JMOT

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

Rotor

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

cricketman

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!

JMOT

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

Rotor

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

HBG

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.

Rotor

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

jimenato

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 () 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.

HBG

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.

jackytoo

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

elspeth sinclair

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.

HBG

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.

whitelinen

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

Dick Dasterdly

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.

HBG

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.