Living Abroad

For those of you who read my first article, you will know that my husband Jeff and I left England and moved to Bulgaria 11 years ago. In this article, I will discuss and compare life in an English village to life in a Bulgarian village, with particular reference to those of us in our 60s and over…

We were both in our late 50s, living in an idyllic village in the south of England when a sequence of unexpected events led us to reassess our lives as a busy professional couple. I was a social worker, and my husband, Jeff, ran his own business in the building industry. What did we really want…

There’s a moment on many overseas property viewings when the decision almost makes itself. The agent slides back the balcony doors, and there it is: blue sea, palm trees, perhaps a pool below, a view that bears no resemblance to the one from your kitchen window at home. You can already imagine the morning coffee…

When people start thinking seriously about retiring abroad, the questions tend to come in a fairly predictable order. How much does it cost to live there? Can I get a retirement visa? What is the healthcare like? Can foreigners buy property? How much tax will I pay? They are all perfectly sensible questions. In fact, you would be unwise not to ask them…

There is a strange thing about retirement decisions: we often make some of the biggest ones when we have the least experience with the life we are choosing. You may have spent 30 or 40 years working, raising a family, paying a mortgage, building routines, and organizing your life around a calendar that was largely decided for you. Then retirement arrives and suddenly you have choices…

In my last article for Sixty and Me, I admitted that I rather enjoy reading hotel reviews. Yes, I know, I need to get out more. Well, I also find myself reading the questions people ask on forums about retiring overseas, and perhaps even more interestingly, the answers they receive. There is no shortage of enthusiasm…

I know it’s a bit odd, but I actually enjoy reading hotel reviews. Whenever I book somewhere for a holiday, I do the usual research beforehand. But even after the hotel is booked, I often find myself going back to read the latest reviews before I travel. Partly it’s anticipation, but mostly it’s curiosity…

You’ve done the research. You know the visa requirements by heart. You have compared property prices across three countries, watched more YouTube videos than you can count, and perhaps even saved a listing or two for a home that made you catch your breath…

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) estimates that a “comfortable” retirement in the United Kingdom now costs £45,400 (US$60,000) a year for a single person and £62,700 (US$83,000) for a couple. For many people approaching retirement, those figures are sobering…

When people imagine retiring abroad, they often picture a couple setting off together to start a new chapter. But many women considering a move overseas are not in that position. Some are widowed. Some are divorced. Some have partners who have no interest in moving. Others simply find themselves wondering whether they are too old to make such a significant change on their own…