Multi-Country Retirement & Lifestyle Planning

Many of the people I meet expect to spend their later years between the Philippines and somewhere else, with pensions, property and family in more than one country. Planning for that is less about one product and more about keeping the pieces in step.

Map what you have, country by country

A one-page list is the most useful starting point. For each country, note:

• government or state pensions, and the age they start;
• workplace and personal pensions, and who administers them;
• property, and whether it is owned alone, jointly or through a company;
• bank and investment accounts, and whose name they are in;
• existing life, health and accident cover, and where each one applies.

Most people find something on that list they had forgotten, or a beneficiary nomination that is years out of date.

Decide, roughly, where home will be

You don’t need a fixed answer, but a working assumption helps: mostly in the Philippines with visits abroad, the reverse, or an even split. Living costs, healthcare, family, and the rules on long stays in each country all shape that. The plan can change, which is one reason to review it every year.

Income in one currency, spending in another

If your pension arrives in pounds, dollars or euros and your day-to-day spending is in pesos, exchange-rate movements will change your budget from year to year. It helps to know which of your costs are fixed in which currency, such as rent, school fees for younger children, or support for family, so that a weak month for one currency does not force a hurried decision.

Health cover as you get older

Health cover generally becomes harder to arrange, and more expensive, as you get older or once a condition has been diagnosed. Yearly renewable plans have age limits for renewal. It is worth reviewing your cover before you retire rather than after, and checking how each policy works in each country where you spend time. The Medical & evacuation planning page covers this in more detail.

Tax and residence: get advice in both countries

Where you are treated as tax resident, and how your pensions and other income are taxed, depend on the rules of each country and any tax treaty between them. These rules change. I don’t give tax advice; I recommend independent tax advice in the Philippines and in your home country before you change your residence or draw on pensions.

Where Pru Life UK plans can fit

• Lifetime protection with later-life payouts. PRULifetime Income is a whole life plan, paid over a short term, that combines lifetime protection with yearly cash payouts once an initial period has passed. Optional riders can add critical illness, hospital and accident cover.
• Planned cash benefits alongside life cover. PRUSteady Income is a 20-year endowment plan with regular cash payouts in the later years of the policy and a lump sum at maturity.
• Currency. Pru Life UK plans are offered in Philippine pesos, and some in US dollars. Premiums and benefits are paid in the plan’s currency.

Philippine insurers may only insure people and risks situated in the Philippines, so an application has to be made while you live here. If you expect to move away later, please tell me before you apply, so we can check what the plan’s terms say about living overseas.