How to retire abroad (featuring Federica Grazi and David Richardson)

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This is the Money Mindshift Podcast.

Your life, your money, in that order.

So, how do you retire abroad? I want to leave you with a framework.

It's borrowed from a gerontologist called Stephen Goldand, who's written a book called Aging in the Right Place.

And it's really good.

And he argues that where you live needs to do two things at the same time.

It needs to give you comfort, that sense of, you know, belonging, of being at home, of life feeling right, and it needs to give you mastery.

That's the practical ability to manage your life, access care, stay connected, remain in control.

And here's what I think.

I wonder if most retirement abroad decisions are made almost entirely on comfort, right? The feeling of the place, the warmth, the pace, the beauty, which is not wrong.

I mean, all that matters.

But what I worry about when making the move is that mastery is what gets stress tested later, when health changes, when distances become harder, when the bureaucracy that was just annoying once becomes genuinely hard and burdensome.

And that's why I asked those questions to David.

And it's interesting that he didn't drift into this decision that a health scare at 59 forced him to think carefully about healthcare in a way most people perhaps don't.

And in some ways that made it a very considered move, which is exactly what it ought to be.

But the questions I kept wanting to ask him were about the later chapters, right? Not the ones he's in now.

So as you consider this, here's a practical test and it applies to all situations, whether you're thinking about moving to France or staying put in your current home.

Ask yourself, if I were here alone, could I get groceries easily? Could I access healthcare without a car? Could I maintain real friendships and social contact? Could I manage day-to-day life without constant support? I don't want to crush dreams here.

Don't ask yourself those questions to find a reason to say no.

Just ask them to find a reason to do whatever you decided for or against with your eyes open.

So I get the dream.

I also see the small print though.

And the people who make it work, and Federica and David, they're both examples of this, are the ones who've done both kinds of thinking.

So thank you, Federica Grazi and David Richardson, for sharing your time and your thinking.