Having spent two days reviewing the top ten retirement destinations in the world as chosen by Forbes magazine, we thought that there are quite a few ideal hotspots missing from their list. As a result, we’ve decided to put together Shelter Offshore’s alternative overseas retirement destinations list for anyone wondering about where in the world they should go and live when they retire.
The Forbes list did cover some of the evergreen and emerging markets – from Australia to Austria and from Canada to Panama for example - but it missed off some excellent choices such as Cyprus, New Zealand, Argentina and Belize, to name but a handful.
If you’re contemplating moving abroad in retirement and you want to find the perfect paradise on earth for you, our selection may give you a few more suggestions to research. As always we will present the pros and cons of a country as well, so that you can get an initial feel of whether a given nation suits you or not.
How About Cyprus for Your Retirement Abroad
There are quite literally two sides to Cyprus! You have the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of (southern) Cyprus which is inhabited by Greek Cypriots. The latter is the most popular side of the island with retirees and holidaymakers – but only because it is better publicised and more easily accessible. Both sides of the island are equally beautiful for example – and your choice of side will depend on what you’re looking for from your retirement paradise and what your budget can afford.
In Northern Cyprus property is exceptionally cheap – it is priced in British pounds for the most part as well, whereas property on the southern half of the island is priced in euros and therefore more expensive, relatively speaking, for Britons. Both sides of the island are involved in an ongoing and extremely acrimonious dispute over land – as a result you have to be careful when you come to buy and make sure you buy property with non-contested title deeds.
Southern Cyprus has a particularly attractive taxation regime for retirees, with income tax on your pension being fixed for many people at a flat rate of 5%. In Northern Cyprus the tax regime is different, but most people legitimately avoid paying tax on their pension by not remitting it to the nation and instead holding it in their UK or an offshore bank account. The cost of living on both sides of the island is similar for many day to day goods and services, but when it comes to eating out, drinking, socialising and so on, Northern Cyprus is a lot cheaper. Southern Cyprus is more sophisticated, Northern Cyprus is more unspoilt. You need to visit and spend time both sides of the border to see which side suits you best – and you need to close your ears to the Turks and Greeks when they speak about each other as they have nothing good to say about ‘the other side of the island!’
New Zealand is a Popular Overseas Retirement Hotspot
Despite the fact that it is physically so far away from the UK, New Zealand is a really popular nation with Britons seeking to get away from it all – particularly in retirement. The fact that the nation is economically and politically safe, they speak English and have the same values, core beliefs and day to day attitude as Brits means that it is a very easy country for retirees to move to and settle in to.
Britons are welcomed on the whole, and the way of life is so similar to that of the UK of yesteryears that it really suits many of a certain age! The country is stunningly beautiful in terms of its landscape and culturally it has a bit more to offer than Australia. On the downsides you have to have a visa to move and live there, it is an expensive and very long haul flight to get there and really, you need to spend some time living there before you commit to selling up and retiring to New Zealand because if you suddenly decide you don’t like it, it’s going to be expensive and tough to come home!
Consider Belize for Your Retirement
Belize has a retired persons incentive programme that makes it tax attractive to live there if you qualify! And it’s fairly easy to qualify – at the time of writing, the main criteria is that you have to have a monthly income of $2,000 from a pension or annuity type investment vehicle that’s generated and earned from outside the nation. You have to be over the age of 45 and then you can take your spouse and children to live tax-free in Belize – and you can even import your worldly goods including even a plane or a yacht 100% tax-free!
Belize is a paradise on earth in terms of its natural beauty, the flora and fauna that abounds in the beautiful rainforests and in terms of its climate for most of the year. However, it is not the easiest transition if you’re expecting it to be 100% first world and for all services and amenities to be on a par with what you’re used to in the UK! Belize is affordable, you can get decent healthcare in the nation, you’re not far from North America so you can have access to the sophistication that offers if you want, and so it can be a suitable country for you if you fancy a retirement hotspot with a difference – and no tax!
What About Retiring to Argentina
For some, there is still an animosity to Argentina following the Falklands War in the 1980s – and therefore this immediately rules this nation out. For others, Argentina is a worthwhile consideration for many good reasons. Firstly it is cheap – property in Argentina is wildly inexpensive and you can buy anything from a ranch to a vineyard for the price of your 3 bed semi in Surrey. Day to day living costs are good as well, services and amenities in the main urban areas are good – but step a long way off the beaten track and things are more primitive.
Argentina has a growing expat population – although most tend to come from North America – it has an emerging and developing economy and an expanding tourism market too. On the negative side it is hard and expensive to get to from the UK and involves multiple stopovers and a long haul flight. What’s more, you need to speak Spanish to get by really – although it isn’t so hard to learn once you’re immersed in it.
You will need to get to know and befriend local people as the expat population is well spread out, and if you need to supplement your retirement income in Argentina, you may struggle a little.
There are of course a thousand other alternatives from Portugal to Cape Verde, South Africa to Sweden – and we all need to find the right location that suits us for retirement. However, we hope that the above together with the reviews of Forbes’ top 10 overseas retirement destinations gives you some food for thought and some fuel to research your dreams of a new life abroad when you come to retire.
