Moving abroad, a thousand reasons to enjoy retirement

At the end of a working life, we often wonder how to take advantage of the period we still feel well and we don’t need to work anymore. After a long and intense career, we hope to find an optimal lifestyle to stay in good health. The reasons why, at some point, we prefer to settle permanently in another country can be numerous and are not always the expected ones.

Who could imagine, a few years ago, that one of the main reasons why pensioners move abroad, especially Italian ones, was the tax burden? In other countries, the choice of pensioners is mainly related to the climate. A closer look shows that there are actually many reasons and we will see the main ones in this article.

For sure, changing life and settling abroad has become a choice that affects all ages and all countries. The current trend is mainly regarding pensioners who prefer to leave their own country to settle in a different place, that meets more their expectations.

The main reason to live abroad is the need to achieve the dream of a lifetime. As said before, sometimes the decision is related to the cost of living, in other cases it is to join family who is already living abroad. Finally, health, linked to the need to live in warm places and near the sea, is another reason. Just think that in Portugal only, in 10 years, 4 million pensioners from all over Europe, as well as from Brazil, have settled.

There are many popular destinations. In Italy, there is Sardinia to welcome pensioners from Italy itself or from Central and Northern Europe, but also from neighbouring Switzerland.

In Europe, the aforesaid Portugal or the Canaries are widely preferred. Family reunification occurs especially for South and North America.

A phenomenon that tends to extend more and more

The phenomenon of the exodus from the country of origin began in the early 2000s and has grown from year to year. Retiring abroad is a decision resulting from a careful planning made with information received from near relations or through websites which are highlighting the ease of procedures to change country and to move abroad.

Compared to many European countries, there are other destinations offering a more affordable cost of living and tax advantages. The latter trend has developed significantly and some state administrations have studied these specific advantages in order to attract explicitly pensioners from Europe

It is Portugal that has thought of a special form of benefits that involves not taxing the retired citizens from European countries for 10 years. In addition, through bilateral agreements, recipients of a retirement pension in a foreign country also get a preferential treatment from their home country regarding the contribution to their own retirement pension.

One data can better explain this phenomenon if we focus for example on Italy. 373 000 Italian pensioners got their retirement pension abroad and 82% of those are Italian citizens. So they intentionally moved abroad. Regarding Italian pensioners living abroad, we should specify that over half are staying in Europe.

The phenomenon of retirement abroad should not be mixed up with the theme of emigration, which has ancient roots. Some countries, including Italy, have experienced a huge movement of people moving abroad for professional reasons only. Unlike the destinations of the past but also the present emigration, especially for young people, the trendy locations that pensioners choose are completely different.

Traditionally, a welcoming country for pensioners is warm and close to the sea. This doesn’t mean that you cannot choose another destination in Eastern Europe because of the very low cost of living, which is more convenient.

Some European pensioners can afford to settle in a large number of countries, regardless of the cost of living. At the moment, Thailand is considered as a very trendy location for pensioners from all over Europe, looking for warmth and life in contact with natural beauties. In the past, Thailand was also a paradise for the very low cost of living, but no longer for some years.

In Europe, the pleasure of living next to the sea is possible in Sardinia where pensioners, especially from Northern Italy and Northern Europe, settle for several months a year. The trend from Switzerland, which shows a growing interest in moving abroad, is quite recent.

The main basic criteria to choose to move abroad

Every pensioner who decides to take advantage of retirement abroad, does so according to a range of requirements that he sets in order to select the country where he intends to settle. The first criterion is the desire to move to a country that is willing to offer him more possibilities. It is not about social possibilities, but about possibilities to live better compared to what the country of origin could offer.

In all likelihood, pensioners inquire about the so-called warm places, that is to say those that allow to live a long and beautiful spring. This kind of pensioners lives in Central Europe or Northern Europe, hoping and dreaming to live in a place with a mild climate. Spain, Italy, France and Portugal are the favorite destinations.

The tax exemption on retirement pension and the cost of living are another criterion. The latter is closely related on the country of origin of the pensioner. It seems clear that a Swiss pensioner has a wide range of choice, unlike an Italian pensioner, for example. This selection criterion also explains why, in some countries, there are small communities of pensioners from specific nations.

Another selection condition is related to health. Indeed, places where we can improve the quality of life after some pathology such as neuralgia are preferred.

Request information before from agencies and web portals

To be able to move, it is necessary to know well the local laws in the matter of taxation and of residence. In each country, offices are available precisely to inform people wishing to move abroad. Often, it is about web portals like in Switzerland for example. This web portal provides all information to Swiss people which are settled abroad and also to those wishing to return home.

Among the decisive requirements already discussed, we never mention security enough. Pensioners from all over Europe tend to eliminate places where their safety is not guaranteed. For this reason, we will not consider places where pensioners do not settle, despite a very low cost of living and a very high quality of life. A country that decides to implement a policy to attract European pensioners must rely on a policy regarding security.

Another decisive criterion is the language of the country where we want to move. Pensioners in the Mediterranean area seem to prefer countries where the language is the most understandable, usually Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. On the other hand, pensioners from Northern Europe do not limit theirselves, as they are used to speak English wherever they go.

Another trend, concerning the agencies offering their help on site, is growing. Pensioners who want to move can avoid difficulties linked to the necessary information thanks to the substantial support from fellow citizens who are making a proper career out of it.

An alarming phenomenon in some ways

In Italy, the trend of pensioners moving abroad spreads and becomes alarming so that the Italian tax authorities undertook a large control campaign.

We cannot deny that some of the pensioners are moving abroad because of the high tax burden that affects not only the perceived income, but also the daily expenses in general.

In summary, the tax burden, the climate and pollution, the security feeling, the search of a more welcoming place, family reunifications and other minor reasons are considered at selection time and have created a new phenomenon proper to this beginning of the millennium.

The role of new technologies in spreading the trend of pensioners abroad

In a way, the spread of information and the ease of communication have greatly promoted the disclosure of this phenomenon. Previously it was considered as a crazy wager, or an adventurous choice. Today it is possible to know in advance and in detail what awaits us. Social networks and internet are behind this phenomenon.

Until recently, it was mostly young people who tried their luck abroad. The multiplication of study opportunities abroad has created solid foundations to remove barriers, especially cultural barriers that prevented citizens from moving around Europe. The phenomenon now affects grandparents who are often followed by their children and grandchildren, also looking for a better future.