How To Choose An Overseas Retirement Village

Nothing scratches the wanderlust itch quite like retiring overseas. The allure of living in a place that’s exotic, new, and free from the chains of the past can be all too liberating for some folks.

If you’ve made up your mind and are planning to retire overseas, you may be overwhelmed by the process of it all. Grasping the requirements to peacefully retire at home can be a challenge on its own, but retiring abroad?

That’s a whole new level of difficulty.

But for some seniors, the move is more than worth it. To clear things up, retiring abroad isn’t only for individuals who want a change of pace.

It can also mean more opportunities to live the life you deserve in a wide array of ways.

If you’re confused about how to pick the right retirement village overseas, we’ll provide some useful and actionable tips to get you started.

Assess Why You Want to Retire Abroad

After working for decades, it’s now time to hang up your belt and look towards your retirement plan. You may find yourself intrigued by the idea of retiring abroad, enticed by the thought of starting a new chapter in a foreign land.

But before you get entangled in your fantasies, it’s important to take a step back and figure out your true motives. A touch too many people get too hasty with their decision-making and end up spending a lot of time and money on a decision that they wind up regretting.

Do you think taking a short, non-committal trip abroad will give you the same satisfaction as moving to a new country? Try that before going all-in on retiring overseas.

If your motivation to move abroad is because of family or friends living there, determine whether they can visit your retirement village frequently. People can understandably get busy, so do communicate with these people and determine whether their availability meets your satisfaction.

If financial incentives are the main reason behind the move, allocate some time to calculate how much it takes to move to a local retirement village versus a foreign retirement village or retirement properties. Even if the foreign one looks cheaper at a glance, there could be some moving costs that can spike your expenses considerably.

Once you’ve worked through all these factors and still find the move attractive, great! Your motive is accounted for, and now it’s time to work towards these goals.

Choose Your Desired Country

There are dozens of viable countries that you can call your new home. The choice of where to relocate for retirement is ultimately a personal one, but you’ll also want to be realistic about your decision.

If you want to move to Europe for example, Portugal and Spain are attractive retirement destinations since they both offer residency-by-investment visas in the form of a Golden visa.

If you’ve got the capital and are willing to spend at least €500,000 for real estate in a central location, or €400,000 for properties further out of the city, then you can be eligible to live in these countries and eventually get permanent residency in five years.

Want to move to a place that’s not too different from home? Kiwis can move to Australia and Aussies can move to New Zealand with relative ease.

These two places are also among the highest-rated countries to retire in according to the 2022 Global Retirement Index, with Australia being the leading place for retirement in the APAC region.

Given these statistics, you really can’t go wrong with retirement living in Australia or New Zealand.

If you want to move out of your country with the least amount of hurdles, Greece, Mexico, Thailand, Costa Rica, and the Philippines are among the easiest places for seniors to relocate and call their new home.

Pick a Retirement Village

With an abundance of retirement villages around the world, and the freedom to choose just one, the weight of your choice can understandably be heavy.

That said, you’ll have to pick one eventually. So might as well choose the best retirement village given its offerings.

We expect that you have one or a couple of key countries you’re already eyeing. Choose a city or town within these countries that you feel best suits your preference.

Typically, a country with a mild climate and bountiful natural landscapes is ideal—but that’s our own subjective opinion on the matter! If you enjoy living near a bustling city, then be our guest.

Once you’ve got a feel of what you want, do some research and find a village that ticks all these points: safety, healthcare services, recreational facilities, and proximity to essential amenities like grocery stores and pharmacies.

From there, consider the cost of moving and the ease of actually relocating. Also, read up on reviews of current residents.

Once you’ve weighed in all these factors, make the final call and pick the retirement village that most resonates with you.

Talk With Key People

If you want a seamless moving process, you have to bring in a couple of key people to help you facilitate it.

At the minimum, these include a real estate agent, a retirement village staff member, a visa coordinator, a local banker from the overseas destination, and ideally, an expat or local who lives within that country.

These people can make your life much easier, with some helping you out pre-move and some during the move. A real estate agent and a visa coordinator are both vital people who can help you find key properties and help you apply for a residence visa, respectively.

A retirement village staff member can give you a rundown on what their village provides, as well as entertain you on your own personal inquiries. They can even connect you to other professionals like moving services, utility companies, and a financial institution to help you get settled in.

Lastly, expats and local residents can help you get a complete picture of what it’s like living in your targeted destination. They can teach you about the local customs and laws that you’ll need to abide by.

They can also give you insights into what it’s like living in the country and give you some tips to help you throughout your stay.

Ready Yourself For Moving Day

Packing up your belongings to get ready for a move can be difficult. You don’t want to bring everything into your house, just the essentials are fine.

As soon as two months before the move, start by decluttering and sorting your belongings into categories: items to keep, donate, or discard. Keep items that you plan to bring with you in sturdy and organised boxes for easy tracking.

Once your items are all packed up, contact utility companies to deactivate and activate your utilities as necessary. Update your personal information with your new address.

Tie up any loose ends before you move to the new country.

If you’re bringing a lot of things, you may enlist the help of friends, family or professional removalists to make the move faster and easier for you. This can lighten the load off your shoulders quite literally and make moving in significantly less taxing.

By the time you arrive in your retirement village, unpack, interact with staff and neighbours, and relish in your new, luxurious abode—you’ve more than earned it!

This is a collaborative post.

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