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Brexit
Original poster

Would you retire to Europe post Brexiting?

32 replies

lunicorn · 18/03/2019 12:41

Any time I mention holidays or retiring to Europe, dp replies, "we voted against that." He's only joking, but it's true, the country voted to impede freedom of movement.
So would you retire to Europe? Is it possible having not been on a very high income? Might there still be reciprocal health care arrangements? Is it too risky?

OP posts:
Original poster
lunicorn · 18/03/2019 12:42

Post brexit not 'ing'.

OP posts:
teyem · 18/03/2019 12:46

I'd like to say I chose remain after reading over the details of some complicated policy but honestly, this shit was at the front of my mind when I crossed that box.

I'd love to retire somewhere warm in Europe, Portugal maybe. I don't think it's going to be viable for your average Joe now.

bellinisurge · 18/03/2019 13:25

Why? Where would I get the money from?

HaveACupOfCoffee · 18/03/2019 13:32

No. But I wouldn’t even if remain had won. Unless it’s for work, I really don’t understand why people emigrate.

AnneOfCleanTables · 18/03/2019 13:37

I'm not sure how Brexit will impact but even as a member of the EU, healthcare provision for ex-pats in Europe isn't the same as the NHS. Our friends moved back to the UK when they became older/ill because they couldn't afford to access the same level of treatment in Europe. The only ones who stayed in Europe were wealthy.

Peridot1 · 18/03/2019 14:53

I would but I’m Irish so have an EU passport.

DS is doing A levels this year and once they are done there is nothing to keep us here imo. DH feels differently I think. We both voted remain but he would now vote leave. We can’t talk about it all without arguing.

I really don’t want to stay in the UK.

God only knows what will happen.

The80sweregreat · 18/03/2019 15:36

Peridot, why has your husband changed his mind on Brexit?
That's sad for you all if you want to emigrate in a few years time and he doesn't.

Going to live in Europe won't be as easy as before ( I guess?) but there must be a way. People did emigrate before we joined the EU. It will just be harder to do I suppose but I can't see it changing so much that nobody will ever go to live abroad. Just be more hassle.

I can understand why people want to live elsewhere ; i did live abroad briefly and I didn't enjoy it much but other people did and made their homes there and really integrated and would never come back.

tinytemper66 · 18/03/2019 15:38

I would if circumstances where different

The80sweregreat · 18/03/2019 15:45

I know a couple whose mum and dad came back from a Spain when one of them was diagnosed with a regressive disease. There wasn't any real provision of carers or help available for them so they felt they had to get back before things became worse.
It's not something they considered 20 /30 odd years previously when they moved over there.
The cost of health insurance in America can also put people off : unless your incredibly rich!

MullofKintire · 18/03/2019 15:48

I think the question you should be asking is COULD you retire to Europe post Brexit.

Freedom of movement ends with Brexit so will need a visa which will be dependent on a sufficient level of income, health insurance etc. Conditions will vary from country to country.

HollowTalk · 18/03/2019 15:50

There's been absolutely no information about the British people who are now living in the rest of Europe and what will happen to their healthcare. So many of them are retired - it must be a terrible worry for them.

KennDodd · 18/03/2019 15:52

I would have loved to but as I'm not rich I don't think its a realistic possibility now.

dragoning · 18/03/2019 15:54

Is it possible having not been on a very high income?

Almost certainly not any more. Unless the UK allows low income EU citizens to retire to the UK.

Might there still be reciprocal health care arrangements?

I'd be amazed if there were. Because we would then have to provide healthcare to EU citizens in the UK.

1tisILeClerc · 18/03/2019 16:03

{There's been absolutely no information about the British people who are now living in the rest of Europe and what will happen to their healthcare. So many of them are retired - it must be a terrible worry for them.}
Not quite true, most if not all EU countries have outlined what they intend to do but it depends on the country, and they have not put it into their legislation until the UK makes it's mind up.
The UK government messing around and being indecisive/playing pathetic games is very stressful for all.

MullofKintire · 18/03/2019 16:07

Reciprocal health care agreements are covered in detail in the May deal.
It is up to Parliament to decide whether that is implemented.

Spiderbanana · 18/03/2019 16:18

One of the issues may be that up until now, years paid into NI in any country can be counted towards the pension wherever you work last. I have 17 years in the UK but we are living in another EU country. After Brexit, I may not accumulate enough years to get a full pension.

As always it is the lack of clarity which is really stressful for us.

Also, without reciprocal healthcare, it could be prohibitively expensive to buy private health insurance in other EU countries, especially as you get older

Peridot1 · 18/03/2019 17:06

The8sweregreat (yes they were!) - he feels the EU are being too intransigent and he hates Junker and Barnier. I completely disagree. It’s safe to say I have seen a side to him I don’t like (and he would probably say the same about me!) and for that and other reasons it might mean we go our separate ways. Obviously there are lots of other reasons not just Brexit!

The80sweregreat · 18/03/2019 17:45

Peridot, that's sad to read.
All this has caused so much heartache and division.

Tensixtysix · 18/03/2019 17:50

The only good thing about Europe is the weather. It's turned into a dump in the last few years.

1tisILeClerc · 18/03/2019 18:19

Tensixtysix
With that attitude, please don't go to Europe again, then everyone will be happy.

cherin · 18/03/2019 18:34

My plan is STILL to go to europe (where I do belong, someone would say) when I retire. But until the referendum I was feeling confident that the years of pension contribution in different EU states I have would be somehow added up, and ideally, in the time it'd take me to actually reach retirement age, the various EU pension funds would learn to speak a more common language...now I don't think that's going to happen, and therefore i'll base my retirement on a different source of funding. So, I tend to agree to what's been mentioned already: retiring abroad will not be easy (if at all possible) to everybody, as it is now. BUT I also have to say: contrary to what has been mentioned in this thread, my first-hand experience of health systems in the EU is fundamentally better than the NHS.

Danetobe · 18/03/2019 19:33

Tensixtysix

We are in Denmark. It's most certainly not a dump, the weather is as shit as the UK though.

ConferencePear · 18/03/2019 19:34

Not unless I was bilingual.

Figmentofmyimagination · 18/03/2019 19:59

Why should it be any easier than, say, retiring to New Zealand, where you need £700,000 of investments and £30,000 per person of annual retirement income?

This is what people voted for - to cut off opportunities for others. Crazy stuff.