Retired expats ‘happy with their life abroad’

Nearly three quarters of retired expats are glad they retired abroad, a new survey claims.

Stories of expat retirees forced to return the UK have been common in the past few years, as the economic slowdown takes its toll on pensioners.

New data compiled by Natwest International suggests however that 71 per cent of expats who have retired abroad think they made the right decision.

67 per cent of expats surveyed by the bank said they thought they were happier abroad than they would have been in the UK, while 58 per cent agreed that their experiences abroad were better than expected.

The survey divided retired expats into two groups: “silver expats”, who spent their working life the UK but retired abroad, and “lifer expats”, who tended to retire in a country they had previously worked in.

The survey found that “silver expats” were more likely to retire in Europe, while “lifer expats” often moved further afield to places including New Zealand, the USA and Canada.

Interestingly, only nine per cent of “lifer expats”, said they would consider returning to the UK, while “silver expats” were almost twice as likely to consider moving back (16 per cent).

And, despite the much joked about tendency of British expats to group together when abroad, 92 per cent of retirees claimed not to live within an “established expat community”.

Dave Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking, said: “Our latest UK expatriate study has revealed that retiring abroad is still very much a popular choice and expats are happy with their chosen life paths.

“It’s encouraging to see that the majority of expats believe they made the right decision in retiring abroad and are living their chosen dream.”

633 retired expats were interviewed for the Natwest Quality of Life report, between October and November 2009.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7965356/Retired-expats-happy-with-their-life-abroad.html