We are this week counting down to the launch of our biggest and most important event of the year.
Every year for the past 11, we have hosted an annual Retire Overseas Conference. For this mega-event, the most comprehensive program on living and retiring overseas hosted by anyone anywhere, we pull out all the stops.
Normally, that means inviting all of our key experts, colleagues, and advisors from around the world to convene with the entire Live and Invest Overseas staff and dozens of real-life expats at one time in one place.
We hang out together for four days under the same roof in the same town. And, speaking for all involved, I can tell you that it’s a highlight of our annual calendars.
Over the four days of this program, we have two goals.
Priority objective number one is to show you the world… that is, the best of what the world has to offer the potential retiree. With the help of experts and expats with real-time firsthand experience, we introduce you to more than 20 of the world’s very best places to enjoy a better quality of life even on a Social Security budget (and sometimes a lot less).
That’s the fun part… choosing where you might like to reinvent and relaunch your life overseas.
However, it’s only half the story… because once you’ve made the choice of where to go, you’re left to face the question:
How do you get from where you are now to your new home overseas?
Which brings us to our second agenda for our Retire Overseas Conference each year. Our team, gathered from far and wide, is committed to giving you the practical details you need to develop a realistic and customized plan and timetable for launching your new life in whichever overseas Shangri-la is calling your name.
For The First Time Ever: Retire Overseas Virtual Conference
Unfortunately, this year is very different. This year, it just isn’t possible to host a big live event… with hundreds of people gathered together in one room at one time.
That is not to say, though, that our annual Retire Overseas Conference is off the table. Au contraire, dear reader, we don’t see any reason to let current global events get in the way of continuing to explore your best opportunities for living your best life.
So we’re taking our annual Retire Overseas Conference online.
This is no small thing. The work involved behind the scenes by our conference and IT teams is mammoth. We’ve been hosting virtual webinars and conferences for the past five months. Our teams have learned how to do this. Still, taking our Retire Overseas Conference online presents new challenges of scale and scope.
At the same time, taking our Retire Overseas Conference virtual means it can be bigger than ever.
Now, we’ve realized, we can invite more speakers, experts, and expats than ever. Without travel time and expense, many, many more colleagues from across the globe will be able to participate than for any past program.
Lief and I just this morning finalized the speaker list, as well as the list of expats who will be able to present. In all, we’ll be able to connect participants in this year’s Retire Overseas Virtual Conference with more than 100 live and invest overseas guides.
As is our custom, the program for this virtual event will be built around a
a series of six workshops to address the six big issues faced by all would-be overseas retirees.
Because everyone approaches an international move from a different background and with different expectations, each of these workshops will feature a number of experts up at once, each bringing unique perspectives and experiences to the conversation.
And, to keep these discussions lively and interactive, we invite questions from the audience. This event might be virtual, but it will still be interactive. That’s a key part of the promise we make to every attendee at every event we host. We want you to leave with every question answered and a fully customized personal plan for how to meet your go-overseas goals.
Here’s a sneak preview of the six workshops on the schedule for our first-ever Retire Overseas Virtual Conference:
Workshop #1: Moving Overseas—Don’t Let Money Get In Your Way
What do you need to do to get your financial affairs in order for a move overseas? This is the workshop that will answer that question for you—and show you how you don’t need a large nest egg to do this.
Our panel of experts will reveal everything you need to know to make your own financial plan for living overseas, including:
- How much money you need to move or retire abroad…
- What to do if your savings are on the skinny side…
- How you should invest (for the short- and long-term) to maintain a healthy portfolio…
- How to manage your day-to-day spending, complete with budget spreadsheets…
- How to cope with changing exchange rates…
- The best time for you to start taking Social Security as an overseas retiree…
- How to manage your credit cards while living abroad…
- Whether to sell or to keep your U.S. property…
- What to do if the U.S. dollar tanks…
This is the workshop where attendees tend to find new hope—discovering that what they really need to move is far less than what they feared they needed (and far, far less than what they’d need to afford a comparable standard of living in the United States).
Workshop #2: Visas And Residency
How can you stay legally in your new country… and for how long?
In these days of tightening immigration control, not everywhere may suit you.
That said, there are certain parts of the world that roll out the welcome mat for expat retirees and investors offering special incentives, perks, and advantages. We’ll cover the best ones here.
In this workshop, you’ll learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of establishing a physical presence overseas and find out:
- The 3 most retiree-friendly countries in the world. In these places you can look forward to generous discounts—often as much as 50%—on goods and services from restaurant dinners to dental work and from airline tickets to closing costs on a home…
- The fast track to permanent residency in the world’s top retirement havens…
- How residency affects your tax burden and how you can control and minimize this through careful planning…
- The benefits of using an attorney to guide you through the application process… when you must use one… and when you can save yourself the expense…
- Easy immigration: Places where you can easily (and legally) stay long-term on a tourist visa…
- The “no complications” approach: Divide your time among three or four places a year and you can avoid jumping through residency hoops altogether…
- The implications of establishing residency in a foreign country (for example, how local inheritance laws could affect your estate)…
- The many benefits of second citizenship and how to obtain it legally…
Note that this is just the beginning… we’ll also discuss residency specifically for each of our 21 featured countries in their respective country breakout sessions.
Workshop #3: The Nuts And Bolts Of Getting Established Overseas
In this important-yet-fun workshop, we’ll address all of these nitty-gritty issues that you’ll need to know once you’ve landed in your new country.
This workshop is designed to help you experience the minimum amount of hassle (and the maximum fun) getting set up in your new home. Our panel of expats from different countries will cover:
- When, and if, you’ll need a new driver’s license…
- The ins and outs of opening a bank account in another country…
- How to pay your bills… both locally and back home…
- Organizing your household for shipping… how to decide what stays and what goes…
- Learning the local language… or getting by in English…
- Staying in touch—inexpensively—with friends and family back home…
- Getting utilities connected and choosing internet service…
- How to find reliable craftsmen…
- Bringing your pets… details of the paperwork you’ll need…
- Tips for a smooth move if you’re bringing your household goods…
Workshop #4: Taxes For The Expat And Foreign Retiree
If you’re an American, your international tax burden is one of those areas that’s hard to get excited about.
But it’s one that you can’t ignore either. In fact, regardless of where you’re coming from and depending on your strategy, you could wind up paying far less tax than you do right now… and maybe none at all.
I’m talking about things like:
- How to earn up to US$107,600 per year tax-free…
- Two foreign assets the IRS doesn’t want you to know about and that you can legally hold overseas without triggering a reporting requirement to the U.S. IRS…
- The top jurisdictions for low-tax or no-tax living…
- Getting good representation—the key to paying no more tax than you should…
- Where you’ll enjoy the lowest property taxes… and where you won’t pay any property tax whatsoever…
- Where and how to enjoy exemption from import duties on household goods and belongings you decide to bring with you to your new home…
Understanding your options and how to structure your new life overseas can save you thousands of dollars in taxes each year. You’ll get the full scoop during this year’s Retire Overseas Virtual Conference…
Workshop #5: The Property Question
It’s one of the biggest issues in considering a move overseas—and one that’s inspired many a heated debate… even among the Live and Invest Overseas team where the points of view differ.
Generally, I say rent first and maybe rent long-term.
However, sometimes, depending on your situation, buying a home of your own and even buying right away can make sense. When we meet online this September, our panel of property experts will talk this important question through for you, considering all the options and many different points of view.
They’ll also share their insights on everything you need to know about buying or renting your new home abroad, including:
- The benefits of renting long-term…
- What to look for when choosing a rental, whether for short- or long-term use…
- How to review a rental contract in a foreign country…
- Where to start your search for a rental property and how and why to take your search local…
- What you need to know about buying property overseas, including the pitfalls and how to deal with them…
- 12 critical questions you should ask before buying real estate in a foreign country…
- How to protect yourself as a buyer in a foreign market…
- How to evaluate a selling price in any given market…
- How to structure foreign property ownership…
- How to address the tax implications of owning real estate in a foreign country…
- What the IRS needs to know about your property holdings overseas (note: for you, that may be nothing)…
Workshop #6: Health Care For The Expat Abroad
Good news. You have many, many options—often excellent and affordable options—for the expat looking for medical coverage abroad.
And, as many of the expats and doctors you’ll meet at this Retire Overseas Virtual Conference will testify, it’s possible to receive quality care—sometimes even better than the level of service you’re used to at home—in many of the retirement havens on our agenda.
From this workshop, you’ll find out:
- Which of the top 21 countries I mentioned earlier stand out in terms of top-quality health care…
- Where, among these top havens, you’ll find health care to be the most affordable…
- The differences between public and private healthcare systems… and when to use the (possibly free) public systems abroad…
- Your top options for medical insurance abroad and the pluses and minuses in each case…
- The points to consider in choosing a policy that suits your specific needs…
- Why you should never buy insurance online… at least not until you’ve confirmed the answer to this all-important question…
- What your overseas health policy should cover… and what it likely won’t…
- How much deductible makes sense given where you’ll be living…
- Cost details for sample insurance plans in a number of overseas retirement havens…
- What to do if you’re beyond the age for enrolling in a new insurance policy…
- How to evaluate a policy in a foreign country…
- The best international health and travel insurance policies on the market today…
So that’s where… and how covered.
Now, starting tomorrow, let’s look at all the various different whys.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll share real-life stories of folks just like you who’ve already made moves overseas… for all kinds of reasons that I’m thinking will resonate strongly with you.
Spoiler alert: In every case, they’re delighted with the new lives they’ve been able to create for themselves.
More tomorrow.
Kathleen Peddicord
