Re: whether to gamble
 

In the unlikely event of the UK leaving the EU there is nothing to stop the government reversing the EU decisions regarding payment of UK benefits to expats.
Such a decision would be popular among the wider populace and as expats do not vote would not affect the party in power.
If i needed income from benefits to finance the move I would not even consider it.

Re: whether to gamble
 

I am with you on that! France Spain and indeed the UK are full of economic uncertainty. Risk is relative to reward.

Re: whether to gamble
 

can and do, just the same as servicemen, using the postal vote, although IMO the majority don't bother because they feel their little contribution would not make any difference to an outcome.

although the expat vote is only available for 15 years after leaving the UK.

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Re: whether to gamble
 

I think you probably can decide now after the feedback... Namely dont sell in UK.. Look seriously at the medical sysyem .... Do the benefits transfer?, can you be sure that they will always be there?, Finding work is not easy etc...

Also 50k is a huge sum of money but not enough to retire on.... You need to ask HOW LONG you want it to last, and realise you are planning your nest egg to go to zero. You should do some serious financial and tax planning too BEFORE you come, and there may be ways to invest the 50k ......

Good Luck... Think HARD... Sorry but it looks risky to me personally, from what we've seen

Jon

Re: whether to gamble
 

Yes we have our house on the market currently, originally we were buying a Dutch barge but at the last minute my mother has decided she doesn't want to live on a boat ( which is 96ft x 15ft ) and beautifully restored so I am in the middle of processing all my options, there seems to be property's is Ireland also within our budget, I am so confused as how to keep the enitre family happy:( I promised my father before he passed away in 2012 that I would look after my mum and sister.

Re: whether to gamble
 

£50k is not so much, it might keep you going 2 or 3 years. Or it will pay for a deposit for a normalish property or a nice car

You need 10 times this amount to think about retiring and leading an average sort of life (depending on your age of course)

Re: whether to gamble
 

Is living on a barge a serious consideration for those suffering with RA?
My wife suffers an illness and one place for sure she´d suffer most would be living on the water. :confused:
As for everything else, I haven´t seen a response to your question that I don´t whole heartedly agree with.
I don´t like sounding negative but your gamble, should you choose to take it, is a big one.
You could easily find yourselves a few years down the line with nothing.

Re: whether to gamble
 

Are you really saying you need 500 k to move here? Bet many live comfortably with much, much less. If the OP has money coming from a house sale as well, then as long as they don't spend it all on a house , they will be ok for quite a while.
I think the OP's main worry should be her benefits, and whether they will continue to be paid, and even if they are, the Government is looking at ways to save money!

Re: whether to gamble
 

Well, what I understand is that they would only have 50K left after buying a house. 50K is nothing these days and obviously depends in what condition the house is. A few thousand could go to repair the roof, add taxes, water charges, petrol & food. Question would be how much the property will cost they're considering?

Re: whether to gamble
 

It depends on somebody's circumstances. If someone is aged 30-50, doesnt speak Spanish and has poor job prospects then yes they need hundreds of thousands and to admit that they may never work again

The OP is a pensioner living with a very old pensioner and a disabled elderly person

Spain in the last place they should be thinking of coming to, whether with benefits or not. She will be provided with no support here. They will treat her in the hospitals but no nursing support and thats not even thinking about the isolation that not being fluent in Spanish brings

I moved to Spain with a job. Either move with a job, a good pension or a stack load of cash. Otherwise take a long holiday instead

Re: whether to gamble
 

My reading of the post was that the cash available to live off (for any costs over and above monies/benefits received) was 50K in total. Not 50K plus some other amount. If its more than 50K then I misunderstood.

I can say from experience that retirement financial planning is VERY important. You have to know what your spend is accurately.... you have to increase that spend each year by inflation. Its a spreadsheet, that if it is just a lump sum you are drawing down then its easier, but you should also estimate the investment gain on the gradually decreasing sum. In the s.sheet you should add all sorts of things like income... cash reserves... sudden unexpected costs etc etc. To make it your unique tool.

I can say that even a small increase in inflation may have dramatic effects.

Also investment gains are low if you want to de-risk your lump sum, as interest rates are low. If you invest in the markets you take a risk that there is a crash, and you don't want to be wiped out when you are older. So the more risk you take for the investment - the more cover/reserves you need in the s.sheet... also people are ageing more, what if you live a long time? Most people in their late 50's will put their pension pot (wisely IMO) into low-risk investments

Lotsa stuff to consider - simple example below

Final point. I have on occasion been asked to help with these financial things. I am happy to give pointers, but I insist on not doing much of the work. Why? The potential retiree, better KNOW their numbers before making a decision... and if it takes hours of work to plan it... you betta do it!! That is super important to me....

Jon

Example:

You have 500K and NO OTHER income. You want to live 20 years. When your fund is zero! You estimate that you can get a return of 4% and inflation is 2%. You can take out 29,877K pa. Starting from day 1. This is just a simple example where you take out your 'salary' in a lump sum on day 1 for the year.

Inflation rises to 3% you can take out 27,361 pa. These numbers are what you HAVE to live to.. looking at the lump sum and 'taking a bit extra... is dangerous! (depending on what reserves you put in)

PS I wouldn't mind getting a 4% guaranteed return. If anyone knows of one with this or higher - pls let me know. Investment advisers love to tell you how much they can make you, but ask them what they will guarantee and its a different story!

PPS Beware, any investment is HUGELY affected by charges, just a small increase in charges can have a really dramatic effect on the final return.

Re: whether to gamble
 

We are retired & live in the Basque Country, since my wife is Basque.
Our 36yr old Down's syndrome son lives with us. His English is limited, but he loves it here. Everyone knows him & he feels important.
We get Disability living allowance for him which goes into our UK account. He also gets from the DWP Incapacity Benefit, which is paid into our bank here, in €uros. In order to get that though, we had to go through a long winded process of getting a % disability, which is non-existent in England. It took about 8 months of paper work here, but is worth it! If I remember, that benefit from England stops if you move from the country, but because we're still in Europe, he is eligible for the equivalent here.
He attends "work" every day at a centre & even gets a small wage of €60/month.
I hope that information helps you a little.