Would you Retire Overseas?

I'm working on it right now....selling up and moving to Langkawi, where my money is going twice as far, and my private health $14 per month with some of the best Doctors around, 7 days for my dogs in quarantine, petrol .55 cents a litre, meals $3.00 or less, nice hotels for $40.00 or less, special one way air fare from KL. to Brissie $100...other Asian destinations available for under $50 to go there for a weekend away...only one thing...the place is loaded with Australian retirees!!! 

It is not an option my wife or I could contemplate! Having spent a number of years living and working in several Asian nations and having visited most, Singapore alone is the only one I would consider for permanent residence. But it is way too expensive for retirement. Sorry. Thailand may be cheap but it poses serious problems no retiree should have to endure. Politically, Thailand is unstable and that means dangerous to life. Disease is not well controlled. Bangkok is filthy. Quality of goods is poor generally. Crime is ever present and older westerner make great targets. Transport is difficult and travel quite dangerous. I have a recent background in humanitarian endeavour. There is not a single country in Asia where there is not unrest and danger. Religious, political and economic conflict is always around the corner. Asia? I love the people, the diversity, the excitement ... but never would I live there permanently as a retiree. I face the financial crisis most retirees in Australia face. But once you get out of Sydney or Melbourne or any capital, life gets easier. The resort areas on the coast are expensive too, so be sensible and look at the amazing ways available to live your retirement in Australia. Cost of health services have meant we cannot live with our Son in the USA. Asia has 60% of the world's population but is filled with hardships. For all its problems, Australia we understand and know. Be adventurous and enjoy your own land. At least most of us will still be near family. We are heading for the Sunshine Coast! 

Vietnam is very cheap and the people are very friendly. David. 

Vietnam is very cheap and the people are very friendly. 

Sorry my last post I said 25 years of your working life, should be 35. 

Bill, you are incorrect. You do NOT have to live in an agreement country to take your Pension overseas ONCE IT IS GRANTED IN AUSTRALIA. The benefit you get from living in an agreement country is that you can CLAIM the Age Pension there, but if you claim it in Australia, you can be paid it anywhere. The other advantage is that if you have lived part of the required 35 years working life needed to get the Age Pension, your working life in Australia and that agreement country can be added together to get a bigger pension (if you hadn't been in Australia for the required 25 years of your working life). There is genuinely no problem, once you have been granted the Age Pension here, getting it paid to you in any country. Penelope, once you have met the conditions and been granted Age Pension, the only differences to be being paid here are what I stated.. I have a bit of a clue as I worked for them for 15 years, and the link to their information makes it VERY clear than it's not a problem to live overseas permanently and be paid the Age Pension. Remember not all Centrelink staff know everything. If you don't believe there website, you can always confirm what I'm saying with their experts - the ones that handle ALL overseas payments, You can call Centrelink's International Services on 131 673 

I would, but the Australian govt Centrelink will not allow you to collect your pension entitlement overseas. They want the pension money spent here in Aus. Gordon Harvey 

Penelope is quite right the British Government does pay a pension (to those entitled to receive it) if they are living in Australia, NZ, or any EU country but once you leave the UK you no longer receive any increases that are applied to the pension unless one of the countries you are residing in is an EU country. UK , Australia, NZ do pay a pension to people who are entitle to receive on if they live in the UK or Ireland or any other country they have a social security agreement with. Unfortunately Thailand, Indonesia and most other South East Asian Countries do not fall into this category therefore if you retire to one of those countries your pension ceases almost immediately. Hope this helps Penelope. 

I would, having travelled and worked extensively in SE Asia etc, but wife is too timid...... 

Fred, that's simply not right. Of course you can get your Pension overseas after 6 weeks - for as long as you live, in fact. The only possible reductions are that you WILL lose the Pension Supplement after 6 months, and your Pension would be reduced IF you haven't lived in Australia for 35 years. See my previous post a few posts back for the link to the Centrelink Information. But you have to get the Age Pension here, before going. (You do have to be in Australia on the day you claim the Age Pension, and have been an Australian resident for the 10 years before that too, to actually get the Age Pension, before going overseas)