It’s entirely natural to ask yourself some difficult questions as you start the retirement planning process. After all, you’ve worked all your life for this moment, only to find that the endless decisions ahead of you are actually pretty daunting. Now you need to work out what you’ll actually do with your time and, importantly, where you’d like to set up base while you do it.
For many Canadian retirees, sticking close to home seems like the best bet. After all, relocation is a major undertaking, and provinces including Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are all incredibly well-suited to an affordable, enjoyable retirement. Sometimes, though, those golden years are accompanied by itchy feet and a need to see the world that’s rivalled only by your teen years. There’s just one problem – you’re not exactly a keen young traveller passing through anymore. As such, your overseas excursions might need to be for a slightly longer term.
With this in mind, many Canadians choose to retire overseas. You might see the undeniable appeal of doing the same, but perhaps you have some doubts. This is a common problem, and it often stems from some false belief systems that could be holding you back. In this article, we’ll bust some of those myths and consider whether overseas retirement might be right for you, after all.
Myth 1 – I’ll Harm My Chances for Healthcare
Healthcare concerns are a big worry when it comes to overseas retirement, and that makes complete sense. After all, here in Canada, you can benefit from publicly-funded treatments and world-renowned emergency care. But it’s also true that, when you crack the surface of Canadian healthcare, it isn’t all roses. Long wait times and limited staff numbers are becoming a particular problem, and actually, you might end up in a location with even better health options than back home.
This is especially true if you head to medical hotspots like Denmark, where areas like Copenhagen are particularly well-renowned for their cutting-edge research, and generally healthy ways of life. That’s why you’ll see people on bikes, and countless walkers from the moment you find bag storage Copenhagen city center and go exploring. And, guess what? Denmark isn’t your only health retirement option. Asian countries, including Japan and Taiwan, are also famous in the healthcare stakes, and could see you enjoying extensive medical networks and innovations that you simply won’t gain access to on home soil.
Myth 2 – You Might Not Be Safe
If you’ve spent your life in Canada, then other countries can feel undeniably daunting. This is especially true if you live in famously safe Canadian provinces like Nova Scotia, but here’s a surprising truth – overseas doesn’t necessarily mean risky.
Admittedly, you might want to avoid countries with the highest crime rates, like South Africa and Mexico, but there are plenty of countries that are actually rated safer than Canada. For instance, the latest World Population Review has ranked countries including Switzerland, Denmark, and Singapore as some of the safest destinations in the world.
It’s also worth remembering that you’ll typically want to consider safety in the individual neighborhoods you’re considering abroad, rather than across countries in general. After all, here in Canada, our broad safety rating ranks us at around number 14, but some neighborhoods feel a whole lot safer than that. So visit the countries you’re considering moving to in advance if you can. Pay attention to the culture and your surroundings, and judge whether or not this is an area you’ll feel protected in.
3 – You’ll No Longer be a Canadian Citizen
If you’ve never lived abroad before, then you might be worried that making this switch means compromising on your Canadian citizenship, but we’re pleased to say that simply isn’t the case. That’s because there’s a major difference between citizenship and residency. Being a resident in another country makes you a Canadian expat, but you’ll still very much retain Canadian citizenship and will be free to return as and when you wish, or visit with ease.
Unfortunately, there are downsides involved here. Largely, you’ll want to bear in mind that changing your residency will compromise benefits like your ability to receive provincial healthcare in Canada or have access to the Guaranteed Income Supplement program unless you switch residency back.
All of that said, you should still be able to claim your CPP or OAS pension from your new home country in the vast majority of cases. You simply need to have either worked in Canada and paid into a pension, or have been a working Canadian citizen for 20-40 years.
4 – You’ll Need to Learn a Foreign Language
It’s great to take up new hobbies and learn new skills as you enter retirement, but the idea of learning an entirely new language can be daunting in your golden years. For some retirees, even the best efforts don’t reap many lasting results.
Luckily, there is an easy way around this requirement, and that rests in simply choosing relocation in an English-speaking country. Lucky for you, there are plenty of them. In fact, the English language is spoken in an astonishing 88 countries globally. Whether you relocate to America, the UK, or even somewhere more exotic like India, you should get by just fine using English.
Again, the key here is to simply visit in advance, especially if you’re heading somewhere where English isn’t the national language, but is still widely used. This will give you an idea of whether you’re comfortable communicating or whether you think you would be able to learn enough of the native language to get by if you did meet people who didn’t speak English along the way.
Conclusion
Is retiring outside of Canada right for everyone? Absolutely not, and nor does it need to be, with Canada offering some great retirement hotspots of its own. But if you’re keen to explore the world and immerse yourself in a new culture as you live out your golden years, then don’t let these myths hold you back.