Dual country retirement and stuff
Discussion
I am hoping there are one or two of you on here with some experience you can share of retiring and living between two countries, specifically the UK and US.
I'm 54, divorced, no kids and only a nephew as a beneficiary for whatever I leave behind. I really want to retire at 60, but it may be drawn out to 65. I'm a UK and US citizen and will have been living and working in the US 20 years in Feb 2024.
I've started looking ahead to my retirement and am wondering on the practicalities of living between the US and US in retirement and having a property in both countries. I know I will have to have one country as my permanent domicile for tax purposes, but which one I've yet to decide. I will have to speak to a tax expert for that at some point.
For a UK residence I am considering the option of buying a flat in the next year. I would rent that out until I retire. I have about a 25-30% deposit for a UK property but I am not sure if I could even get a UK mortgage now. I do still have a UK bank account. My US property I am looking at keeping until I retire then sell it and downsize to a smaller place for the US and maybe using the equity to pay off any outstanding UK mortgage.
I'm in the queue to top up my missing NI contributions too.
It's very early days for this, but 5 years will go quickly.
So, anyone been in this position or any experience to impart?
I'm 54, divorced, no kids and only a nephew as a beneficiary for whatever I leave behind. I really want to retire at 60, but it may be drawn out to 65. I'm a UK and US citizen and will have been living and working in the US 20 years in Feb 2024.
I've started looking ahead to my retirement and am wondering on the practicalities of living between the US and US in retirement and having a property in both countries. I know I will have to have one country as my permanent domicile for tax purposes, but which one I've yet to decide. I will have to speak to a tax expert for that at some point.
For a UK residence I am considering the option of buying a flat in the next year. I would rent that out until I retire. I have about a 25-30% deposit for a UK property but I am not sure if I could even get a UK mortgage now. I do still have a UK bank account. My US property I am looking at keeping until I retire then sell it and downsize to a smaller place for the US and maybe using the equity to pay off any outstanding UK mortgage.
I'm in the queue to top up my missing NI contributions too.
It's very early days for this, but 5 years will go quickly.
So, anyone been in this position or any experience to impart?
No direct experience of UK/US, but I‘m a UK citizen living in Switzerland and have plenty of American friends here.
You can get a mortgage in the UK for a UK property, but the list of lenders is very limited (Skipton BS and HSBC Jersey spring to mind) and their rates are higher than for a resident.
You may or may not be aware that as a US citizen you have the dubious pleasure, along with North Korea and Eritrea of paying tax to your country of citizenship, regardless of where you live in the world. With a dual tax treaty and the foreign income exemption this may work out ok for your circumstances, but it is quite an irritant for my American friends here. To the point where some have renounced their citizenship. Also things like pensions are seen very differently for tax purposes by the two countries. For the tax side of things, I‘d really recommend seeking some initial specialist advice tailored to your circumstances.
You can get a mortgage in the UK for a UK property, but the list of lenders is very limited (Skipton BS and HSBC Jersey spring to mind) and their rates are higher than for a resident.
You may or may not be aware that as a US citizen you have the dubious pleasure, along with North Korea and Eritrea of paying tax to your country of citizenship, regardless of where you live in the world. With a dual tax treaty and the foreign income exemption this may work out ok for your circumstances, but it is quite an irritant for my American friends here. To the point where some have renounced their citizenship. Also things like pensions are seen very differently for tax purposes by the two countries. For the tax side of things, I‘d really recommend seeking some initial specialist advice tailored to your circumstances.
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