More wealthy Brits expected to move overseas

April 20, 2012 – 10:03 am

Wealthy Brits moving to Spain and Tenerife?

The volume of wealthy Britons who move overseas is expected to rise in the next two years, according to a new Lloyds TSB International Wealth survey. The study shows that 19% of people with savings and investments worth more than £250,000 are considering moving abroad, up from 17% six months ago and 14% a year ago. The new figure suggests that over half a million people with that level of personal wealth may flee overseas by 2014 in search of a better, more affordable lifestyle. Many of those seeking to leave the UK say that they would reconsider if Briton lowered taxes, cut regulatory red tape for businesses and improved public services such as healthcare, education and the police. Any hike in in the number of Brits moving overseas would undoubtedly fuel greater demand for homes abroad, with Spain, France, Portugal, Australia, and the USA often high on the agenda. Nicholas Boys Smith, director at Lloyds TSB International Wealth, said the number of people expected to leave the UK includes a “large number of successful, affluent individuals who play an important role in powering the UK economy”. He said: “While the figures strongly suggest we won’t see a mass exodus, it is clear that a significant and growing minority see opportunity and a better quality of life overseas.”

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

EU citizens helped by Cross-Border Healthcare Directive

March 21, 2011 – 10:03 am

Eu directive may help Brits who travel to Tenerife and Spain.

For second home owners regularly travelling to their property in Europe, obtaining insurance to ensure you’re covered for any accidents that could occur abroad is at best an annoyance, at worst a hefty extra cost. Luckily, if you’re a citizen of the EU or UK travelling to another country within the Eurozone, all that is about to change.

By 2013, all EU citizens will be able to claim back for medical treatments they receive in other European countries, with or without travel insurance. The new Cross-Border Healthcare Directive, ratified in Brussels last month by all Eurozone states, will benefit both short-term travellers encountering those pesky ski accidents, and retirees who divide their time between, say, the UK and a second home in the Mediterranean.

For the latter category, healthcare has been a particular problem previously. As well as not qualifying for free healthcare in the EU, British citizens who spend more than 184 days a year abroad are also discounted from receiving NHS treatments. The new law should simplify the process for this expat category, ensuring they can receive medical care whether they spend the majority of time in France, Spain, the Canary Islands, the UK or anywhere else in Europe.

Despite the EU executive’s estimation that cross-border healthcare will only take up a mere 1% of total health spending, the new laws (which must be implemented by all states within 30 months) have met with some resistance in the UK. “The rules will turn the UK’s NHS into a bureacratic nightmare”, said UKIP leader Nigel Farage. There are also concerns that some countries may be late in doing their part to implement the laws, as Spain, particularly, has been slow to implement many health and insurance-related resolutions from the EU in recent years.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Tenerife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Move to Tenerife for a better quality of life

May 2, 2010 – 11:11 am

Moving to Tenerife may improve the quality of your life

Moving to Tenerife may improve the quality of your life

According to research by NatWest International, a good life/work balance under-girds the sentiment, with 87% of respondents rating their personal balance in these areas as excellent or good. The annual survey, which is undertaken with the Centre for Future Studies, asks expats to assess 16 “life experience” factors in order of importance and to indicate levels of satisfaction with each one. Nine out of ten British expatriates say moving overseas has given them a better quality of life.

For Britons abroad, financial security and financial wellbeing occupied sixth and eighth place respectively, with the natural environment, climate, culture and leisure, healthcare and education taking priority. In addition, the number of respondents who said they would return to the UK fell to 19% in 2009, from 26% a year earlier, despite the financial pressures of the global economic downturn.

Natwest International’s head of personal banking, Dave Isley, comments, “The fact fewer expats say they will return to the UK in the future, compared to three years ago, proves that the pace of life, work life balance and earning potential abroad means life as an expat is sunnier in more ways than one – and that they are weathering the financial storm.” The study also revealed that professional expats typically earn over £20,000 more than their peers in the UK, with 92% reporting a salary increase over the past three years.

So moving to Tenerife or one of  the Canary Islands may be the best decision you ever make.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)