deVere Group has recently published results of a survey which reveal that an increasing number of Britain’s over-50s are tempted by a move overseas.

This latest poll showed that 59 per cent of those surveyed have ‘seriously considered’, ‘are thinking about’, or ‘would be tempted’ to live abroad during their retirement.  This is just under a 10 per cent rise on the results of the same deVere poll carried out 12 months ago.
Although typically those retirees who choose to make the move overseas will enjoy a much more active, social, ‘al fresco’ lifestyle than they would in the UK, the principal ‘push factors’ for a move overseas are predominantly financially-motivated.

With the UK’s escalating pensions crisis, the impending care crisis, higher taxes and low interest rates, as well as the cancellation of certain age-related benefits, combined with the lower cost of living and a higher standard of living on relocation, it would appear that moving out of the UK is making financial sense to more and more over 50s.  As such, the results of this survey come as little surprise.

Other so-called ‘push factors’, our respondents told us, include growing crime fears throughout the United Kingdom and, as you would expect, the infamous British weather.

It’s easy to see why more and more over-50s in Britain are being tempted to retire overseas, as swapping their home country for a ‘life in the sun’ at a fraction of the cost is an extremely attractive prospect.

For instance, expatriates have the advantage of exclusive financial solutions, to which their contemporaries ‘back home’ are unable to have access.

One of the most popular tools are HMRC-recognised QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme), which as well as allowing expats to mitigate 55 per cent of inheritance tax liabilities, they can also access flexible high-return investments, have their pensions paid in their chosen currency, and secure 30 per cent as a cash free lump sum, amongst other significant benefits.

It is little wonder why QROPS have experienced an annual increase since their launch in 2006, when you consider the concerns of leaving pensions in the UK continue to rise, particularly with pension scheme deficits doubling over the last 12 months, and ongoing stealth and not-so-stealth government raids, amongst other factors.

In my professional and personal experience, there is an overall sense of well-being and contentment amongst British expats wherever they choose to live in the world.  And by having the option of using their expat status to their financial advantage, thereby in effect shielding them from wider economic turmoil, the overwhelming majority of individuals who do decide to retire overseas consider themselves to be financially better off in their adopted country than ‘back home’.

In short, the survey has proven what all of us who work in international financial services knew: The Expat Dream is most definitely alive and kicking.

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