Parents moving abroad-advice please

LittleTinker

BucketOfCoffee wrote:

My parents are planning the same thing. Their house is up for sale and they'll move once it's sold.

However I'm worried that they haven't really thought through the whole thing - for instance about medical matters (they're not in the best of health) and about finances. But my dad just shrugs it all off and my mam follows his lead...

I shall keep an eye on this thread....

To ease your mind about medical matters perhaps you could do a little research on the medical facilities in Spain and also visit a couple of ExPats forums to see what the folks who actually live there have to say.

You might find that the Spanish health service is excellent and would put the service here to shame.

seven-day-weekend

Your State Pension is increased in line with inflation as Spain is in the EU, it's only non-EU countries where it isn't.

AFAIK about the Occupational Pension, if it is index-linked in the UK you can receive it index-linked in Spain; my husband's Teachers Pension increases every year.

As regards health matters, if your folks are on a State Pension, apply for a Form E121 from the Pension Service (0191 21 87547). When they get to Spain, hand this form in to the local Spanish Social Security (after they ahve applied for Spanish Residency) and they will receive free healthcare in Spain. This also applies if anyone is on Incapacity Benefit.

And as someone else says, the Spanish Healthcare Service is excellent!

Hope this helps.

I also agree with other posters who say keep your UK house if youcan (maybe trade down). Just so you have something in the UK if the sh*t hits the fan. I've seen many an expat's savings dwindle to the point where they can't afford to buy another property in the UK even if they wanted to.