Retiring overseas from Australia in 2026: Your how-to guide

Before you start packing to retire overseas, here's what you should know about visas, super, age pension and healthcare.

The dream of retirement means different things to different people. For some, it will be spending more time with family and friends, tending to the garden or finally getting serious about golf. For others, it's having the time and resources to see the world.

Chris Grice, chief executive at National Seniors Australia, says that it's not uncommon for Australians to make the move overseas once they retire - whether for a few years or permanently.

"With the challenges around care, cost of living and housing in Australia, you have people asking themselves if they can live more simply in another part of the world with lifestyle benefits, a better cost of living and, importantly, access to quality healthcare.

"In particular, it's those in that 60-plus age cohort that really look at it seriously. They have access to superannuation and they're still at an age where their health is pretty okay."

An individual's priorities will ultimately determine where they go. Perhaps it's the appeal of an English-speaking country like New Zealand, reconnecting with family back in Greece or taking advantage of lifestyle and cost-of-living benefits in places such as Indonesia, Thailand or further afield in Panama.

Whatever the desired destination, there's plenty for retirees to consider before they start packing their bags.

Do Australians need a visa to retire overseas?

For Australians who don't have citizenship or residency rights in the country they're planning to retire to, one of the major priorities will be working out if they will be eligible for a visa. Smartraveller (the government travel advisory service run by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) advises that every country has different conditions and rules.

A visa isn't always required. Australians looking to retire in New Zealand, for instance, won't need to apply for a visa under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. In other situations, retirees may be eligible to apply for a non-lucrative visa. Spain, for one, offers non-lucrative visas that allow people to live in the country providing they don't work and have the means to support themselves independently.

Beyond being able to live in a country, the conditions attached to a visa may also be important for retirees who are considering purchasing a property or earning an income, for example.

"Let's say your plan is to buy a rundown chateau and run it as a bed and breakfast. You need to ensure that you can actually buy it, because some countries do have limitations on property ownership and being able to purchase a property as a non-citizen," says Grice.

"The other thing to consider is whether you are allowed to work if your plan is to run that business. So those are things you may need to prepare and plan for, and they are typically linked to visa status."

Can you access superannuation while living overseas?

Choosing where to live is only one part of the overseas retirement equation; another part is determining how you're going to fund it. For most Australians, superannuation will play a role here.

The bottom line when it comes to superannuation is that retirees abroad shouldn't face many practical hurdles accessing their super once they turn 60 - beyond things such as transferring money into a foreign bank account and updating contact details with their fund.

In the case of those retiring to New Zealand, the Trans-Tasman Retirement Savings Portability scheme makes it possible to leave super in an existing Australian fund or transfer it to an eligible KiwiSaver account (the New Zealand equivalent).

Kathee Morphett, a financial planner at Bridges Financial Services, has a few suggestions for super holders to think about and seek advice on.

There are more general considerations, such as making additional contributions or ensuring that any money added to their kitty before retirement is done as tax-effectively as possible. Then there's  overseas tax. This, Morphett says, is one of the few stumbling blocks overseas retirees may face.

"It's a tax-free investment vehicle here in Australia. If you have a million dollars and you earn 6%, it's tax free in your fund. Then when you take the money out as income, say $100,000, that is also tax free.

"However, there could be tax implications overseas, meaning you might have to pay tax on a tax-free Australian income overseas, depending on the country."

Any tax implications that come with drawing on a retirement income will vary from country to country, which is why Morphett suggests obtaining advice from a tax specialist in order to work out whether a mitigation strategy can be put in place.

"If you are going to be taxed on that side, there are other things you can do, like taking a lump sum, for example, instead of taking income, which could be taxed overseas.

"You could leave it in accumulation, but then you're paying tax on the earnings. Or you could roll it to pension and then take the minimum income once 
a year - things like that."

Can you receive the Australian age pension in another country?

In addition to any money accrued in a superannuation fund, some retirees will be relying on the age pension to supplement their retirement income. The question is, will retirees who move overseas be able to access the age pension? The short answer is yes, but there are caveats.

Services Australia notes that once a retiree has lived away from Australia for six weeks, the pension supplement will drop to the basic rate and the energy supplement will cease completely.

Assuming retirees meet the eligibility requirements, they should be able to receive the core pension while living abroad. But the amount they get may vary based on how long they've lived in Australia.

"For someone who was born in Australia and lived and worked here their whole life, there are fewer restrictions if they go overseas," says Morphett.

"For someone who's a migrant, there are a minimum number of years that they will have to have lived in Australia to be eligible. Then there's a threshold they have to meet. If they don't meet it, their pension rate is reduced proportionately."

According to Services Australia, if you were an Australian resident for 35 years or more, your rate should remain the same if you leave Australia.

If you've been a resident for less than 35 years, however, you'll generally get a lower rate.

"It also depends on whether there is a dual treaty in place," says Morphett.

"If someone's from the UK and receiving a UK pension, there's a dual treaty, so they would only get a proportion of the Australian pension in conjunction with the UK one."

Beyond the pension rate they're entitled to receive, Grice says there are few practical factors retirees should bear in mind.

"If you are going to live overseas for a period, pension payments can be deposited monthly or fortnightly into an overseas bank account.

"It doesn't matter if it's a holiday or permanent move if you're spending more than six weeks overseas, you have to tell Services Australia. And you'll have to periodically contact them 
after that, basically to let them know that you're still alive," he says.

Can you use Medicare overseas?

Accessing medical care becomes more important as people age. This is why, Grice says, working out what kind of access to healthcare a person will have - and the quality of that care - should be a major consideration for retirees contemplating a move to another country.

Retirees won't be able to whip out their Medicare cards overseas. But they may be able to obtain some publicly funded care in Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK through reciprocal arrangements. "These countries allow, at least, access to emergency hospital treatment, but when you get into more serious territory in terms of long-term care, say if you needed cancer treatment or something like that, that's when people need to look at coming back to Australia," says Grice.

There are restrictions on how long Australians will be able to access this care. For instance, in Malta and the UK, cover is only available for up to six months after someone arrives. Patients may also still have to pay some costs, depending on the country.

Beyond the limited scope of these arrangements, retirees will have to pay out of pocket for their healthcare or consider options such as international private healthcare, which some global insurers offer.

In addition to researching the availability and quality of healthcare, plus the likely costs involved, Grice recommends retirees also consider any language barriers they're likely to encounter.

"Being able to communicate is really important. If you have to go to the chemist to get some paracetamol you can probably manage, but imagine if you have a complex condition that you, or your loved one, need to be able to explain to your local doctor.

"So countries where English is either a second language or the main one spoken can certainly be a big advantage in terms of managing healthcare requirements."

Should you consider offshore aged care?

In National Seniors Australia chief executive Chris Grice's experience, the profile of an Australian retiring abroad tends to be someone who's younger, wealthier and in relatively good health. But that's not always the case.

"Somewhat of an emerging trend, if I can call it that, is that we're seeing people who are looking at aged care options in other countries. Especially people trying to maximise their retirement savings.

"These days for a residential aged care place in Australia you're looking at around $750,000 for the RAD [refundable accommodation deposit], which might mean that you've got to sell your home.

"Whereas you may be able to get care in a country like Thailand and just pay a monthly fee."

Grice is aware of a number of Australians setting up aged care facilities in Thailand geared towards expats who are looking to get more for their money than they might be able to with aged care in Australia.

"They've got English-speaking staff, internationally accredited hospitals, so what they're able to do is offer resort-style facilities that, for the same money, you would get nothing close to in Australia.

"Let's say your partner required, in essence, personal care 24 hours a day. You may not be able to afford the quality of care that you want to provide them with in Australia, whereas because your money goes that much further somewhere like Thailand, you might be able to.

"There's still a bit of a gap in capability when it comes to dementia care, but for people who have physical challenges, this is a trend that we are really starting to see."

Get stories like this in our newsletters.