Quandary - UK and Spain or just Spain

[RetirementQuandary]

NC for this and looking for some WWYD views..............

DH is 64 in February 2020 and retiring at end of 2020. I’m 55 and planning to retire at 58 (in mid-2022).

We have a house in Spain (bought cash last year) and no outstanding mortgage on our current home in the UK. DH’s pension is £33k pa - I was self-employed until 2015 so, even with AVCs, my annual pension will be pretty small so I’ll probably opt to take a lump sum to the income tax limit and then have about £5k pa....... I’d get c£25k pa from DH’s pension if anything were to happen to him. He gets nothing from mine but, as it’s going to be small, it doesn’t make a lot of difference.

We have around £100k saved and our home in the UK is worth c£300k. We also have a small rental property with about £50k equity - we’ve only ever had one (fantastic) tenant in it and she has said she may be interested in buying it, so that’d give us another £50k. We’re currently adding £2k pm to our savings from earnings. Neither of us will inherit anything.

We have a DS/DDIL and 3 young DGCs who live about 10 miles from us in the UK. The Spanish house is near Málaga, so lots of flights options for visits.

We’ve been going a lot of thinking in recent months as DH’s retirement is only just over a year away. And we have a quandary..........

Should we move to Spain full-time after I retire? This would give us more cash but we’d see the family a lot less frequently. Or should we downsize to a small flat for around £140k and live equally between here and Spain. This would give us a lot less cash and we’d have to keep two homes going, but we’d see the family a lot more often.

The house in Spain isn’t in a tourist area, so letting it out when we’re not there probably isn’t an option, plus we’d want to avoid the hassle in any case.

Obviously we need to make our own minds up, but I’d just be interested in hearing what others thought.

The two country option sounds great (it’s what DH and I do currently between U.K. and Australia however we are younger, still working and have no children so have a bit more wiggle room at the moment)
I think there’s a few things you need to consider:
First the dreaded B word- will Brexit have any implications on your ability to reside in Spain, even part time, by the time you have both retired?

Secondly have either of you any health issues which could affect your ability to travel back and forth? Would you be entitled to healthcare in Spain? What would it cost?

Just a few more things to add into the mix!

Thanks for your reply.

We don’t think the dreaded B word will have too much of an impact on our right to reside - Spain has already committed to free movement for UK nationals post-Brexit and we’re already registered in Spain as you need to go through a bit of a palaver to get an identity number/registration before you can buy a property (this isn’t full residency per se, but gives you certain rights). Spain can’t afford to lose its British expat community as it has been badly hit by the global crash (worse than the UK).

The medical thing is more of a consideration and we think we’d need to get insurance. Health-wise, there’s nothing major, but that’s not to say that won’t change. We’ve also talked about what would happen when one of us was no longer about; I’d be just as fine in Spain as here were I left on my own, but I think DH would want to come back.

Instead having 2nd home in UK, I would help your DS to buy big home with annex for you to stay in when visiting.

If your DH would want to come back here if anything happened to you then I think a base here is the best. Plus if you had to come back for an extended visit you wouldn't have to stay with your son. How long have you been in Spain, just that holidaying and living there are very different so would a base also mitigate your risk?