Thread: British expats toughing it out

According to a recent survey by currency dealer, Moneycorp, more than half of British expats will continue to live abroad despite rises in the cost of living leaving them out of pocket.

The study shows that over 50% of expats say that while they moved abroad for a better standard of living, their incomes have actually plummeted since the economic downturn.

Despite these factors, 9 out of 10 expats said that they would continue to live abroad, with 25% saying that they would rather move to another country before considering moving back to the UK.

The fall in incomes could be attributed to two factors: the decline of the £ against other currencies; or the fact that many expats living off state pensions find their income is not index-linked.

In 2007 an expat could expect to move to Europe with an annual income of £10,000 and see a return of £16,500, whereas in the current economic climate, the same amount would return just £11,000.

In non-EU countries, like relocation hotspots USA and Australia, British citizens’ pensions are frozen as soon as they retire.

This means that a 65-year-old who retired in Australia today on a pension of £102.15 would still be receiving £102.15 in 2028. If inflation in these countries remains constant, then, according to online currency broker Currencies.co.uk, the value of these pensions could drop by half in just 17 years.

The Moneycorp survey shows that many British expats are willing to shoulder the burden of lower incomes to retain their lifestyle while 80% said they believed their children’s lives had improved.

But what they forget is the cost of living goes up everywhere, it is so easy to remember what the price of things were before you left the UK but that could have been 10 years ago.