Retired expats are generally unwilling to settle in a country where they don’t speak the language. Neither are they interested in learning a new language, according to a study involving a group of older expats.
Healthcare is the main factor
The study was conducted by Yvonne Quahe, Global Mobility Specialist at the World Bank Group in Washington, DC, and her colleague Catherine Mathieu. Looking at the main factors that particularly affect the decision of where to settle, they found that access to good healthcare is the main one, more so than proximity to adult children or other family members. Climate and language are two other important factors.
Idealised view
The study also showed that expats preparing for retirement tend to focus on practical matters, such as finances, insurance and healthcare, and less on the psychological impact of retirement. In that respect, the researchers sense that many people build an idealised view of retirement based on weak assumptions, for instance that they will always have sufficient funds.
One-third struggle
The fact that many retirees-to-be are less interested in the psychological side of retirement is a reason for some concern, as other studies have revealed that at least one-third of all retirees struggle with the transition into their new stage of life.
Less hard for partners
The researchers at the World Bank Group also found that retirement is less hard for expat partners than for the employed expat. The reason is that the latter is used to adapting into the organised structure of the workplace, whereas expat partners have to adapt without anything to fall back on.
Photo: Yvonne Quahe (left) and Catherine Mathieu
