Majority of Over 50s Eye Retirement Abroad
A growing number of Britain’s over 50s are considering a new life abroad, a survey by one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations reveals.
deVere Group’s latest poll concludes that 59 per cent of those surveyed have ‘seriously considered’, ‘are thinking about’, or ‘would be tempted’ to live overseas during retirement. This is a jump of almost 10 percentage points (previously 49.5 per cent) compared with the same deVere poll last year.
Top Destinations for British Retirees
The top five countries being considered as possible destinations for relocation in retirement are Spain, Australia, the U.S., France, and Thailand.
Nigel Green – CEO deVere Group
Financial Motivations Driving Exodus
Of the findings, deVere Group founder and chief executive, Nigel Green, comments: “Financial factors are the main motivators. The combination of the UK’s burgeoning pensions crisis, the looming care crisis, the UK’s cost of living, high taxes, low interest rates, and the scrapping of some age-related benefits are, say our respondents, the main ‘push factors.’ Other reasons included standard of care for the elderly, quality of life, crime concerns and the weather.
“It seems that Britain’s babyboomers judge that they might need to move overseas to maintain a comparable lifestyle throughout their retirement. As such, more and more are contemplating quitting the UK and relocating to countries where they can expect a high quality of life and standard of living, and typically better weather, for a faction of the money.”
He continues: “There is also growing awareness of the financial ‘pull factors’ amongst would-be British expatriates.
“Not only will expats, in most cases, benefit from lower costs of living and lower taxes, there are specific expat-exclusive financial vehicles that can make them considerably better off than their contemporaries back in Britain.”
Expat Financial Tools and Tax Benefits
Amongst these tools are HMRC-recognised QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme), an overseas pension which allow expats to mitigate the 55 per cent liabilities of inheritance tax, to access flexible high-return investments, have their pensions paid in the currency of their choice, and to secure 30 per cent as a cash free lump sum, amongst other considerable benefits.
Mr Green concludes: “Whilst destinations such as Spain and Australia topped this survey of the over 50’s, a similar poll last year focusing on the under 40s – those who are typically looking to further their career – the top destinations included Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Shanghai and Tokyo.”
