Three considerations when planning your expat life overseas

Moving overseas at any age is becoming a favourite option for a increasing number of people worried about the direction their home country is taking.

Whether you’re about to retire or you just want a change from your humdrum existence, emigrating can be the best move you’ve ever made!. Even those with an ambition to travel the world need to settle down sooner or later, but it doesn’t have to take you back to the old routine. The only drawbacks to the excitement of leaving are money, quality healthcare and commitment.

For retirees, the money problem looms larger when you realise you could have and really should have saved more for this massive change in your life. As costs increase in the Western world, you’re wondering how you’ll get by when the salary stops, One way is to realise your long-held dream by heading off to a country where the cost of living is a great deal less than at home. Choosing the right country means even meagre retirement savings can last you as long as you last!

In the majority of major world countries, healthcare is one of the most expensive necessities, whether it’s paid for out of savings or via expensive private healthcare insurance. These days, moving overseas doesn’t mean you’re heading into a healthcare desert, as the service in many expat destinations is just as good and costs a fraction of that in the home country.

Of course, moving to a totally unfamiliar land is a huge commitment to the unknown for most would-be expats, whether they’re retirees or millennials. Making sacrifices is part of the change, as you’ll be taking on a new culture and way of life. You’re outside your comfort zone as regards language, food, transport and interaction with local people, but adjusting to all these changes can be very good for your brain, especially if you’re older. Stimulation and socialisation can make your new life all you hoped it would be.