Retire Abroad: Which Countries Are Best for Retirement

Created: 01/10/2023 16:39

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

Sea view on Mallorca: many retirees dream of retiring under palm trees.

© Imago

It is becoming increasingly popular among seniors to spend their retirement abroad.

However, if you are a pensioner and want to emigrate or plan a long-term vacation, you should prepare well.

Munich – The sky is gray and the air is cold.

At the same time, heating and electricity costs are high – especially for pensioners.

And then suddenly an offer flutters into the house: travel agencies advertise long-term vacations in winter: is it worth leaving Germany behind and spending the rest of the winter – or maybe even a few years – under palm trees?

And if so, which country is best suited for this?

Retirement abroad is becoming increasingly popular with German pensioners

It is becoming increasingly popular among seniors to spend their retirement abroad.

After all, the number of pensions paid abroad has risen by around 37 percent over the past 20 years.

This emerges from a statistic of the German pension insurance, which is available to the German Press Agency.

If you want to spend your retirement – ​​or at least part of it – abroad, you have to consider a few things: Although the German pension insurance transfers the full pension for a temporary stay abroad, this can change for a permanent stay.

Because if the target country does not belong to the European Union and there is no social security agreement with Germany, there is a risk of pension cuts.

It is worth checking beforehand how high the cost of living will be and what the safety and health care situation is like in the destination country.

The neighbors Austria and Switzerland

Incidentally, Austria and Switzerland are the most popular destinations for German seniors who want to emigrate.

Apart from the common language, the advantages are obvious: the countries are in close proximity to Germany, offer beautiful landscapes and a high standard of living.

However, the cost of living is higher – especially in Switzerland.

Anyone who wants to spend their retirement with the Confederates must also have a lot of assets: single people must have assets of at least 100,000 francs (a little more than 100,000 euros) to live in Switzerland, married couples must have twice that, reports the

.

In return, the move has tax advantages for German pensioners: because of the double tax agreement, the pension is subject to the lower Swiss tax rate.

Off to the south: Portugal and Spain

The EU countries Portugal and Spain are also particularly popular.

They attract with good health care and a mild climate.

In addition, the cost of living in Portugal is lower than in Germany - and on top of that there are tax advantages for German pensioners: If you are moving to Portugal for the first time and are living there for more than six months, you can apply for a special status.

Then you pay a flat tax rate of ten percent on your pension from abroad for ten years, reports the

.

Other income from abroad, such as income from interest, is exempt from tax.

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Retirement under palm trees: retirees in Thailand

Some are also drawn further afield to the tropics: Thailand in particular is one of the well-known pensioner-friendly countries - with lots of sun and extremely low living costs.

Pension payments to Thailand are also usually not reduced.

However, the requirements for a pensioner visa have increased: a monthly income of around 1,900 euros is expected or proof of more than 22,000 euros in a Thai account.

But there are also tax advantages: Those who move to the tropical country do not have to pay taxes on income from abroad - as long as it is not transferred to Thailand in the same calendar year, reports the

.

This is then worthwhile for pensioners who can afford to be able to temporarily store their earnings in a German account long enough until they use it in Thailand.

The extremely high temperatures and the lack of social contacts and language barriers can be a disadvantage for seniors.

In addition, there is no social security for German pensioners if they run out of money.