Building Your Overseas Retirement Portfolio
This article does not provide any guidance on your options when you are at the point of actually retiring, but is concerned with how to invest your money while you are accumulating a retirement fund for later use.
The purpose of this article is to introduce you to some of the issues and concepts of retirement planning while you are working overseas.
A major attraction for expatriates working overseas is the opportunity to accumulate capital, by increasing savings due to reduced cost of living and enhanced earnings. What to do with sums you are now able to set aside is a tricky issue, because the retirement and savings products available to you back home may not be available to you overseas, or in fact, may be completely unsuitable.
What drives overseas retirement planning is the taxation regime of the country where you work and how this interacts with your home country. How these two tax regimes work together will affect your current retirement plans, investment portfolio and your regular contributions to them.
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Becoming a Tax Exile
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How Retirement Plans and Contributions Are Affected
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A Word of Caution
Choosing a Mortgage for an Overseas Property Purchase
A dream home overseas can very quickly become a nightmare for expatriates, retirees or those simply looking to enjoy a holiday property abroad.
It is difficult enough to navigate the mortgage market back home, but when you are considering purchasing a property overseas the issues become more complex, while the consequences for failing to choose correctly can be very expensive.
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Which Currency Should Be Used?
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The Importance of Local Knowledge and Professional Assistance
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Expect Significant Differences in Overseas Mortgage Practice
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Expat Insurance Overseas: What’s Right For You?
As expats living overseas there are several different types of personal health care insurance to consider.There is private expat insurance usually quoted for six months or more. Then there is travel insurance and with many expat travel life styles it might be something to consider. Usually travel health insurance is quoted on a multi or single trip basis. “By now, whenever you plan a big trip, travel insurance is a routine concern. Depending on where you’re going, the kind of trip you’re taking and your personal circumstances, you may well need some combination of trip-cancellation and medical insurance, at a minimum…For most of you, medical insurance is the most critical. Those of you who are seniors already know that Medicare doesn’t cover you at all outside the United States, and even the better Medicare supplements offer only marginal benefits. And if you’re not a senior, your regular health insurance may not provide adequate coverage outside the United States, especially for long stays…”
Read more from Baltimore Sun
Euro Vs. Sterling: Retiring Abroad
The rise of the Euro has had a significant impact on pensions based in pound sterling. The most affected have been British expats retiring abroad in neighboring countries of Europe. Not only have monthly incomes dropped, but pensioners are also feeling the pinch when it comes to transferring monies abroad. “…While the Eurozone pensioners have suffered, their counterparts in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia have all seen the domestic value of their British state pension hit even harder by market volatility. For example, a couple receiving the typical state pension overseas of £628, would have seen their income fall by AU$150.72 (£83.46) a month just in the past three months, thanks to the currency volatility. The idea of retiring abroad has become an unsustainable dream for some retirees. Pensioners cannot afford to support their lifestyles overseas with such weak exchange rates. For UK retirees, transferring their pensions to euro bank accounts, or Brits paying their overseas mortgages, the euro price is likely to remain high through 2009.”
Read more from Telegraph
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Aging Parents & Your Expat Career
With the economic down turn more us our faced with the decision to move abroad. Or if you are already living overseas you may be faced with having to move further away from your home country. Increasingly this choice comes amidst caring for an elderly parent and by the time 2020 hit 1 in 3 Americans will be caring for elderly parents. This article follows three executives who were faced with the dilemma of how to care for an elderly parent while trying to move forward with the career. “…Because of extended life spans, Americans increasingly confront elder-care issues. About one in eight employees is involved in caring for someone over age 65, estimates Andrew Scharlach, a professor of aging at the University of California at Berkeley. By 2020, one in three people will have to provide care for an elderly parent, he predicts…Yet even without a generous employer, you can craft creative solutions for a “trailing parent” problem. Consider the approaches pursued by three top executives. One is Catherine Wolfe, an American whose Dutch employer, Wolters Kluwer NV, transferred her and her 83-year-old mother to London. Gillette Co.’s Chief Executive James M. Kilts used a corporate apartment near its Boston headquarters to avoid uprooting his elderly mother-in-law. Safeco Corp. CEO Paula Rosput Reynolds moved her sick 93-year-old father to Seattle on a company plane soon after assuming command.” Read more from The Wall Street Journal 
Good Economic Times For International Schools
International schools are not feeling the affects of the economic down turn like other industries. Even schools that have seen expat families sent home early have been able to remain stable by pooling from their student waiting list. They are also having their pick of candidates who want to teach at their school where in the past this was not so. “International schools are becoming increasingly valued institutions in a globalized world, equipping students with the mobility to pursue university studies almost anywhere in the world. Recent research shows that, despite hefty tuition fees, many have not only survived but prospered through the global economic crisis… Schools developed contingency plans to cut optional extracurricular activities and froze expenditure across the board; but no major building or development programs were canceled, though some were delayed, Mr. Brummitt said…” Read more from NY Times
ExpatFinder.com is here for you during your relocation or while staying overseas:
Read more tips and advice for a safe and cost effective relocation and life abroad. Join the Expat Communities!
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Mumbai Nearly One Year Later
It’s been nearly a year since the attacks on Mumbai and the city has not wavered. When the terrorist attacks happened many expats sent their families home on an early Christmas holiday, while others where re-expatriated due to security concerns. Now companies are stronger than ever and the expats are back. Business travelers are also making an effort to stay in the hotels that were attacked. “But confidence has since slowly returned, Mr Dailly says. “Non-Indian businesses operating in Mumbai have not forgotten that there is a terrorism threat in India, but they recognise that it is entirely manageable, much as it is operating in Istanbul, Madrid or London, cities which have also been recent targets of terrorism,” he says…Others, such as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, have also made a point of staying in the hotel, and even business people who were wounded in the attacks say they would return to Mumbai. Harnish”
Read more from The National
Medicare To Reach US Citizen Beyond Her Borders
Medicare looks like it may be extended to US Citizens living abroad in Mexico. With Medicare flagged for cuts many in the US government see Mexico as a savings. For now US expats only have the option of paying out of pocket or for private insurance, while others opt to return to home to have procedures covered under Medicare. “A doctor’s office visit or house call (still a common practice in Mexico) costs only $25 to $40, according to a 2007 study by the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. The same study presented information on comparative costs for common procedures: a hip replacement costs between $43,000 and $63,000 in the U.S., compared to $12,000 in Mexico, according to Texas-based hospital chain Christus Muguerza, which also operates in Mexico; a coronary bypass in Mexico costs an average of $21,000 compared to $149,000 in the U.S. Citing statistics from the U.S. census and State Department, Crist estimates approximately 200,000 of the 1 million U.S. citizens living south of the border are Medicare-eligible.”
Read more from TIME
ExpatFinder.com is here for you during your relocation or while staying overseas:
Read more tips and advice for a safe and cost effective relocation and life abroad. Join the Expat Communities!
Ask us questions, Contact us today!
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