Staying in touch

Keeping regular contact with family and friends at home is an important part of settling down happily abroad when you're retired. You'll want to be sure that you can stay in touch with the grandchildren and remain a part of family life even when you're far away. Luckily, there are many ways in which you can remain close to home while enjoying your new life

Get connected
Become a silver surfer. Get yourself connected to the Internet or find your nearest Internet café. Emails are a great way of keeping in touch, not least because they are inexpensive and because they mean that time differences don't matter. Also investigate telephone tariffs to identify the best times to make calls. There are also a number of email newsletters you can sign up for specifically for retired people.

Keep voting
Even if you're living abroad, you can still vote in certain UK elections. For more information, read and fill in the following Electoral Commission form:

Property at home
You may still have a property in the UK or want to buy one as an investment and/or as somewhere to stay when you visit. Renting out a property is a good way of boosting your retirement income, and maintaining a UK base means that you will have somewhere to go if your situation changes and you decide to come home. We can help you to manage it while you settle in overseas.

Stay informed
Keep up with the news back home and worldwide by tuning into the BBC World Service. A list of frequencies can be found on their website and schedules are published in On Air, available on subscription from: BBC On Air, Dpt. WW, Room 207NW, Bush House, Strand, London WC2B 4PH. Many British titles are widely available abroad, or you could also take out a subscription to the international edition of a British newspaper.

Be prepared
Of course, you want to enjoy life in your new country, and the chances are that you will. But it's still wise to prepare for any eventuality and to have a plan to leave in place in case you need to come home. It's also important to bear in mind that you may not be automatically entitled to certain benefits if you do return home. Age Concern England has produced an information sheet providing details for people who are thinking of returning to the UK. This is available to download from the Age Concern website.

Disclaimer
Barclays is not responsible for the accuracy or content of web sites of other providers which may have links from this website. In creating hypertext links to any other web site, Barclays is not recommending that website or giving any assurances as to its standing.

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†Lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, except UK bank holidays. Calls may be monitored and recorded for training and security purposes. Calls from within the UK are charged at local rate. Calls from overseas are charged at standard rate.