Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[Pirahna]

There's also the fact that retirement itself is a venture into the (comparative) unknown for most folks, so it's a good idea to be in a stable situation with any property abroad before entering retirement. Dealing with the onset of retirement and the purchase of a property abroad (and the associated upheaval and learning curve) are best not done together. IMHO, of course.

Sounds like I took the wrong approach. I sold up in the UK and set off in a camper van to find somewhere to live. Ended up in Spain, the best move I've ever made.

[mangocrazy]

There's also the fact that retirement itself is a venture into the (comparative) unknown for most folks, so it's a good idea to be in a stable situation with any property abroad before entering retirement. Dealing with the onset of retirement and the purchase of a property abroad (and the associated upheaval and learning curve) are best not done together. IMHO, of course.

Sounds like I took the wrong approach. I sold up in the UK and set off in a camper van to find somewhere to live. Ended up in Spain, the best move I've ever made.

Nah, if it worked out for you it's a winner. You were going for it, and you made it work. Well done you. Tiepin wants to keep a footprint in the UK and seems more conservative in his attitudes and my comments were based on that.

[Taipan]

We have elderly dependants, so wont make any moves until they've, well, died. Then I think we'd like to just head off in our campervan and have a mooch about and find a place with the right vibe and spend some time there and if its fits, buy a place. There are of course other factors, such as selling our home here, or maybe rent it, but not sure about the landlord thing, but do realise the uk property market is much better than say the Spanish one. TBH I'm not good with planning when its all hypotheticals, so I guess i'll have to how life is at the time...

[mangocrazy]

Definitely agree about scoping out the possible areas you might buy into in advance. Touring round in a campervan would be ideal.

When I bought my place it was as a result of having a holiday in the area with a bunch of friends (9 of us!) and that crystallised my thoughts and desires. I'd been talking about buying a place in France for years (decades, even) before and I had this overwhelming feeling that if I didn't do it then that I'd never do it, so once the holiday had finished I made plans to head back a month or so later on the bike and hit up all the estate agents in the area, having first done some Internet searches while back in the UK.

I was there for about two weeks and when I found the place I eventually bought it was so obviously what I was looking for and and still (just about) in budget. If the place doesn't tick your important boxes and actually 'talk' to you then move on. If you find yourself thinking mainly about downsides then the property isn't for you.

[Bwana]

I'm chucking it in at the end of 2024 and I'm winging it as I go. Looks like the practice may be sold and I'll stick around for the transition. I'll continue on at a local shelter doing surgeries until I'm too old and shaky to not gut them accidently.

At the rate we're fucking the environment, I probably don't have to worry about cash lasting me the rest of my potential life. Cheerful thoughts!

[Taipan]

It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end

I get that and I think we'd miss family, especially if we had grandkids, but its the winters, I just cant stand the winters...

[weeksy]

It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end

I'd be ok with it I reckon. I'd do what Yorick has done and make friends with the locals as well as the pats. I guess it depends what your wants and needs are.

[mangocrazy]

I don't currently have any plans to live abroad; we just spend spring and autumn there at present. High summer can get pretty scorchio (even more so in Spain) so we tend to spend most of that in the UK. When I get the wood burner and radiators working that will open up the winter months, which will be good. And of course there is the 90/180 days rule to observe so as I don't want full residency we're constrained in terms of how much time we can spend there anyway.

There are noises from the French govt that they may grant automatic long sta visaa to UK residents who own a home in France, but even if it does happen it probably wont be for a couple of years at least.

[Count Steer]

My mates parents spend three months a year, over winter, in Greece, France, Spain, etc, they rent somewhere.
They look for somewhere interesting, find the deal that suits them and bobs your h'uncle.

It gives them much more flexibility and none of the liability.

That's what I'd be inclined to do if I was going to do the snowbird thing. Property abroad in many places can be easy to buy and an absolute pain to sell should you ever change your mind or circumstances change. (I know a few that were about what they could buy back here when they looked at coming back. Happily the reason for one couple returning (they wanted to come back and live in London and found they might just afford Luton-ish), changed when their daughter changed job....and moved from London to Berlin.

The other aspect one couple complained about (they have a property here and one abroad) was that every time they went from one to the other they seemed to spend their time de-wilding the gardens and doing property maintenance.

Still, better than the ones I know that got mugged into timeshare property!

[Bwana]

Property and retirement...
I think I may have that done in. I'm looking at selling my practice. The buyer is someone I've known since she was a young teen. Her dad lives just down the road, he, his son, and I do a bit of off roading. His daughter graduated from vet school a few years ago and has a desire to own a practice. We've discussed her buying the entire property as I cannot legally subdivide it. The property consists of the vet practice, a shed for the tractor, a 30x40 foot shop, and a log home on 11.98 acres. Our yet to be confirmed agreement involves sale of the whole place with the agreement that the missus and I stay put until we leave in body bags.

I get to sell the good will of the practice (worth annual gross receipts) and the real estate (worth a small fortune in today's market). I'll do owner financing so I'll have a nice retirement income above social security and the IRAs I've set up for the two of us. That'll abate the need to draw down savings and investments. I'll continue to work at a local shelter to keep the beer money rolling in. I have a desire to do more traveling on two wheels, that will become a possibility after shedding the responsibilities of practice ownership. I can bail out of the shelter on a whim as I'm pushing for them to hire someone else as the vet of record. I don't want to wear that leash.

I've got plenty of shit to keep me busy, some old bikes in need of some love, a bit of an area that I want to clear out for a greenhouse, and riding any damn time I please.

[mangocrazy]

I guess it comes down to the age-old debate of whether to buy or rent. There are advantages and disadvantages in both. I prefer slowly getting to know the people and places in one locale and becoming part of the community. In small rural villages in France there is still a strong sense of neighbourliness; we've had neighbours bring gifts of wine and food for no other reason than to be welcoming and neighbourly. That's worth a lot in my book. If you're just parachuting in to a different place each time you'd probably not get that response.

[Yorick]

For me, the trouble with sunny place's is they get too hot.

And their insects seem to have an extra 'vicious bastard' gene

No mozzies here.

[Yorick]

We have elderly dependants, so wont make any moves until they've, well, died. Then I think we'd like to just head off in our campervan and have a mooch about and find a place with the right vibe and spend some time there and if its fits, buy a place. There are of course other factors, such as selling our home here, or maybe rent it, but not sure about the landlord thing, but do realise the uk property market is much better than say the Spanish one. TBH I'm not good with planning when its all hypotheticals, so I guess i'll have to how life is at the time...

You know I'm all in favour of moving abroad, but I'd recommend that you rent first, to make sure it suits you.

[Yorick]

It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end

I get that and I think we'd miss family, especially if we had grandkids, but its the winters, I just cant stand the winters...

Lots of folk here initially worried about missing UK families. But they now get family visiting them more than ever

[Pirahna]

Here's my moving abroad story. My mum was Irish, Dad English. They met in London, had my sister and I and when they retired they moved to Ireland. They built a house next to my aunt, who was next to my uncle living in the house the family was born in, so lots of close family support. They've had a few health issues along the way, some serious but they survived until mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021 and given three months to live. She actually lived for six months and I was lucky enough to spend a month with her early on and the last two months of her life. Move on a couple of years and my father was taken ill seven weeks ago, I've been very fortunate to spend the last seven weeks with him, he passed away on Friday. But that's only the end of life stuff. As we age it's all the little bits that I wasn't there for. I spend a few weeks a year in Ireland but without the close family support, and more importantly the help of the care system in Ireland, my dad wouldn't have got as far as he did.

Wifey and I have no children, nieces and nephews are in short supply so we'll have to fend for ourselves when the time comes. Hopefully we'll still have some friends that will help and we'll be able to pay for rides when we can no longer drive, and pay for any care we need. It's a long way off yet but the years fly past. My parents were my age now when they moved to Ireland and that seems to have flown past. Something to think about I suppose.

[Yorick]

Here's my moving abroad story. My mum was Irish, Dad English. They met in London, had my sister and I and when they retired they moved to Ireland. They built a house next to my aunt, who was next to my uncle living in the house the family was born in, so lots of close family support. They've had a few health issues along the way, some serious but they survived until mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021 and given three months to live. She actually lived for six months and I was lucky enough to spend a month with her early on and the last two months of her life. Move on a couple of years and my father was taken ill seven weeks ago, I've been very fortunate to spend the last seven weeks with him, he passed away on Friday. But that's only the end of life stuff. As we age it's all the little bits that I wasn't there for. I spend a few weeks a year in Ireland but without the close family support, and more importantly the help of the care system in Ireland, my dad wouldn't have got as far as he did.

Wifey and I have no children, nieces and nephews are in short supply so we'll have to fend for ourselves when the time comes. Hopefully we'll still have some friends that will help and we'll be able to pay for rides when we can no longer drive, and pay for any care we need. It's a long way off yet but the years fly past. My parents were my age now when they moved to Ireland and that seems to have flown past. Something to think about I suppose.

We have a beautiful apartment in our basement which brings in good money.

When the time comes, we'll rent it to a carer/nurse to help us out.

Money won't be a problem

[Noggin]

It's probably because I've spent the majority of my adult life abroad, so now I'm looking forward to settling in the UK, whilst some of you are looking to escape.

But the missing family thing has been hard at times.
I wouldn't underestimate it, unless you're a particular loaner or don't get along with family.

I've been fine, I don't get along with my family much, but it's been rough on my missus, she's got a very close family and it's been bad for her at times, I only realise how bad now our kids have left home and I miss them like mad.

I thought I'd miss my family (fcuked up as it is) - but, after the last six + years of injury, rehab, surgeries, stress and all the other crap that's happened, I have realised that I am truly on my own when it comes to family. Once I'm able to ride properly for a whole summer here, hopefully I'll make the sort of 'bike' friends I had in the uk. For now, most of my friends are in my computer!!

Add in that after only six years living abroad I really didn't feel that the UK was home any more and I need to sort out how I'm going live in old age out here!!

It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end

I get that and I think we'd miss family, especially if we had grandkids, but its the winters, I just cant stand the winters...

Lots of folk here initially worried about missing UK families. But they now get family visiting them more than ever

I wish! Don't even get many friends visit TBF - must be me!! Cos, whilst winters are cold, summers are NOT!! (Might help if I had a spare room I suppose!! )

[Taipan]

We have elderly dependants, so wont make any moves until they've, well, died. Then I think we'd like to just head off in our campervan and have a mooch about and find a place with the right vibe and spend some time there and if its fits, buy a place. There are of course other factors, such as selling our home here, or maybe rent it, but not sure about the landlord thing, but do realise the uk property market is much better than say the Spanish one. TBH I'm not good with planning when its all hypotheticals, so I guess i'll have to how life is at the time...

You know I'm all in favour of moving abroad, but I'd recommend that you rent first, to make sure it suits you.

I'd definitely want to spend some time looking round to find the right area as I've never been to southern Spain before. We'd also spend some time in the area of a property we'd found assuming we did decide to find one.

I used to say we'd rent our place here, to pay for one there, and given the UK property market is a lot more lucrative than the Spanish one, I still feel inclined to follow that train of thought and of course we'd still have a pathway back should we need it. But if we did find ourselves settled then maybe a permanent move would work? TBH I think the compromise i'd like is to be snowbirds as I love England in the spring and summer. I do like the idea of having a wander around southern Spain and the Algarve in my campervan whilst avoiding the UK winter...

Like I say, its hard to get decisive about anything as we have ties here at present and we're a very close family and there's no way we'd leave the elderly folk at this stage in their lives. But we're enjoying watching A Place in the Sun...

[Yorick]

Last couple of years I've been taking about £15k from my worst performing pension pot. The tax savings pay for my expensive track days.

Just looked today and that pot's made 20% this year. So not gonna touch that one

Need to phone the others on Wednesday to see how they're doing and decide then what to do.

If they're doing OK, the profit in 4 or 5 years will be more than the tax savings.

[Count Steer]

Prompted me to have a look too. Some things are looking quite perky.

(Truss and Kwarteng still owe me the price of a nice new car though thanks to their trashing of the bond market. It's picking up a bit but.... ).