Tuesday 7 December 2010

Retirement in the sun dream unravelling, say currency experts

UK (Agencies)  According to specialist currency broker currencies.co.uk, many UK pensioners are being forced to abandon their dream of retiring abroad because of the weakness of sterling., which according to the company's research has seen a 28% jump in the number of retired expats who were selling up and returning to the UK during the past 12 months. The group blamed the situation on a combination of the weakness of sterling, in which most retired expats still receive their pension, and rising inflation. The value of sterling has varied by up to 67% against currencies in popular retirement areas. Sterling/Euro exchange rates, which affect such retirement centres as France and Spain, have registered a 49% variation over the last five years, on a typical monthly pension of £1,175.  This amount was at its highest when it exchanged for €1,793, and at its lowest at €1,204.>
Pensioners in the US have seen a 53% swing in the number of dollars they get for the same amount, while those in Australia have been the hardest hit, seeing the number of Australian dollars £1,175 buys vary by 67%, ranging from 3,112 Australian dollars to just 1,865 Australian dollars.

To make matters worse, around half of people who retire abroad do not have a state pension that increases each year in line with inflation.

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