Portugal, Spain, and Greece are generally considered the best countries to retire with a UK pension due to low living costs, warm climates, and favourable tax regimes. Portugal is highly favored for its D7 visa, English-speaking communities, and excellent healthcare. Other top options include Malta, France, Croatia, and low-cost destinations like Vietnam.
What are the best countries for UK retirees?
Your State Pension will only increase each year if you live in:
1. Portugal – Tax Efficiency Meets Lifestyle Appeal. Portugal remains one of the most popular destinations for UK retirees, offering a warm climate, safe environment, and high quality of life. The Algarve, Silver Coast, and Lisbon regions are particularly favoured among expat communities.
Personal and workplace pensions
If you're in a personal or workplace pension scheme, moving abroad shouldn't have any effect: your pension should continue to be paid in full. you're normally entitled to any rises regardless of where you live in the world.
The following countries have social security agreements with the UK:
Your options for taking tax-free pension money
If you have a defined contribution pension, you can take up to 25% of your pension as a tax-free lump sum and: leave the rest invested and take taxable income as and when you need it, called pension drawdown. get a taxable guaranteed income by buying an annuity.
The 4% (or is it 4.7%?) rule. Bengen's rule is based on historical data from 1926 to 1976, and assumes the pension pot is invested 50% in shares and 50% in government bonds. The idea is that 4% can be taken as income during the first year of retirement.
The costly mistakes UK retirees make when moving abroad - and how to avoid them. Rising living costs, warmer climates and the promise of a more comfortable lifestyle are pushing growing numbers of Brits to retire in another country.
The only other countries in which the UK state pension rises in the same way as UK state pensioners are: the European Union countries (which continued after Brexit); Switzerland; Barbados; Bermuda; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Guernsey; Isle of Man; Israel; Jamaica; Jersey; Mauritius; Montenegro; North Macedonia; the ...
Services Australia outlines the following: If you're overseas for up to 6 weeks — Generally, your pension payments will continue as normal if you're travelling for less than 6 weeks. If you're overseas for more than 6 weeks — Once you reach 6 weeks, your pension supplement will drop to the basic rate.
Ponga villages of Spain
It's a small region of fewer than 1,000 people, with a dwindling population. You'll also receive an additional €3,000 incentive for each of your children, whether they moved with you or are born in Ponga. Besides paying you to move there, Spain is a great place to live.
According to a report in the Times, Malta is offering British people a variety of non-dom-style tax breaks that include a 15% rate on income remitted to the country and no capital gains tax.
The Best Healthcare in the World
So if you take 4% per year from 400k you could still have money in your pension pot at the end of a 25-30 year retirement. If you retire at 55, that takes you up to 85 years old (close to the current UK average life expectancy.) Taking 4% per year keeps your pension pot at a level that shouldn't run out.
From 20 September 2025, the full pension is available, under the assets test, for homeowner singles whose assessable assets are under $321,500 – for homeowner couples the number is $481,500. The numbers for non-homeowners are $579,500 and $739,500 respectively.
Finland is the world's happiest country, according to the World Happiness Report, offering retirees (and others) peace, safety, and balance. You can collect U.S. Social Security benefits while living in Finland.
Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru deliver some of the lowest costs of living and most accessible pension visas in Latin America, where a typical $2,000 monthly Social Security check can comfortably cover housing, healthcare, and everyday expenses.
Based on average life expectancy we explained that mathematically the client would be financially better off taking a higher pension over a lump sum. We took into account that the client had no pressing need for a large lump sum, such as paying off a mortgage or making significant gifts to her children.
Unfortunately, it's impossible to avoid paying taxes altogether. One thing you can control is when you pay those taxes on tax-deferred retirement accounts, not whether you pay them at all. A zero-tax retirement simply means you've already paid taxes on your retirement savings.
If you move abroad, you can usually still claim all your pensions – including the State Pension. But it often changes how your pensions are taxed.