Canada and Australia are the most popular destinations for Swiss retirees

Once they stop working, those who decide to leave the federation must assess the gap between quality and cost of living in other countries.

This content was published on August 18, 2022 – 6:59 pm
August 18, 2022 – 18:59

Most Swiss people spend their retirement at home, but there are other countries that attract citizens retiring from working life to enjoy a well-deserved break. According to UBS’s analysis, there are several countries that offer a similar standard of living to the Commonwealth at lower costs: these include Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The study released today by the big bank took into account 26 states and focused on two criteria. How much wealth is needed for a thirty-year retirement emphasizes quality of life first and second.

Basically, according to UBS, all the countries included are cheaper than Switzerland in terms of costs. However, retirement living is not cheap in Denmark, Finland, Norway and even the United States. Also, the states can’t hold a candle to the Nordic countries in terms of quality.

A difficult balance between quality and cost

On the other hand, retirees from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Sweden have the highest quality of life in favorable circumstances. In these countries, up to 40% less assets are enough to make it past old age. States like the Philippines, Mexico or Brazil are even cheaper, but pay a lot for voice quality.

Uruguay is an exception

A special case in South America is represented by tiny Uruguay, which offers a high quality of life in an environment of very low costs. However, in countries bordering Switzerland, such as Germany or France, one-third less wealth is sufficient for equal or nearly equal wealth.