you’re making the decision to leave behind all that’s familiar in order to reinvent your life. These jitters are not uncommon, but they really shouldn’t hold you back.
Here are a few tips to help you plan your retirement/move overseas…
Where Is The Ideal Place For You?
To choose the best retirement haven for you, you must do some soul searching first.
Consider the following questions to help narrow down your choices:
- What’s important to you? What are your priorities? Your preferences?
- What are you not willing to give up from your current lifestyle… and what would make you miserable in your new one?
- Do you enjoy a change of seasons? Do you mind the rain? Can you handle the heat and humidity? What about the cold?
- Do you have a pre-existing health condition? Do you require disabled access? Consider your age.
- Is it important for you to have reliable internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
- What about accessibility to the United States? Would you want to travel back often to visit family?
- Do you speak a second language? Are you terrified or learning a new one, or is this something that you’d like to try?
- What about entertainment? Do you enjoy dining out regularly? Would you rather spend a Sunday afternoon in a museum, an art gallery, or taking a walk in the woods?
- What would you like to see from your bedroom window? The ocean? A mountainside covered with wildflowers? A vineyard? A busy street scene?
- From where will you derive your income in retirement? (The source of your income has a lot to do with your ultimate tax liability.)
Based on your answers, make a list of countries that fit your criteria.
Take A Trip
Plan a visit to the places on your list––and not as a tourist. If at all possible, you should try to visit multiple times, including out of season.
Try to get a taste for what your new life will be like while there. Shop weekly, look at the amenities nearby, and, most importantly, get to know the area’s transport options. Find out what you can’t buy locally and what’s more expensive.
Residency Options
The sooner you get your residency visa the better.
While it’s possible to stay in many places on a tourist visa, this often brings complications down the line.
Figure Out Your New Budget
You’ll need to prepare a personalized budget tailored to the life you plan to lead in your new home.
Will you have a car, for example? This is a major variable that makes a big difference in monthly expenses. If you own a home, you won’t have rent, and property taxes are likely to be negligible… if you plan to rent, though, be sure you understand what’s available at what cost and check what’s included in the rent, as this changes from place to place.
Consider groceries, entertainment, etc.
Decide What To Bring Along And What To Leave
Our general advice is to move with as little as possible and give yourself a clean slate when you go overseas.
If minimalism isn’t your thing, though, you’ll need to decide what you’re bringing with you and how to get it to your new home.
Get Your Finances In Shape
Figure out how much money you have to retire on and how that translates into your budget for living in your chosen dream location overseas.
Make sure you know how to use online banking. Don’t close any bank accounts, but change your address on file to that of a close family member or trusted friend who can receive mail on your behalf.
Consider applying for new credit cards that come with benefits for overseas travelers (like no foreign transaction fees, reimbursed ATM fees, or airline cards that give you miles per purchase). You’ll also need to open at least one bank account in your new country (preferably more than one if you can).
Get Tech Savvy
Make sure your cell phone is unlocked before moving, which will allow you to buy a local SIM card and pop it into your existing phone. Download communication apps like Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and a host of others that are used globally and make sure both you and your loved ones know how to use them effectively. They’ll not just help you keep in touch with those back home, they’ll save you tons of money on communication both international and local.
Lastly, Are You Sure You Want To Move Full Time?
This doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The idea of moving to a new country, full stop, full-time, can be intimidating. You could launch a new life overseas and still spend part or even lots of your time back home.
You can ease into the idea. Then, if the place you take for a test spin turns out to be disappointing in some way, you can return home and begin planning your next overseas holiday. Give someplace else a chance until you find the retirement haven of your dreams.
