You are not alone if the retirement you imagined has repeatedly receded like a mirage. You have saved diligently, invested sensibly, and watched the target number grow — only for life's costs, tax obligations, and market volatility to ensure that you never quite arrive. The question of "can I afford to retire?" is one of the most commonly asked and most poorly answered questions in personal finance.
At Holiday Home Times, we think the question itself is often framed incorrectly. The real question is not whether your savings match some abstract target figure — it is whether the life you want to live is genuinely achievable on what you have. In 2024, with the tools now available to informed retirees, the answer is more likely to be "yes" than conventional wisdom suggests.
The 2024 Macroeconomic Context
The financial landscape for retirees in 2024 is genuinely different from the zero-interest-rate environment of 2010–2021, and not entirely for the worse.
Higher interest rates — Bank of England base rate peaked at 5.25% in 2023 before beginning to ease — have materially improved returns available on bonds, fixed-term deposits, and money market funds. A retiree with £300,000 in liquid assets can now generate £12,000–£15,000 per year from investment-grade bonds or savings accounts with minimal risk, where the same capital would have yielded almost nothing five years ago. For those who delayed retirement partly because investment returns were inadequate, this shift changes the calculation.
The downside is that property prices in Western markets remain elevated despite some moderation, making the "sell up and bank the equity" strategy less dramatically profitable than it was in 2021. In the UK particularly, the interaction of higher mortgage rates and stretched valuations has created a complex market that requires careful navigation.
Geo-Arbitrage: The Most Powerful Tool You Are Not Using
Geo-arbitrage is the practice of earning income in a strong currency whilst spending in a lower-cost economy. It is not a gimmick; it is a structural financial strategy that can compress your "retirement readiness" timeline by years.
Consider: a retiree in London with a pension and investment income of £3,500 per month may find themselves genuinely stretched. The same £3,500 per month in Chiang Mai, Penang, or Da Nang funds a lifestyle that includes a well-appointed apartment or villa, frequent dining out, full-time household help, private health insurance, extensive regional travel, and consistent savings. The income has not changed. The purchasing power has more than doubled.
This arithmetic is the foundation of what Holiday Home Times has always championed: the strategic use of lower-cost international locations not as a compromise but as an upgrade. The pool is larger. The pace is gentler. The culture is richer. And the money, for once, is genuinely enough.
State Pensions, SIPP Drawdown, and Structuring Your Income
For UK residents, the full new State Pension in 2024-25 is £11,502.40 per year, rising annually through the triple lock guarantee. This is a meaningful income anchor — particularly for expatriates living in lower-cost countries — and should be factored explicitly into any retirement income model. Note that the State Pension is frozen if you retire to certain countries (including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) but continues to increase annually for UK expats in the EU, USA, Thailand, and most other popular retirement destinations.
Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) offer considerable flexibility for expat retirees. You can choose your drawdown rate, vary it year by year, and structure withdrawals to minimise your tax position — especially valuable if you become tax resident in a lower-tax jurisdiction. The 25% tax-free lump sum allowance (now capped at £268,275 under 2023 rules) remains available regardless of where you are living when you crystallise your pension benefits, subject to your tax status.
The interaction between your home country's tax treaties and your country of residence is complex and highly individual. A qualified financial adviser with expatriate pension expertise is not optional here — it is essential. The right structuring can legally save tens of thousands of pounds over the course of a retirement.
Remote Work as a Bridge to Full Retirement
The normalisation of remote work following the pandemic has created a powerful bridge option that was largely unavailable to retirees a decade ago: the semi-retired working expat. This is the person who has reduced their working commitment to two or three days per week — consulting, part-time employment, or freelancing — whilst living in a lower-cost country where even reduced income is more than sufficient.
This approach has several advantages beyond the financial. It allows time to test your chosen destination before fully committing. It maintains professional networks and skills that retain value if you choose to return to full employment. It provides structure and social engagement. And it removes the psychological pressure of needing your savings to work perfectly from day one.
Many expats in their fifties and early sixties find the semi-retired model the most satisfying phase of their professional lives: meaningful work at a pace they control, in a place they love, with more than enough money to live well.
The Elevated Property Value Opportunity
If you own property in the UK or Australia — markets where prices remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels despite 2022-23 corrections — you may be sitting on more retirement capital than you realise. A family home in London, the South East, or major Australian cities purchased ten or more years ago has typically doubled or more in value.
Selling and purchasing in a lower-cost market abroad can release substantial capital. A £700,000 home sold in Surrey funds a beautiful villa purchase in Portugal, Bali, or Penang — with £400,000 or more remaining for invested income generation. This is the original expat retirement strategy and, done properly, it remains highly effective.
Alternatively, retaining the property and letting it generate rental income provides a sterling income stream with capital appreciation continuing in the background — a two-dimensional financial benefit with the added optionality of returning if circumstances change.
A Framework for Deciding
Rather than fixating on a target lump sum, we encourage readers to approach the retirement decision through a monthly income lens:
- What is your current total guaranteed monthly income from pensions, rental, and investment returns?
- What monthly income would you need to live comfortably in your chosen overseas location? (Research this honestly — speak to people already living there.)
- What is the gap, and how might it be closed through part-time work, drawdown, or property decisions?
For many people who believe they "cannot yet afford to retire," the gap is smaller than assumed — particularly once the cost-of-living differential of their target destination is properly factored in. The way forward is not to wait another five years and accumulate more capital in a high-cost environment. It is to reframe the question, do the detailed arithmetic, and make a considered move.
The best time to retire was ten years ago. The second best time is now — if you plan it properly.