The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

The most popular retirement location for Brits.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance...e-the-country/

I must say I'm not surprised.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Thats very sad

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Not really.
Looking at the listings of which countries most prefer to leave or stay as the case may be,I would say that climate is probably the major factor.
In any event quite a lot of Brits eventually prefer to return to their roots for the last few years.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Yes, really.
The fact that we are up at the top of people who want to desert their country in retirement ... Its sad

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

They come out with these surveys every few weeks don't they. Many say they want to leave but few do anything about it. One thing that puzzles me is all the super rich who could pack up and leave tomorrow but they don't:confused: Even lottery winners seem to stay in the UK! Is it because they know they can they no longer want to?

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Don't think you get my point.
I'm surprised that even more ppl. living in a country with a climate like the UKs don't have thoughts of some years in the sun.
How many actually decide to do it when given the opportunity?
How many having done it prefer life back in the UK either sooner or later?
In addition to the climate, add the typical British discontentment for little good reason, plus wanderlust and its no great surprise.

If the ones who said they fancied it in years gone by had all done it and stuck with it, the UK would probably by now only be populated with immigrants who think it is paradise or the streets are paved with gold and are willing to risk life and limb and all they have to get there,rather than settle for mainland Europe.
Can't be such a terrible place after all.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

The saddest thing I found from those statistics is that so many Brits want to leave their country on retirement and come to Spain, while Spanish people want to stay at home. The weather may account for some of it, economics as well, but overall there must be deeper, underlying reasons.

I've been away from the UK too long to comment sensibly, but on my visits home I've been surprised by the increasing numbers of foreigners in the streets (which is what I am in Spain), so I don't mean it offensively, but it is noticeable.

I seem to be talking myself into trouble here without meaning to, but on my last visit to a familiar part of London, I walked a mile-long, busy street, and didn't see another white man. There, I've said it, that's how it was, and I'm not a racist.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

London and a few other big cities are far removed from typical Britain.
However once you get around a bit and away from the big cities most of it still is typical Britain.
I am back at my home village and I love it more than ever ,after many years away, but I'm only here for the Summer then back to my patch in Spain which I love just as much.
No I am not racist either. We have just a sprinkling of immigrants here.
They are all well liked, fit in well, and contribute their little bit to the local community in many different ways to make it an even richer place to live.

I spent best part of ten years in the Canaries and knew lots of very contented retired elderly ppl.there and knew them quite well.
Mostly they had retired there for good and very rarely if ever, did they express thoughts about going back to the UK, as they appeared so happy with the lifestyle,climate and all.
Yet it was amazing how so many of them did eventually return,not through necessity, but just simply to be back to their roots in good old blighty.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I think the lifestyle here is amazing after retirement. You can be as busy as you want or just chill all day long doing nothing except relaxing.

I think the UK has lost the plot in almost all directions and I would find it difficult to make the adjustment of going back there the way things are now.

Mind you, who knows what lies ahead??? Tomorrow is an unknown area!!:fingerscrossed:

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I would probably be happy enough living anywhere - but not Britain...

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Thats because you can have a very good quality of life even in the UK if you have deep pockets ,I reckond 10 years ago you needed to be on at least
100k pa in the UK for a pleasant lifestyle.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

You can still live a very very pleasant lifestyle on 100k a year in the UK and still have plenty of money left every month... Sheesh!

of course if you define a pleasant lifestyle in the UK as living in a 5star hotel and dining out every single night in top restaurants then no.... you need more money ;)

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Whether in Spain or the UK, it is, as always, all about location.
Plenty of places outside of the most heavily populated regions where you can have an excellent relatively trouble free lifestyle in the UK, just as in Spain.
Once you have aquired the right property in the right spot, I don't think you need lorry loads of money for a contented lifestyle,...unless of course you're a shopaholic,..but are such people ever satisfied? ;)

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

It's all about money. I was on that kind of money in the UK for years and wasn't happy. Now I live on a tenth of that in Spain and I am happy.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Nice post,refreshing to hear.
Reminds me of Chris Stewart who wrote "driving over lemons".
Today's world is just to materialistic for me.
How many of todays luxuries do you really need for a contented lifestyle,...apart from your broadband connection of course.;)

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Do you mean the UK is focussed on the rat race and out earning the jones's rather than actually living and enjoying life?

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

After tax etc its only around 60k , 4 bed detached with mortgage, new 4x4, outdoor sports boating / flying etc ,private school fee`s , it soon goes:eek:

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

As the saying goes, someone who is rich, is someone who earns more than you :)

100k a year is 5k a month after tax which some people can live very well on. Although I know people earning that who struggle and have zero savings. Poor money management!

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

depends if you take 100k as a divident or via PAYE.... makes a big difference!

We've all been guilty of living beyond our means at certain times i'd think its fair to say... but its those who have been truely skint before and dont want to be skint again that dont go maxing out the mortgage with almost no equity and leasing Range Rovers and Porsches.... leave that to the idiots :D

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Dividends can only be drawn by share holders/directors and only if the company is making profit ,Ive never maxed out on anything ,quiet the opposite but I still stand by needing a big salary to enjoy life in the UK, I could never be happy on some council estate on 15 k pa:eek:

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I have recently had the opportunity to observe a couple that are close to me. On the surface, they have it all – big house in a great location in the UK, well-paid jobs, kid at private school, three or four decent holidays a year, and those credit cards you can only dream of, even the cash machines stand to attention when one of those is inserted.

Behind closed doors? Well, that's another matter.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Probabley living beyond their means? there are even more low income families who do that ....thats why they are low income families , not smart enough to look after what they do make and have every thing on finance.

As for credit cards I would never recommend them except for travelling as they are essential for car hire and save carry wads of cash around,financing your lifestyle with them if for fools as the day of reckoning always comes:eek:

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Yes I think so. I worked for a computer software company and worked away from home a lot. Sometimes I would leave at 5 am Monday and not get home until 10 on Friday. Sometimes I would leave on Sunday to fly somewhere. I quite enjoyed the work most of the time but it's all I seemed to do. I had to earn money to pay for nice house, yacht etc. but never had time to enjoy them. Here it's different. The pace is slower and I just don't care about the nice house car etc. They just don't seem to matter so much. Provided you have somewhere to live, food, drink (:o) and a couple of dogs, and, very important, you live within your means, you don't need all the trappings of wealth here. I was 43 when I basically turned my back on life in Britain. Best thing I ever did. Mind you I don't knock Britain too much - it has its good points.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I don't knock the UK either, especially in July and August when it's hot and busy where I live in Spain. During those two months I occasionally check UK house prices and make sure that my dogs papers are up to date. By mid-September the feeling usually wears off.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I gave up all the trappings to retire to Spain, luxury yacht, house with acres of land, designer clothes. Switch watch instead of a Rolex jajajaja:rofl:

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Your'e either very rich or plain daft. I had a wonderful lifestyle in London as a civil servant for 10 years and an amazing lifestyle in Orkney for 15 as a crofter's wife and homehelp and the last 8 years as a managing director but I never in my life earned more than 10,000 pounds a year. When I moved to Spain in 1992 we lived off the rent of three houses we owned and 30 acres of land and no mortgages. When we arrived we got 167 pesetas to the pound and did a bit of B&B and of course when we got 250 pesetas we thought we had won the lottery.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I remember 270 Pesetas to the pound, when a coffee and brandy cost 100 Pesetas. You could live like a lord on a fiver a day.

Those days could come back if Mervyn King was banned from ever opening his mouth again. I can't remember who was in charge of the UK during those happy times, it could have been Maggie.

Well, her 'son' is in the saddle now, but he's carrying to much weight, with Clegg and Cable. And I'm a Liberal, a selfish one I suppose.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Those on the Spain board should be rejoicing that their country is no 1 on the list.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Two Hypothetical questions,

1, If Spain, as it is today, was located on the same latitude as the UK with identical weather, would it still be top of the retirement list,....or even on the list at all, for either Spanish or British ?

2, If the area we know today as Spain, was instead a British Commonwealth country with identical British lifestyle and pros and cons, would it be any less popular than it is now,....that's of course presuming they'd allow our scruffy lot to holiday or live there ?

My own answers or opinions for what they're worth.

1, Spain would still attract some visitors,but would virtually drop off the map of preferred retirement destinations for the Brits and for quite a few Spanish also.

2, It would be at least as popular as it is now, however with a wide choice of British style, Trashy Resorts, Big Cities and Beautiful,Peaceful Rural Retreats.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Spain's attraction is much deeper than that. Throughout history it was a rival to Britain in our effort to colonise the world. We got North America, India, Pakistan and large parts of Africa; Spain got Mexico, South America and smaller parts of Africa.

When history corrected itself from all that nonsense and retreated to natural boundaries, and we got the EU allowing Brits a choice for retirement abroad, they picked Spain as the number one destination, not really a logical one considering the choices of Canada, Australia etc.

I don't know why we picked Spain, apart from the proximity, when a few hours extra flying time
would take us to English speaking countries with identical climates.

Could it be that our colonising instincts haven't yet left us and we're trying it again in Spain via the back door? We've already got English politicians elected in parts of Spain at a high level and there's a million of us over here, increasing daily.

Apart from that, where's the sense of adventure if retiring to Australia, as an example? It's just a carbon copy of the UK and you might as well stay at home.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I agree that Spain is steeped in history ,much as is the UK, and there is much to see and absorb,in the varied countryside and culture also.
However I doubt if that would in itself make it such a major attraction for permanent retirement, without it's advantageous climate.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I think the biggest attraction for expats are that cigs and booze are cheaper in Spain. That and the sun

Very sad, but I think that is about it for many

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I think you'll find that most British pensioners don't smoke, drink moderately and take precautions with the sun. I come into contact with a lot of them here in Spain and have for years. I've never really been able to answer the obvious question, why Spain?

Most of them have done their homework before making such a big move and know that they will be faced with a foreign language and enough bureaucracy to make your head spin. The cheapness has long gone.

I've come to the conclusion that they want a challenge, an adventure upon their retirement. It takes quite an amount of courage to move to a foreign country late in life, Canada and Australia would have been a lot easier, and Cyprus and Gibraltar are just as near.

I admire the ones that take up the challenge in the same way as I admire the ones that sail away for years or buy a camper to see as much of the world as they can. It must beat staying where you are in the UK and only dreaming of an occasional holiday in a place the more adventurous have made their home.

The ones that live here are Brits with bottle.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I agree. If you consider life to be an adventure, why stay in the UK doing what you've done before? OK, Tibet might work, but Spain is an ideal compromise.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Don't agree.
I think they still see Spain as the easiest,simplest and safest option.
They probably prefer to be within reach of their homeland, in a country many of them may already be familiar with, than in a far distant less familiar place with long and expensive flights.
Most likely many of them still have friends and relations in the UK they want to keep in touch with, and flights are cheaper and more plentiful than to most other alternatives.
Cypress,(colder Winters) and Gib (tiny), are much more limited in what they have to offer compared to the vast expanse and numerous options in mainland Spain.
They also realize that their is no shortage of like-minded friendly fellow Brits in Spain to either help them out or keep them company

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

The only Brits I know who smoke and drink to excess are or sadly were pensioners. We've lost count of the number who died in the years we lived in Oliva plus those who have died in the last seven years or are terminally ill. They didn't need protection in the sun as they never saw it. A few had lost their partners and none of them were poor. This is the sad truth about many British pensioners and most of them didn't speak a word of Spanish. Many had loving families in the UK who couldn't persuade them to change their lifestyle. I don't think those people had a Spanish dream as they had always worked in the Arab Emirates with big salaries and servants or other exotic countries and missed their lifestyles. In Spain their pound for many years went a long way.

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but ..... pensioners get old and die in the UK or Spain.

I think you are over generalising ..... living near Oliva I know few people like you describe, and certainly none that have worked in the UAE with servants :lol:

I think you do pensioners a disservice I'm afraid,

Oh, and theres no sad truth about some not being able to speak a word of Spanish. When you reach 65 I'm guessing its not so easy to learn a new language .... many try but cant pick it up ... it's a sham, but thats life!

Re: The most popular retirement location for Brits
 

I only spoke of those I knew personally and they are now dead. I lived in Oliva from 1992-2003 and am also a pensioner and have pensioner friends in Oliva who speak very good Spanish enjoy a drink and live full lives.