I’ve been looking at countries with cheaper living costs than our own and that are fairly easy to emigrate to. The problem is that the ones that are easiest to move to are the poorest…depositing a few hundred thousand in one of their banks would be crazy, would it not?

I’m just thinking out loud here and if I was going to do it, it would be in a couple of years. If anyone has any experience of doing the above, where did you choose to go? A big factor for me is that the biking would have to be good, I’m not looking for some seaside paradise. 🙂

Yes

Funnily enough, there are some countries that will insure what you have in the bank well into millions…that makes me more worried about our banks over here! The problem is that those countries are islands smaller than our own, something I’m not looking for.

I only moved to France for work reasons, the cost of living is ridiculous. However, very few countries have as good banking systems as the UK with free accounts and good special offers, most make you pay for a basic current account. UK bank accounts you can leave open when you leave, but you can’t open from abroad.

My advice: get a good credit card you can spend on abroad before you leave: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Put spending money in a current account set up to pay the credit card off in full at the end of each month. If you’re moving to a country with HSBC, get their account in both countries because transfers online are free now. That will pay for direct debits etc in the new country and anything you can only pay in cash.

Then get 2 santander 1-2-3 accounts for 3% interest on your first 40 grand (they are 20 grand maximum each but you can get 2).

Put any spare in the highest interest account you can find, and after you’ve left inform the bank that you no longer pay UK tax so they don’t have to automatically deduct it any more. Don’t put any more than 85 grand in any one bank as that’s how much is protected if they go bump.

As an added bonus, if you regularly spend on a credit card and pay off in full you should have a pretty good credit score if and when you move back to the UK.

Depends on the country – rural Spain would be a lot cheaper than the UK, but its banks are fairly safe. No idea if that’s true for Greece, for example, and I’d be very wary of putting money in an Argentine or Venezuelan bank.

Jimoiseau, thanks very much for that.

Mogrim, it would be likely to be a South American country I’d be looking at. 😆

Mogrim, it would be likely to be a South American country I’d be looking at.

I’d definitely be looking at leaving your money in the UK, or at least most of it then!

Although as I said it depends a lot on the country: Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina – not so good; Chile, Mexico* – fine. I’d be very wary of inflation, too, you’d almost certainly want to use a dollar account rather than risk the local currency.

* OK, it’s central not south American.

I live part of the year in Vienna but invested in property rather than put the money in a bank. It really isn’t expensive as long as you stay away from the tourist hotspots.
There’s lots of riding in the Vienna woods. If you head west the Alps get bigger here in Austria and houses in need of renovation are really not so expensive. The only problem you might find is English is not so common in the countryside.

Don’t leave a large investment amount in a bank. Rates are lower than inflation. Definitely don’t put it all in a bank in a dodgy coutry. It should be invested in a portfolio of assets or actually left in property which is rented out and you live on the income.

Lots and lots of people do this. You do have to consider the currency implications of having your income / savings in one currency whilst living somewhere else as per posts above / suggestions from @mogrim. Also the state pension is not indexed linked if you draw it whilst abroad so take that into account.

I only moved to France for work reasons, the cost of living is ridiculous.

Ridiculously cheap or expensive? Apart from la taxe d’habitation, la taxe foncière and CSG/RDS living costs seem similar.

Don’t leave a large investment amount in a bank. Rates are lower than inflation

It’s a question of risk/reward and low risk is a good idea for some if not most of your cash.

I’ve got some money in a German bank, Alliance, the return is lousy but the risk objectively lower than local banks.

Don’t know if it will be of interest but I found out that my Santander account not only works across all of Europe without prior notification of where you are going but is free to use in Europe too.

Could you not look into the banking system of where you are going and see what is the maximum amount covered by the bank (off the top of my head I think it is some thing like 35K per bank over here)and spread your money across a few different banks for greater security?

Cheers for the replies. I hadn’t thought this out as well as I thought.

I think the thing for me to do would be to leave any money in the UK. Then travel about, staying in various countries for as long as I could on a tourist visa. I should have stated that I wouldn’t be looking for work, at least not full time.

After finding somewhere to set down roots, I could then transfer money to invest. Luckily for me, I’ll no doubt end up with more UK property too, handed over to me from my dad.

Also the state pension is not indexed linked if you draw it whilst abroad so take that into account.

In a few countries it is.

the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, a country which has a social security agreement with the UK, and the agreement allows for the annual increase of the UK State Pension

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/state-pension-for-people-living-overseas

Was looking at Slovenia the other day, near the Julian Alps, cheapish near great mountain biking….

I’m not bothered about pensions, at least not yet, as I’m only in my 30’s.

thos, Slovenia is somewhere I’ve fancied going on a biking holiday. Like the UK, you don’t need to travel far to find different terrain/surroundings.

Wherever I choose, I doubt it will be in or close to Europe. I’m looking for somewhere where living costs are massively cheaper, not just a few hundred quid a month less.