Family, Finances, Culture Draw Retirees Overseas

When you started to think about retiring, did you ever picture yourself riding your bicycle in the Alps or spending every morning walking along a beach in South Africa or cruising on the Sea of Cortez? Several hundred UC retirees must have had such a dream because, for a variety of reasons, they have chosen to live outside the United States during their retirement.

Their days sound just as you might imagine: “Every morning I walk to the local bakery for bread and to the campo for fresh fruit and vegetables. …One cannot leave the house without meeting friends or acquaintances on the street,” writes UCLA retiree Louise Nunnink about Venice.

Byron Wheeler, who retired from UC Santa Cruz after 15 years with the Education Abroad program, rides the bus to dance class and rehearsals in London from his flat a street away from the British Museum. He had stopped dancing professionally in 1980.

After settling in Puerto Vallarta, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory retirees Jan and the late Jim Ketler, acquired a 27-foot sport fishing boat in which they spent many days enjoying the wonderful fishing in the area.

And UC Davis retiree Monica Pappas describes waking each morning “to the bells ringing from the bell tower in our cathedral [in Trento, a small Alpine village in Italy] which was home to the Council of Trent in the 1500s.”

They were among about two dozen retirees who responded to a New Dimensions call for stories of living abroad. Some retirees, such as Thelma Rowell, returned to a beloved homeland. “Much though I enjoyed my 25 years in Berkeley, I never felt myself American. So it seemed natural to return to England and most of my extended family—or more particularly to Yorkshire. I have become a smallholder, keeping goats, sheep, and poultry and growing fruit and vegetables. My day begins with milking and continues until the hens go to bed—after 9 pm at this time of year.”

Family is often the reason retirees return to their home country. UCSB mathematics professor Joseph Gani and his wife returned to Australia permanently because three of their four children lived there and they own a house in Canberra. “Canberra is a beautiful garden city of about 300,000 inhabitants,” writes Gani.

“It is an ideal city for retirees: traffic is relatively light, and everything is within easy reach. The Australian lifestyle is very relaxed, and
American visitors fit into it very easily, not least because the natives speak English!”

However, returning to one’s roots doesn’t always work out. Robert J. Carter, a UC Santa Cruz retiree, moved back to Ireland where his parents, sisters and brother lived. “Three years later and a two-week vacation in Spain got me thinking that maybe I could have a cheaper and better life outside of Ireland so …I sold my Irish property and I am enjoying my new life in Spain” he writes. “I like living in Spain because of the low cost of living and because there are a lot of retired English speaking people living in this area.”

Financial or insurance considerations play a part in some retirees’ decisions to live abroad. When David Brokensha retired from the UC Santa Barbara faculty, he moved to Britain primarily because his partner was eligible for medical aid in the UK. “In the mid-1990s, UC allowed me to include Bernard in my Blue Cross plan: this was most opportune, because this enabled us to fulfill a long-held hope, to return to my native South Africa…Despite worrying problems—of crime, the highest rate of inequality in the world, an authoritarian President, and a shocking policy on AIDS—I have never regretted returning to my homeland.”

George Bedell, a retired UCLA professor and his wife, decided to move to Thailand, after much consideration, mainly because they can live at a substantially higher standard there on their limited income than they can in California. Fortunately, they also enjoy the people, climate, and cuisine of Thailand.

The current weakness of the U.S. dollar against the Euro and other currencies can make living abroad more difficult financially. Peter Hall, a former UC Berkeley professor who now lives in London, has this advice for retirees thinking of moving to another country. “A key question is whether you will be living entirely on your UCRS pension, or other U.S. income, or also drawing income from the country in which you’re living.” This matters a lot because of the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar in relation to other major currencies. Hall also says health care “can be expensive.” Only some of the UC-sponsored plans offer coverage for care outside the United States, and they involve deductibles and pay only part of the cost of treatment.

Finally, many retirees say their UC work experience helped prepare them for a successful, enjoyable life abroad. “The fact of my dealing with students, staff and faculty who came from all over the world definitely was a factor in my choosing to live in another country with mixed cultures,” writes Diane Wells, a former librarian in the UCLA Philosophy Department Reading Room who has lived in Bangalore, India for 13 years. “I love America, yet India has been my foster motherland. I love her, too…My experience of living in a different culture has broadened my perspective and made me a better
person. At heart, all peoples are the same. Traditions differ, but the unity of human values worldwide does not change.”

For fellow UCLA retiree John Friedmann, it is not a spot in the U.S. or in a foreign country that he calls home. “Having lived in many countries (and cities) throughout my life, I’ve decided that, after all, my real home is the university and its traditions. I have been involved with university life for 60 years and over a century, if I think of my father who was a professor like myself. I have no desire to look for greener pastures. The university is my home. But each time I move, it’s been a challenge to adapt to a new environment, and that keeps me young.”

Thanks to the many retirees who answered our call for information about their life overseas.

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