At one point, the end never seems to be in sight. Retirement seems to be one of those things that is “never going to happen to us”, or if it does, we will deal with it at the time.
Fortunately, the above philosophy is changing a little. People are starting to plan for retirement a little more, but today’s article is going to specifically focus on how you can plan to retire on the road. In other words, how you can organize your life, so you don’t have to stay in your “forever” home, but might venture on a permanent road trip, or even become an expat somewhere else.
Of course, all of the above isn’t simple by any stretch of the imagination. Let’s now take a look at some of the ways you can plan to retire on the road.
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Get your “unexpected” costs finalized
Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that your living costs don’t end just because your mortgage has been paid off. On the contrary, you might even have more to pay for.
Ultimately, before you venture off on your travels, start to think about paying for your elderly care, funeral costs and even the costs of helping out the kids with their house purchase (which is becoming more common). Make sure you budget for all of this before you make the big jump to retire on the road .
Your destination choice can be huge
Your choice of destination is going to be a big factor in your life, but not necessarily because of the reasons you expect. Sure, some locations might be more open to sun rather than snow, but stop and take stock of the finances.
It’s a well-known fact that the cost of living varies through the world, and this is something you need to be aware of to make sure that your pension pot covers your new level. Not only that, but some countries might be more suitable for tax purposes. There can be occasions where you can be effectively “double taxed” between your home and destination country, which may prove to be financial disaster for some of you.
As such, research all of the financial formalities before you retire on the road .
You may have even more costs by living abroad
As we have already alluded to, the costs when you retire can soon spiral when you take into account the kids, grandkids and your elderly care costs.
However, when you move abroad, you have also got a few more travel costs for visiting friends and family back home. These might spiral into the thousands per year for a typical couple, and this is something that you again need to budget for from the outset.
You’ll need to rely on more “experts”
When you move to a new country, you are jumping into the unknown. You aren’t aware of the loopholes, or the “quick” ways of doing things.
For example, in the UK you might be used to completing a self-assessment form for tax yourself, and not having to pay a registered accountant.
However, when you venture abroad, both the language barrier and the fact you are delving into the unknown means that this isn’t necessarily possible.
It means that you might have to pay for certain professionals, which is again something you need to budget for.
Would you like to retire on the road?
Share your thoughts and comments with us.
I am looking at perhaps going overseas but I’ve been researching it and have narrowed my list down so I think I’ll try out places for a few months at a time before choosing. I want a place I’m comfortable, has everything I want, good medical care and the cost of going to and from isn’t bad.