By Debbie Gardner
dgardner@thereminder.com
What’s your dream of retirement living? Is it a place by the beach, with gentle breezes and year ‘round beautiful weather? Maybe it’s a simpler abode and a quieter pace of life? Perhaps it’s a vibrant community with easy access to cultural and entertainment opportunities.
Those are all options here in the states, but for many there’s another path to retirement bliss.
Choosing to retire overseas.
If the events of the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that life can be unpredictable and short. Circumstances can change in an instant – be it health concerns, an earlier-than-expected retirement, a change in finances that makes the costs in retirement seem a budget stretch, or simply a reawakened desire to “have an adventure” – the number of Americans choosing to spend their golden years living overseas is a growing trend.
And the numbers bear this out. According to figures supplied by the Social Security Administration, 443,546 retired Americans received their Social Security benefits while living abroad in 2022, nearly double the 219,504 expat retirees claiming benefits in 1999. (“This American retired in Ecuador at 49 – here’s how others can do it too, according to experts, ” by Kathleen Wong, USA Today, Jan, 23, 2023).
Though the figures represent only 12% of the 45 million U.S. retires, the proliferation of articles and websites offering information on retiring overseas shows this is more than a passing fad.
So what does it take to plan the big move? Prime spoke to a local couple planning to give the expat life a try and relocate to Spain.
Planning for the next phase in life
“Steve and I started talking about it just prior to the pandemic,” Barbara Perry, the soon-to-retire sales manager at Reminder Publishing told Prime of the couple’s plans to move to Spain in the fall. “We’d been to Spain a couple of times on vacation and loved it. We found the little town of Salobrena – we really loved it, it’s right on the Mediterranean – and [plans] became really serious after that.
“When we could travel again after the pandemic, we decided ‘we’re really going to do this,’” Perry added.
Though there were several factors that played into the couple’s ultimate decision to put their plans in motion, it was the timing of the opportunity that Perry said tipped the scale.
“We were ready for an adventure,” she shared. “We’re not the hang around the home type of people. We like to travel and decided now is the time. We’re young enough – we both had some health issues that are now resolved – and we want to do things now.”
“It’s also very affordable to live overseas,” Perry added “It wasn’t the deciding factor, but it added to the factors [in our decision].”
She noted the couple briefly considered a move to Portugal – the number one expat country – but happening upon the quaint Spanish village by the sea was what “sealed” the idea of a move to Spain for them.
Breaking the news
“We started prepping family a year ago that this is what we are going to do,” Perry said. “I have a large family and Steve has family here, too, and that’s the hardest part of the decision … you are agreeing that you are going someplace where people can’t get to you in 20 minutes.” A frequent question from others they have talked with about their expat plans has been “do you have grandchildren?” They don’t, but that hasn’t necessarily made the parting easier for certain family members.
“My great nephew Gus has already told me it’s a bad idea, don’t go, it’s too far away,” Perry shared. However, most of the family is slowly “coming on board, and planning their trips to visit us,” she said.
“We recognize that we’re going to be lonesome initially, and we’re trying to prepare for that,” Perry added.
The nuts and bolts
Perry said the couple started the process by looking deeply into what’s required to make this kind of relocation more than a year before their projected move date.
“You have to get a visa – how do you go about getting that visa. What about healthcare? We did a lot of research on ‘what do we need to make this as smooth as possible,’” Perry said. For example, one of the components required to apply for a visa is a certified copy of the couple’s marriage license translated into Spanish “but it can’t be more than 30 days old” and an FBI check “but that is also only good for a certain amount of time,” Perry said.
In March the couple found help with the health insurance question when they located a Spanish attorney who specializes in helping expats moving to Spain . The attorney was able to help them locate an insurance company in Spain for health insurance.
“Your Medicare does not work overseas,” she joked.
They also have to have a provision in their health insurance that if, for some reason they need to be sent back to the U.S for treatment, or their body needs to be sent back, they have the proper procedures in place for repatriation.
In terms of living expenses, Perry said the couple will maintain bank accounts in the U. S. for their social security and retirement funds. “We still have access to our accounts in the states, you [can] do everything with debit cards,” Perry said, adding they have family members on those accounts in case they need assistance. And they plan to open a bank account in Spain once they are in country. “We are still U.S. citizens … we have been informed it’s a bit more involved process,” she shared. Adding that whatever funds they have in Spain will be for “living expenses.”
Another small glitch the couple just learned about is the procedure to contact their stateside financial advisor.
“In order for us to meet with him via Zoom or Teams, someone from the U.S. has to be on the call,” Perry said. “We have set up two of our children as power of attorney so when we have to speak with our financial planner, one has to be on the call.
“That’s something I didn’t expect,” she added.
They’ve also recently discovered there’s some tax implications to moving to Spain.
Based on their experiences so far, Perry said anyone considering a relocation to another country for retirement needs to have three things in place immediately: an understanding of the visa process; someone to help you navigate the health insurance question; and “a tax advisor from the country you are going to that specializes in expats.”
The personal prep
Perry and her husband have decided they are not shipping anything to Spain from the U. S. They will travel with just two suitcases each.
That has meant a lot of downsizing.
“Shipping is very costly, and in some instances, it takes up to six months. We just made the decision we are not going to bring things,” Perry said. “It’s part of the puzzle you have to plan for.”
The couple has spent the past six months “diligently” going through their possessions, deciding what to take, what to toss, what to recycle and what to pass along to their children.
“We just found a company that takes cloth [for recycling],” she said. “What can be recycled, finding those kinds of things, it’s a real process. And then there are the personalities. It’s hard for [Steve] to just give things up. He’s thoughtful about each thing.”
“I don’t think anyone prepares you for the letting go part of it,” she continued. “If you are of opposite minds, there’s a lot of compromise that goes with it.”
The decision of what to do with their U.S. home was another big hurdle.
“At first we thought we would sell it, but after thinking it over, we will rent our home for a year, the same amount of time we have a lease in Spain,” Perry said. “That will give us time to decide if this is for us, do we want another country, or do we want to come home.”
Their lease in Spain will be a home, not an apartment. “When you lease in Spain, [the home] comes fully furnished,” Perry said, another reason they can travel light. “We also made the decision not to have a car in Spain … that will be different … we will probably buy a Vespa so we have some kind of transportation.”
Looking forward to a new life
Their newly adopted hometown, Salobrena, Perry said, is an idyllic small Spanish town. “The population is 13,000. They have their own small bus that can get you to the train and such. The appeal of the lifestyle is you can walk to the fruit market right down the hill, the butcher is in the center of town. Every neighborhood has its own little store. There is a supermarket, but you don’t need a car to get the things you need for everyday life,” she said.
“And my husband is a big open water swimmer. Being able to walk to the Mediterranean and hop in the water is appealing to us,” she added.
Overall, Perry said at this juncture in their lives, the couple is ready for a big adventure.
‘Steve has always been a wanderer and I’ve always wanted to be one, so this is my chance,” Perry admitted.
