Best Places To Retire Overseas

Most of us don’t give enough thought to our retirement and we really should! Your retirement will be how you live out your final, golden, years. Even if retirement seems like a million years away, it will creep up on you faster than you’d like to admit. Some clever planning now will make a world of difference when you get to the age when you want to retire and spend your time doing what you love. Calculating how much superannuation you’ll need is easy, just visit Suncorp’s superannuation website and use one of the free tools to calculate. Once you’ve got that sorted, you can plan where you’re going to spend your retirement. Personally, I’d be quite happy to buy timeshare in Panama and chill on some of the beaches there… but there’s quite a few great options that we’ll share below:

Portugal:

A very special country with warm climates, Portugal has a lot to offer someone who’s looking for somewhere special to retire. The living costs are some of the lowest in Europe, with food, rent and transport costs being considerably lower than neighbouring Spain. Lisbon is a very charming city that has a lot to offer the visitor, although some of the streets are particularly winding and steep. There are a number of seaside towns that are very popular with expats, but it just depends on what you’re looking for. Portugal is home to some of the world’s best beaches and has a large expat community making it a very desirable place to retire.

Barbados:

Why not head straight to paradise? White sands, bright blue waters and an average temperature of 26 degrees? Sounds great to me. One of the big advantages of Barbados is the fact that most people speak English, which makes it a lot more comfortable if you’re not looking to learn a new language in your retirement. There’s also very low-cost healthcare, to the point it’s almost free.

Thailand:

Great food, friendly people and affordable massages on every corner. Thailand has a lot to offer, with a rich culture, great climate and beautiful scenery. There’s the relaxed Chiang Mai in the north, fabulous islands in the south and of course, the chaotic Bangkok right in the middle. Thailand has a number of high quality international hospitals that are on par with many of the greatest in the world, but offer much more reasonable prices and everything else is fairly cheap.

Greece:

The failing economy of Greece is great for those outside of Greece who are looking to make the most of their Euro. One of the great things about choosing to retire in Greece is the great food – it’s got a world reputation for helping to extend lives, due to it’s high fat and healthy oils. What more could you want in your golden years? There’s also beautiful beaches, islands, forests and a whole lot of history to keep you thoroughly entertained.

Choosing somewhere to retire is both exciting and a little bit scary – when you start thinking on a global scale you realise how many options are available to you. The amount of contribution you make to your superannuation fund now will determine how many options you have later in life. So be wise and start now.