Old People Crossing
Is a London Flat the Best Place to Retire? Well a couple of friends have set their sights on retiring to London on the basis that it’s a wonderful place for the elderly. One of the entertainment capitals of the world, facilities and services on the doorstep, top medical care, great public transport (free for OAPs) – London is a great place to retire.
Retiring (and particularly retiring abroad) is frequently the subject of website studies, including the Expat Explorer Survey, encompassing the views of 4,127 expats across more than 100 countries to find which nation performs best in various different areas. Some of the top-performing nations boast extraordinarily large numbers of retirees among their expats — in Spain, just shy of 40% of all expats are retirees, while France (33%), South Africa (24%), Thailand (24%) and Canada (17%) also boast a large proportion of retired expats. Perhaps a touch worryingly, the UK finished 23rd in the survey, behind nations like Qatar and Mexico, but just ahead of Russia and India.
| Rank | Nation |
| 1 | Thailand |
| 2 | Bahrain |
| 3 | South Africa |
| 4 | Canada |
| 5 | Bermuda |
| 6 | Spain |
| 7 | France |
| 8 | Switzerland |
| 9 | Australia |
| 10 | Malaysia |
| 11 | Philippines |
| 12 | Germany |
| 13 | Belgium |
| 14 | Singapore |
| 15 | Hong Kong |
If you do want to retire in the UK – well in spite of my encouragement to come to London, it looks as if on balance Cardiff may be the city to head for:
| City | Average life expectancy for someone retiring at 65 | Average annual household income required during the duration of your retirement |
| Cardiff | 20.3 | £25,916.27 |
| Hull | 18.6 | £26,206.05 |
| Bradford | 19 | £26,241.77 |
| Sheffield | 19.9 | £26,357.78 |
| Leeds | 20.3 | £26,419.83 |
| Liverpool | 18.1 | £26,573.95 |
| Manchester | 18.4 | £26,602.83 |
| Leicester | 18.9 | £26,718.73 |
| Nottingham | 19.4 | £26,781.54 |
| Glasgow | 17.4 | £27,265.77 |
| Edinburgh | 20.2 | £27,562.40 |
| Stoke | 18.9 | £27,655.31 |
| Wolverhampton | 19.7 | £27,760.65 |
| Birmingham | 19.9 | £27,786.87 |
| Coventry | 20.3 | £27,852.28 |
| Bristol | 20.2 | £29,880.12 |
| Plymouth | 20.5 | £29,935.38 |
| Belfast | 19 | £30,361.78 |
| Southampton | 20.6 | £32,705.03 |
| London | 21 | £34,855.30 |
Now that is going to please my Welsh In-Laws (retired in Thailand) !
If you want to see some relative costs for buying property:
| Area | Average price of prime property per square meter |
| Monaco | £44,400 |
| London | £23,000 |
| Cannes | £22,200 |
| Moscow | £16,200 |
| Sydney | £11,500 |
| Paris | £10,210 |
| Manhattan | £9,725 |
| Milan, Italy | £8,880 |
| Majorca | £7,100 |
| Auckland | £6,300 |
| Cape town | £5,400 |
| Lisbon | £4,440 |
| Dubai | £2,990 |
| Algarve | £2,665 |
| Sarasota, Florida | £2,470 |
| St Lucia | £2,330 |
| Seychelles | £2,185 |
| Marrakesh | £1,265 |
Sources:
http://www.lovemoney.com/news/make-good-property-decisions/overseas-property/ditch-britain-for-somewhere-better-10034.aspx
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/The-best-countries-retire-yahoofinanceuk-4168493884.html
