Today we are going back to one of the hottest topics of this channel - retirement overseas.
My original video: "Dream Retirement in Overseas Paradise" was a big hit
with so many questions and comments as well as emails sent to me directly,
When I asked the question if you would like to see more videos on this subject,
Toula said: YES YES YES!!!! Thanks, Katherine great video! This is exactly the topic we are most interested in!! - thank you Toula
Agnes said: Yes, need more information on this topic, please. Love your videos. Very informative.-Thank you so much Agnes
Peter said: Yes. This is my plan and I have been planning and investigating now for several years
It is a topic many avoid because there are many grey areas as with every situation "It Depends".
Oh my God Peter, so very true - it does depend.
James said it right to the point: Yes! Yes!
Christine, who is from New Zealand she said: "Hi Katherine I am excited to find your channel
and thank you for all useful information about retirement! YES to retirement overseas topic. - well thank you Christine
and many many more
So with that many comments, you can see why I just had to make follow-up videos. And there is so much to talk about.
What's more distressing is the fact that it is really not easy to get the information
and it is even more difficult to know how to organize your finance
to establish your life again in the overseas country and still leaving the door open in case you need to return to Australia.
My name is Katherine Isbrandt from About Retirement
I'm Certified Financial Planner and you are watching the amazing About Retirement TV
the only channel here on YouTube that will provide you with all current information
how to be well prepared for your retirement or how to improve your retirement if you already retired.
I found this amazing quote written by an American novelist, Pierce Brown:
“Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.”
I'm sure this quote resonates with you if you are a person searching for a new place you can call home.
Overseas retirement has been a big trend over the last few years in Australia and this trend is only growing.
People are searching for a new place to live outside of Australia, especially for the retirement years.
So in today's video, we will continue talking about retirement overseas, reasons for it and specifically issues you have to deal with
if you wish to receive or continue receiving your Age Pension payments.
But this is just the beginning, over time we will dive deep into this topic and maybe even go country after country
to help you make this transition of your life from Australia to another country
a little bit easier from legal and financial standpoint.
So first let's review the main reasons for such a big decision as living the country you spend your lifetime in,
and moving to a new unknown environment.
1. Returning to the place where you were born
You want to reunite with your family, old friends, places from your childhood.
2. Moving to the country where your children reside
The new generation has more chances and abilities to travel for fun, work, study,
business that their parents ever had in their lifetime.
Often during the travel, they might meet that someone special and not returns home to you ever again.
So at that point, it is quite understandable that you would like to be close to your kids family
therefore you make a decision to move to their country.
3. Move to a warmer country or a different culture
This is a very much lifestyle change, curiosity to experience life outside of your norm, this type of change is often more driven
by the need of excitement, fun, and adventure than economics.
4. Everyday living expenses
This is the most common reason for leaving Australia.
Australia now is the 12th most expensive country to live in, so it makes sense for many
to move to the country that is less expensive but still satisfactory with the living standards and healthcare.
5. Cost of home
Australian homes are some of the most expensive in the world
and there are many retirees with all their money stuck in the house and no savings to enjoy retirement
So the idea of selling home, pocketing the money, moving overseas, buying a cheaper home, or even renting at low cost
while enjoying your golden years might be very enticing indeed.
So now that you know the reason of your move most likely you have also decided on a country you would like to move into
or at least you have narrowed down your choice to a couple of countries only.
Your next step is to find out if the country of your choice has an international Social Security Agreement with Australia.
Let's be honest it would be so much easier for you if you were to move to the country that cooperates with Australia
And the choice is getting bigger with more and more countries signing such agreement with Australia right now.
Presently Australia has a Social Security agreement with 31 countries:
1. Asia: we have India, Japan, and Korea
2. Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, The Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom
3. THE AMERICAS - Canada, Chile, United States of America
4. NEW ZEALAND.
Under those social security agreements, you could be able to claim Centrelink payments,
but also if you're eligible you could claim payment from an agreement country
The agreement also includes provisions which regulate the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions
but this topic is outside of the scope of our today's discussion.
So it is very clear that your choice of the country is crucial
and living in any of those listed 31 countries would be easier from the point of Age Pension
or any other social security payment from either country.
Generally, those agreements allow you as an Australian resident to maximize your income by
helping you to claim payments from the other country where you might have spent part of your working life
Also, those agreements are based on the concept of shared responsibility and are reciprocal
which means that each of those countries with a social security agreement make a concession against their qualification rules
and that can allow you to access social security payments that otherwise you might fail to qualify for.
And now going back to our Australian Age Pension,
as you know this benefit is subject to many tests and rules you have to comply with.
Please watch my very first video about applying for the Age Pension benefit: Age Pension - Are you eligible? If not, why not?
in this video, I explained general rules of residency test and all other tests you have to meet
so it is worth understanding them before you rush off to Centrelink office
or before you jump online to make your application on myGov.
To succeed in your dealings with the Centrelink office, first you should follow those steps
1. Know precisely the outcome. You should know exactly the level of Age Pension payable
even before you apply to Centrelink - if you don't know how to do this,
educate yourself as much as possible, so watch that video that I've mentioned before: Age Pension - Are you eligible?
or get professional advice by calling me directly.
2. Improve the outcome. If you calculated that you gonna receive only a part Age Pension
get advice speak to financial planners, so feel free to contact me to see if your benefit can be maximized.
If it can believe me it is so much easier to have all your money, investments, income streams set up
and most importantly your social security benefits maximized before you make your application.
3. Make your application to Centrelink office 13 weeks before you reach your Age Pension age
Centrelink is an overwhelmed office (with good and bad meaning of the word),
it will give you 13 weeks of peace and quiet knowing that you have provided all correct data
you have optimized your own money, you have maximized your Age Pension entitlement, so now you can relax,
zip some margarita and wait for the money to come to your bank account on time- nicely done!
If you are planning to move to another country while hoping to be receiving the Age Pension benefit,
my recommendation is,
1. Apply for the benefit as I just explained, before you leave Australia
regardless how much preparation work you do for this application, Centrelink can still surprise you with
additional questions, requests for additional forms, or explanations of certain financial assets
or even your living arrangements.
This is why it is important to give it sufficient time before you jump on the plane to your dream destination
2. Have a designated person here in Australia to deal with Centrelink on your behalf.
You can nominate a member of your family if you trust them, if you don't have such person
or if you don't want to push your problems onto another person, then ask for a professional service
that can act as a nominee for you.
The easiest way is to use your financial planner who might be looking after your financial interest,
your superannuation, or your pension accounts here in Australia.
Having access to the information of all financial assets, makes working on your behalf so much easier
and communication with Centrelink so much more effective and efficient.
Not all financial planners provide such a service, most certainly my practice does
and today I have clients who have enjoyed their retirement lives overseas for many many years
while we look after their financial interest and Age Pension right here in Australia.
Centrelink International Services should really be the last point of your call, it is almost impossible to get through
and to have anything done remotely, well MyGov website helps, but often is just not enough.
Flying back to Australia from whatever country you live in every time when there is an issue with Centrelink
might not be the most cost effective and relaxing solution for your life
As I mentioned before living overseas especially wanting to have access to Age Pension,
is a very big topic and will require many many videos so slowly slowly I will be introducing issues
that you need to take into consideration when deciding if this is the path you want to follow
Today's video was more of the introduction, I would really appreciate if you could let me know
which countries you are considering and why?
And if you have any questions that I could follow or answer in my future videos.
If you enjoyed this video, please SUBSCRIBE not to miss the next one and give it THUMS UP.
It helps other people like you to find my videos and maybe this could be a helpful information for them as well.
And feel free to visit my website AboutRetirement.com.au
that is fully dedicated to the issue of retirement and while you are there, sign up to my newsletter
to be always updated with any changes that can impact your retirement.
And now check out those previously mentioned videos
the first one is my very famous retirement and living overseas
our very first discussion on this overseas living subject
Second video is for you to get familiar with Age Pension
What are the rules who is eligible and why your Age Pension
might have been reduced.
Well I will catch up with you in my next video. Bye for now