In all of the discussion of retiring abroad, it is rarely discussed as to how often expats return home. There’s no real accurate data available, but the British bank Natwest has stepped forward according to this article and taken a poll of expats who have retired overseas asking them whether they plan on returning home. The overwhelming majority (70%) state that they will be staying overseas.
What’s interesting about the poll is that expats who chose to work abroad and then retire in that new country were even more determined to not move back home. I think this means that expats who move abroad and grow accustomed to a new country at a younger age will adapt to it far more likely than someone later in life. This is very significant information.
What about the dangers of hating your overseas retirement destination?
According to the poll, most expats were really pleased once they moved abroad for retirement, with only one out of ten stating that “it had proved worse than they thought it would be”. Six out of ten felt that it was “better than expected”.
I do want to add that the poll is of British citizens and residents only. The United Kingdom is unique in that it is a developed country with significant numbers of its citizens moving abroad for work and retirement, far more than any other developed nation. There are reasons for that related to the high cost of living in Britain and I think a cultural tradition of working overseas going back to the days of the British Empire, but they are not relevant to this blog post. My only point in mentioning this is that the fact that the poll is made up entirely of British expats may skew results somewhat. Other countries and other cultures may not enjoy moving abroad as much and may not have the economic incentive to retire abroad.
What is good about this poll is that it reveals that most expats enjoy their time abroad and are very happy with the choice they’ve made, particularly if they retire abroad. I have a tendency to write from a cynical perspective about retirement abroad, and a poll of this nature shows that the experience of most retired expats is a good one. There is one area of the poll that is lacking however, and that is in the area of expats who have chosen to retire abroad to developing countries. The countries featured in the poll as destinations for retired Brits are Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, Portugal and Spain. Retirement to the developing world can be seen as something else entirely. It would be interesting if a poll was conducted that gauged the feelings of those expats.
