After travelling the World, I would be interested in hearing where all of you roving Brits plan to retire and maybe why?

Definitely plan to return to England! All of our rellies live there, including our daughter but her younger brother very likely to remain in the US..he's spent most of his life overseas, living in Singapore and New Jersey.

Hopefully will continue to retain a residence overseas though (if we can afford to) in a warmer clime and be like the "snowbirds" from Canada and the colder parts of the northern US who spend the winters as near to the equator as possible lol!

Singapore is too expensive, but we may consider the retirement scheme for nearby Malaysia or Thailand and split our time in UK and further ashore.

(I hate the cold, spouse loves winter skiing.....what to do?)

I guess when we are really old/ill health and unfit to travel far we will choose to stay in the UK near family, friends and the good old NHS... (I can't fault the NHS after spending a few years being resident in the USA)

Wales

Bavaria.

Ditto but replacing Malaysia or Thailand for North America.

At this moment in time.....Pevensey Bay (East Sussex). I had a great childhood there, it hasn't changed (no new buildings) since the early 70's. Beach one side, open fields the other..... and some lovely pubs....just bloody fantastic!

I'm going to spend winter at my home in Gambia and summer in the UK. Cake, eat it!

I divide my time between Arizona and Nova Scotia. The best of both worlds. I've been doing it for seven years now.

I think dividing your time is a good idea. The trouble is, I have never fancied maintaining two properties, especially in Canada as they can be maintenance intensive and there is the security issue. Or do you just rent?

Yes, there is so much negativity about the UK on some of the forums but the countryside takes some beating.

Costa Rica or Colombia...........

I own a house here in Arizona and one in Nova Scotia. I haven't had any problems with security in either place. I have a house sitter in the winter in N.S. who looks after the place for me. When I built the house eight years ago I purposely designed it to be minimum maintenance so that isn't a real issue either. The house here is actually a condominium and there is security 24/7 so no problem there.
The biggest pain is having to fill out US income tax every year.
Apart from that everything works well for me. I can do the things I want to do all year round. This evening, weather permitting, I'm going hot air ballooning.
Enjoy life !!!!!

UK definitely, home to rest etc However WHERE in the UK is the main question.

I would like to retire to my home town (Birmingham) but not having lived there since '79 and not having family there any more (apart from a 70+ year old Uncle) the idea and the reality of the possibility really messes with my head

Sounds ideal Simon. How do you get on with the "friends and family" bit though. Have you managed to build up a group in each location? I guess it's nice catching up with each set after 6 months away?

Or Panama, sandwiched between both. The good thing about some of the Latin American countries is that you are not taxed on any income generated outside the country. I know this certainly applies to Panama and Mexico.

Here is a useful real estate link that allows comparison of properties in different countries:

http://homes.point2.com/Listing/?Tab=IN