Ever thought of moving lock stock and barrel to southern Spain?
As I write this the year is 2018, it is January, we have just had storm Eleanor (following closely on the heels of her predecessors Aileen, Brian, Caroline and Dylan, not to mention Hurricane Ophelia). Tomorrow the high here will be a (relatively balmy) 10 C but it will rain, probably quite hard, and it will STILL be windy!
In Estepona on the Spanish coast close to Gibraltar, on the other hand, it will be 23 C (that’s 73°F in old money) and sunny, with winds out of the south west at 5mph.
Hmm, tempting, isn’t it?
In the past, if you had the funds in place, the decision was not such a hard one. Prices in Spain were much cheaper than in the UK, medical issues would be covered under a reciprocal arrangement similar to the National Health – free at the point of access – your UK state pension would still be paid, and protected against inflation, and you would have full access to all of the social benefits available to Spaniards.
Then along came Brexit…
Firstly, the pound sank from around Euros 1.30 to today’s 1.12, increasing the cost of buying a home in Spain by roughly 15%. Thus a typical 2 bedroom apartment might have been £200,000, but would now cost an extra £30,000.
At the same time exchange rate volatility has increased. If the pound WERE to regain ground, any possibility of reversing your decision and returning to Blighty would become increasingly out of reach.
GOING INTO REVERSE…
Of course, the reverse would be true if the pound were to take a further nosedive…would you care to predict which way it will go?
Along with these uncertainties, no-one really knows how the Brexit negotiations will work out. So far it seems to have been a one-way street – Britain tells the EU what it wants, the EU says “no” (or Nein, Non, Nej, Nee, depending on who is talking) — “Try again”!
Britain waters down its demands, the EU says No! (etcetera); try again, and so on.
There is, in theory, some level of commitment (perhaps “committment” is too strong a word) that the rights of UK citizens living in the EU will be respected, but what about people moving in the future?
And suppose there is no deal and we end up with a hard Brexit? Does that mean that all expats will lose their rights to healthcare and other benefits? And, since the British are the biggest overseas buyers of property in Spain, what would that do to the value of your lovely new home?
Clearly you need to understand your retirement financial planning requirements and doing this without a financial planning tool is problematic unless you are an Excel whizz, but even if you are things get so complex with so many different options for financial management it can easily get out of hand. I know, I did this before coming up with the RetireEasy programs.
INFORM YOUR DECISION MAKING!
So how do you plan your retirement finances with so much uncertainty? For those who have signed up, you already know the answers, but even then, you may want to check out our LifePlan Premium a retirement calculator that allows you to model, save and compare the various scenarios you need to consider if you are planning a move to Spain, France (or anywhere else in the EU).
And if you are an existing user of RetireEasy’s Basic or Classic LifePlans simply go to your dashboard and click on ˜Upgrade My Account”.
If you’re not familiar with RetireEasy, we provide simple-to-use yet comprehensive financial planning tools that really do enable you to anticipate the future and make sure that your funds will last as long as you need. Click here to see what it is all about.
Armed with that information, you might still follow your heart rather than your head… but at least – either way – you know you’ve made an informed decision.
