Taking care of the practicalities before you retire overseas

If you’re looking to spend your retirement abroad, a certain amount of advance planning will make the transition far easier.

Wherever you’re heading, the first priority is getting the correct visa for your needs, whether your dream is lazing on a beach, volunteering or even starting a blog or online business. Right now, Britons can still move to any EU country without having to worry about visas, but outside the EU it can be a very different story. Popular locations such as Malta, Mauritius, Malaysia, Australia, Costa Rica and Indonesia all have specific retirement visas, but you’ll need to be financially comfortable or even wealthy to take advantage of them. Other requirements vary, but all need evidence of good health and a clean police record in your home country.

One often asked question is whether expat retirees are entitled to any benefits in their chosen country. More often than not, the answer is no, although US expats who’ve worked overseas and paid into a pension should check whether there’s a bilateral social security agreement in place between the US and the country of employment. One point for US expats to remember is that Medicare doesn’t cover you overseas, and UK expats should note they’re only covered for NHS emergency treatment should they return, at least until they’ve lived in Britain for at least six months and can prove they intent to stay permanently. Even so, chancing the NHS’s shaky services at this point of time could be a very bad idea.

Another point UK expat retirees should take into account is that, in many countries, the UK state pension is frozen from your point of departure. Attempts to reverse this discriminatory rule have been ongoing for decades, and are still continuing without much hope of success. A frequently-asked question concerns the closing of home country bank accounts once you’ve left, a good idea for Americans as it keeps home country based funds out of the dreaded FATCA dragnet. For Britons, this can cause tax complications as you may be regarded as still ‘resident’, with a professional tax advisor’s carefully considered opinion the best way to avoid unpleasant shocks.