Companies are forever releasing lists of the best places to live in the world for expats in a clamour for free column inches or web page space.
List are a good way of grabbing publicity that money could not buy as advertising as readers are more likely to take notice of editorial content and are often blind to paid-for ad space.
The best place to live for expats is a subjective anyway.
The saying ‘one’s man meat, another’s poison’ comes to mind.
If you are moving for work, where and when you go is not much of a choice anyway and you’ll just have to make the best of wherever you end up.
Tips for new expats
However, if you have the choice on where to go when you make the big move overseas here are a few helpful hints:
- Set up a bank account as soon as you have a permanent address in your new home country so you have a local currency account for paying day-to-day bills
- It’s a good idea not to buy if you don’t know the place you plan to move to that well – renting so you can upsticks without too much bother and try somewhere else is a much better idea. Keep your own furniture and belongings in storage back in the UK until you decide where you are going to make a home
- If you do buy a home, instruct your own solicitor who is independent from any agent, developer or other lawyer involved in the deal
- Don’t overlook medical care, investigate what cover you may already have as a British expat in Europe and top that up with private medical insurance. Consider repatriation as well as hospital, treatment and outpatient charges.
- If you are moving permanently, consider switching your private pension to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) to gain tax benefits and to avoid foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation
Popular expat destinations
Some exotic locations like Mexico and Ecuador are promoted in some recent surveys, but these results probably mean more American expats weigh the results than those from Britain or Europe.
Official figures from the Office of National Statistics put Spain and France as the most popular expat destinations in Europe for British expats. Farther afield, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA are evergreen favourites as well.
Polls are not a good indicator of where is best because of a number of reasons focusing on the sample.
The data can be skewed by the data sample, for example, their age, gender, wealth and nationality. If a private firm is carrying out the survey, the size, type and location of their customer base can also throw up unexpected results.
In the end, it’s your opinion accounts.
