Before You Rule Out Life Abroad

The Fear: Big moves are for twenty-somethings. At 42, 52, or 62, the window has closed.

What the research says: The data suggests this stage of life is actually one of the best times to make a move. One study of expat retirees found that 81% reported being happier in their new country than they were back home. And research on U.S. startups found that a 50-year-old founder was roughly twice as likely as a 30-year-old to build a top-growth company. Experience, clearer priorities, and resources count for something.

What it doesn’t tell you: Your odds. The survey came from a website about retiring abroad, and everyone in it had moved and stayed; anyone it didn’t work for who moved back wasn’t asked. The startup research is about founding companies, not moving. Read both as signs that later moves can go well. Age on its own rarely decides it. What it stands for often does: your health, the people who depend on you, and how much of an established life you’d be uprooting.

The Fear: Leaving an established path means becoming professionally invisible. The “golden handcuffs” are real.

What the research says: International experience can be a real advantage. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit study, almost 90% of executives view global mindset skills – adaptability, cross-cultural communication, the exact proficiencies you develop overseas – as critical for leadership success. The skills that feel risky to acquire are often precisely what global employers deeply value.

What it doesn’t tell you: Whether your job can come with you. Some work depends on a license, local clients, office presence, an employer’s approval, or hours that don’t travel. Other work moves easily on paper and gets punishing in practice: working California hours from Spain can keep the job and cost you the evenings you moved for.

The Fear: Moving abroad is financially reckless – a fast track to depleted savings.

What the research says: For many people, moving abroad improves their finances rather than draining them. In HSBC’s 2015 Expat Explorer survey, 57% of expats said their disposable income had risen since relocating. Lower living costs and exchange rates do much of that work: earning in a stronger currency and spending in a weaker one can stretch a budget a long way.

What it doesn’t tell you: This isn’t about exploiting lower-cost destinations. In places like Lisbon or Mexico City, incoming foreign wealth can strain local housing markets. The goal is being a “value-add” expat – contributing to communities, shopping locally, engaging genuinely – not just extracting arbitrage.

The Fear: Quality healthcare won’t be accessible, or will be prohibitively expensive.

What the research says: In the Commonwealth Fund’s 2024 comparison of 10 high-income countries, the U.S. health system ranked last overall, and last on both access to care and health outcomes. Coverage can cost far less, too: in Portugal, International Living reports private plans starting around $50/month a person. So the assumption that “abroad = medical risk” often has it backwards.

What it doesn’t tell you: What you’d get as a newcomer. The Commonwealth Fund measures how each system serves its own residents, and its 10 countries don’t include Portugal or Mexico. Premiums also rise with age: the same International Living guide puts a couple in their 60s at around $300 a month. Your visa, residency status, age, and health history decide what you can actually get, and pre-existing conditions can mean waiting periods or exclusions.

The Fear: You’ll end up lonely. Relationships will wither. Kids will struggle and resent you.

What the research says: A home abroad can become a reason for people to visit, not a barrier to seeing them. For kids, parents report real upsides: in HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey, 69% of expat parents said living abroad had made their children more open to new cultures and experiences. And growing up with two languages tends to sharpen children’s awareness of how language itself works, though research doesn’t find a consistent boost to broader thinking skills.

What it doesn’t tell you: How it goes for your family. These are parents describing families who stayed abroad. A family move is several moves at once: a seven-year-old and a fifteen-year-old face very different ones, and partners don’t always want it equally. The one who isn’t working can end up with the loneliest version of the move. Some families come out closer and some kids thrive, but none of it is automatic.

That said: Those first weeks in a new city can feel isolating. Starting fresh is real. But in every place I’ve lived, I found my people – through a neighborhood bakery in Beijing, a local restaurant in Buenos Aires, friends-of-friends across Europe. It took openness and patience, but it happened for me every time. Before you go, it’s worth checking how people actually meet in a place.