We’ve beaten this claim to death already: As many US retirees look to move abroad, these are the best countries for them | CNN
The creative writing is based on no actual data, just anecdotal comments:
While official numbers aren’t available, companies and organizations that specialize in assisting people move abroad have seen a massive post-election uptick in traffic and enquiries over the last few months — anecdotal evidence, some say,
Anecdotal evidence is reliable, says one reporter... never mind that the “sources” of the claims make their living from encouraging people to move abroad!
As previously noted on this blog:
- An estimated 0.7% to 1.3% of Americans retire abroad. That is very close to zero percent.
- About half of those who retire abroad already had dual citizenship or a right of descent ancestry privilege or are Americans who already lived abroad prior to retirement and chose to retire where they own their home and have established their life.
- Americans who move abroad lose access to Medicare yet if they ever move back to the U.S., they either need to continue paying Part B premiums, or pay a rising penalty for each year they do not pay those premiums.
- Taxes can get complicated. The U.S. is one of only two countries in the world that tax your income, regardless of where you live. Some countries are part of a tax treaty that avoids some duplicate income taxes, but you still may need to pay capital gains taxes to more than country. Then there is also the issue of future estate/inheritance taxes – and which country – or both – might draw from the estate.
- Under the ACA, Americans living outside the US were required to have ACA compliant health insurance in the U.S. for the full year – if they visited the U.S. more than 35 days per year. The ACA mandate for everyone to purchase high priced ACA policies was rescinded several years ago.
Very few Americans retire abroad.
The above linked article, unlike most, accurately notes there are restrictions on moving abroad, it may not be possible to obtain a visa as a retiree, there may be language skill requirements, and there are real concerns about health insurance and Medicare. The article does not, however, address whether the required level of medical care is available, conveniently, at proposed international destinations. Even if the country has a good health care system, that does not mean access is nearby – or that they have air transport to get you rapidly to specialty care in the case of an emergency.
Retirees looking to relocate to other countries should take all of these issues into consideration. Places that look good in photos and in text descriptions might lack the level of services you may need as you get older. We have no way of knowing what the future – tomorrow even – may bring.