How Much Pension Do Expats Need to Retire Comfortably?

Technical note: This article reflects UK pension and retirement planning rules as of May 2026. Retirement income planning, pension withdrawal rates, tax, currency, inflation, life expectancy, investment returns, legacy planning and overseas residence are complex. The right retirement number depends on your personal circumstances and should be modelled before decisions are made.

Direct answer

There is no single pension number that tells every expat whether they can retire comfortably or how much they will need.

A comfortable retirement for one person might mean a paid-off home, a predictable income, modest travel and the confidence that essential bills are covered. For another, it may mean private healthcare, regular international travel, helping children financially, maintaining property in more than one country, and leaving a meaningful legacy. Both people may use the same phrase, “I want to retire comfortably,” but the capital required behind that lifestyle could be completely different.

This is why generic UK rules of thumb can be misleading for expats. A UK-based retiree may be planning around sterling spending, UK tax, UK housing assumptions, UK healthcare and the UK State Pension. A Middle East expat may be planning around a future move to Spain, Portugal, France, South Africa, Australia or back to the UK.

The same pension pot can produce very different outcomes depending on where income is drawn, how it is taxed, what currency is needed, how inflation affects the chosen country, how long retirement lasts and whether the goal is to spend capital, preserve capital, or leave wealth behind.

A better way to frame the question is this:

Retirement number = desired net annual spending in your future country, plus one-off costs and legacy goals, minus secure income, adjusted for tax, inflation, currency, longevity and investment risk.

That is not a calculator shortcut. It is a reminder that the number is personal. A pension statement tells you what the pension is worth today. It does not tell you whether that pension can support the life you want, in the country you choose, after tax, inflation, currency and longevity have all had their say.

The fear is rarely just running out of money

The biggest retirement fear I see among expats is not always expressed directly. People may talk about investment returns, pension balances, property values or whether they have “enough”, but underneath those questions is usually a deeper concern: what happens if the money runs out?

For many successful expats, the fear is not only the final moment where assets are exhausted. It is the series of compromises that may come long before that point. Spending less than planned. Travelling less. Delaying medical treatment. Moving somewhere cheaper than intended. Becoming more dependent on children. Selling property at the wrong time. Reducing help to your family. Feeling unable to enjoy retirement because every withdrawal creates anxiety.

That is why the retirement number matters. It is not about chasing an impressive pension pot or reaching a round figure that sounds reassuring. It is about knowing whether your assets can support the life you want without gradually forcing you into a smaller, more restricted version of retirement.

For expats, this fear can be more complicated because the future often has more moving parts. You may not know exactly where you will retire. Your pensions may be in sterling, your savings in dollars or dirhams, your future spending in euros, and your children or beneficiaries in another country entirely. Tax, healthcare, inflation, currency and residence can all change the answer.

A retirement plan that stands the test of time should not simply ask whether you are likely to run out of money. It should ask whether the plan gives you enough confidence to live properly before that risk ever appears.

Key takeaways

There is no universal pension number for expats. The right amount depends on the cost of the lifestyle you want in the country where you plan to retire, after accounting for taxes, inflation, currency, and longevity.

A large pension pot does not automatically mean you are retirement-ready. What matters is whether your pensions, investments, property and cash can produce the net spendable income you need for life.

Legacy intentions also change the number. If you want to preserve capital for a spouse, children or grandchildren, your required asset base may need to be higher than someone planning to spend down capital during retirement.

Why expats cannot rely on a generic UK pension number

There are useful UK retirement benchmarks, but they should be treated as context rather than a personalised answer. The Retirement Living Standards are often used in the UK to frame different levels of retirement lifestyle, and they note that the full new State Pension for 2025 to 2026 is £230.25 per week, or £11,973 per year. That can help people picture what a basic, moderate or more comfortable UK retirement may look like, but it does not answer the question for an expat whose future life may not be based in the UK.  

If you plan to retire in Dubai, London, Valencia, Cape Town, Sydney or a rural part of France, your spending pattern may be completely different. Housing, healthcare, transport, taxes, travel, family obligations, and currency exposure can all affect the amount of capital required. A UK benchmark may tell you roughly what a UK retiree might need. It does not tell you what you need as an internationally mobile expat with overseas income, UK pensions, possible offshore investments, foreign property and a future retirement country that may still be undecided.

For expats, the retirement number needs to be based on the actual life being planned, not on a generic figure that sounds reassuring.

Your retirement number starts with net spendable income

The most important number is not the pension value on a statement. It is the income you can actually spend after tax, charges, currency conversion and withdrawal rules have been taken into account.

That distinction matters. A £1 million pension does not automatically mean £1 million of lifestyle. The usable retirement income depends on how the pension is invested, how withdrawals are taxed, what other income you receive, what currency you spend in, whether withdrawals need to increase with inflation, and how long the money needs to last. A pension statement shows a value. It does not show whether that value can support your desired lifestyle in the country where you eventually retire.

For expats, net spendable income is often where the planning becomes real. You may have sterling pensions, US-dollar investments, dirham cash, and a future euro lifestyle. You may draw pension income while living in the Middle East, then later become tax-resident in Europe, South Africa, Australia, or the UK. The same gross pension withdrawal can lead to a very different net result depending on when and where it is taken.

A retirement plan that ignores tax can make the pension number look larger than it really is, because what matters is not what leaves the pension, but what reaches your bank account after the relevant tax system has taken its share.

Income-rich does not mean retirement-ready

The Middle East can make people feel wealthier than they really are in retirement terms.

High salaries, low or no personal income tax, bonuses and high monthly surplus income can create a sense that the future is broadly under control. In reality, that current income may be doing much of the heavy lifting. If it stops at 55, 60, or 65, the question becomes whether your accumulated assets can replace it over the next 25, 30, or 40 years.

This is one of the most common blind spots for successful expats. The problem is not always a lack of income today. It is lack of structure for tomorrow. Cash may be building in several bank accounts. Old UK pensions may be sitting in default funds. Property may be concentrated in one country. Investments may be scattered across platforms. Bonuses may be spent, saved or invested without a clear retirement strategy. From the outside, the balance sheet can look strong. Underneath, it may not yet be an income engine.

The danger for many expats is not that they are failing financially today. It is that their current income makes the future feel more secure than it actually is.

Comfortable means different things in different countries

The first real calculation is not your pension pot. It is the cost of the life you intend to live in the country where you intend to live it.

Comfortable could mean being mortgage-free, debt-free, eating out occasionally, taking one or two holidays a year, and having enough surplus to avoid anxiety. It could also mean business-class flights, private healthcare, seasonal travel, helping adult children, maintaining a second property, and having enough liquidity to avoid selling investments during a bad market. Neither version is wrong. The issue is that each version requires a different level of capital.

For expats, comfort is also shaped by location. A lifestyle that feels comfortable in one country may be expensive in another. A couple retiring in Spain may need to allow for local tax, euro spending, community fees, healthcare, property purchase costs and travel back to see family. Someone returning to the UK may have different assumptions around housing, healthcare, transport and tax. Someone retiring in South Africa may need to think differently about currency, healthcare and security costs. Someone remaining in the Middle East may need to factor in private medical cover, residency requirements and potentially higher housing costs.

Before asking whether your pension is large enough, you need to know what the pension is being asked to pay for.

Retirement income need and retirement capital need are not the same thing

There are two numbers that often get confused.

The first is your retirement income need. This is the amount you want to spend each month or each year, ideally expressed after tax and in the currency you will actually use. The second is your retirement capital needs. This is the amount of pensions, investments and other assets required to support that income over time, after inflation, tax, investment returns, charges, longevity, healthcare, one-off costs and other income sources have been considered.

For example, needing £8,000 per month after tax is not the same as needing a specific pension pot of £1 million, £1.5 million or £2 million. The capital required will depend on whether you have a secure income, whether you own your home, whether your spouse has pension rights, how much investment risk is appropriate, how much tax applies, whether withdrawals rise with inflation, whether you want to leave capital behind, and how long retirement may last.

A proper retirement plan works backwards from the income you need, then tests whether the capital behind it is enough.

Your planned retirement country drives the cost base

For expats, the planned retirement country is not a detail. It is one of the foundations of the calculation.

The cost of living in your retirement country should be built into the model in a practical way. Housing, utilities, food, local transport, healthcare, insurance, property taxes, community fees, visa or residency costs, travel back to family, social life, care costs and professional advice can all vary significantly between countries. Even within the same country, retiring in a capital city, coastal area or rural location can produce a very different number.

This is why “I think I need around £1 million” is not enough. A pension pot cannot be judged properly until it is tested against the country where the money will be spent. A comfortable retirement in Spain, Portugal, the UK, Australia, South Africa, or the UAE will not cost the same, and the tax and currency treatment may differ as much as the cost of living.

If you do not know where you will retire, the answer is not to avoid planning. It is to model scenarios. A good retirement review should test more than one destination, especially where the tax, currency, healthcare and housing outcomes differ materially.

Tax can change the pension number after retirement

The amount you need before tax is not the same as the amount you need after tax.

A retirement income target of £8,000 per month net may require a very different gross income depending on the country where you are tax resident, the type of pension being drawn, whether a double taxation agreement applies, whether income is paid gross or taxed at source, and whether other income, such as property rent, dividends or State Pension, is also being received.

For expats, this is especially important because the tax position may change as you move. A pension withdrawal that is efficient while you are resident in the Middle East may be taxed differently after you retire elsewhere. Pension income, investment withdrawals, capital gains, rental income and inheritance planning may all be treated differently depending on your future country of residence.

This is why retirement modelling should be based on net spendable income, not just gross pension values. A retirement plan that only looks at headline asset values can make the future look safer than it actually is.

Inflation means today’s number will not be tomorrow’s number

A comfortable retirement today may not feel comfortable in 10, 20 or 30 years.

Inflation is the quiet force that makes retirement planning harder. It does not need to be dramatic to be damaging. A lifestyle that costs £80,000 per year today could require far more over a long retirement simply to maintain the same spending power.

The danger is not only that prices rise. It is that a retirement number calculated in today’s money can quietly become inadequate if the plan does not model how spending changes over 25, 30 or 40 years.

For expats, inflation can be even more complex because the inflation you experience may not be UK inflation. Healthcare costs, rent, service charges, food, travel, insurance, school or university support and local taxes can all rise differently depending on where you live. The inflation assumption should therefore reflect the lifestyle and country being planned for, not just a generic UK figure.

A pension number that does not include inflation is only a snapshot.

Longevity means your pension may need to last longer than you think

Many people underestimate how long retirement may last.

ONS national life tables show that UK life expectancy at age 65 in 2022 to 2024 was 18.7 further years for males and 21.2 further years for females. Those are averages, not planning limits. Many financially secure expats should plan for the possibility of living well into their 90s, especially where good healthcare, family history and lifestyle support longer life expectancy.

This matters because retiring at 55 or 60 may mean funding 30, 35 or even 40 years of spending. A retirement plan should not only ask whether your income works at 65. It should ask whether it still works at 75, 85 and 95. It should also consider whether the surviving spouse or partner would still have sufficient income if one of them dies earlier than expected.

Living longer is not the problem. Running out of income because longevity was underestimated is the problem.

Retiring before State Pension age creates a bridge period

Many Middle East expats want the option to retire before State Pension age. That can be entirely achievable, but it creates a bridge period that needs to be funded.

If you retire at 55, 58 or 60, your private pensions, investments, cash and other assets may need to support you for well over a decade before the UK State Pension or defined benefit pensions begin. This early retirement bridge can materially increase the amount of flexible capital required, particularly if you are also relocating, buying property, supporting children, or moving to a higher-tax country.

The bridge period is often where retirement plans succeed or fail. A person may have enough income after the State Pension and defined benefit pensions begin, but not enough flexible capital to reach that point comfortably. Another person may have enough capital but draw it in the wrong order, creating unnecessary tax or investment risk.

A retirement number that ignores the bridge years can look safer than it really is.

Your number must work for both partners, not just one

For couples, the retirement number needs to work twice.

It needs to work while both partners are alive, and it needs to work if one person dies first. This is often overlooked because many retirement models focus on household income while both people are present. In reality, a surviving spouse may face lower total income, different tax treatment, reduced pension benefits, higher healthcare needs, or less confidence managing investments alone.

Defined benefit pensions may be reduced after the first death. Some annuity income may stop or be reduced. State Pension entitlement may change. Rental income may continue, but property management may become more difficult. Investments may remain, but the surviving partner may need a simpler and more resilient structure.

A comfortable retirement is not only one that works while everything goes to plan. It should also protect the person who may be left to manage the plan alone.

Healthcare and later-life care cannot be ignored

Healthcare can be a major difference between UK-based retirement planning and expat retirement planning.

If you retire in the UK, the NHS may provide a level of healthcare support, although private healthcare may still be part of your plan. If you retire overseas, you may need private medical insurance, local healthcare coverage, out-of-pocket medical costs, or a plan for later life care. In some countries, healthcare costs can increase significantly with age or become harder to insure.

This does not mean every retirement plan should assume the worst possible health outcome. But healthcare should be a visible line in the model, not an afterthought. For couples, this becomes even more important because if one person needs care, the financial plan must still support the other person’s lifestyle.

Comfortable retirement is not only about lifestyle spending. It is also about resilience.

One-off costs can break a neat retirement calculation

Retirement is not a straight line of monthly spending.

Expats often face high one-off costs that do not fit neatly into a simple annual budget. These may include buying or renovating property, relocating to another country, visa or residency costs, private healthcare, helping children with university or property deposits, supporting parents, weddings, emergency travel, car replacement, tax advice, legal work, or later-life care.

A retirement model that only includes regular monthly spending can look cleaner than real life. The danger is that high one-off costs are funded by selling investments at the wrong time, drawing taxable pension income in the wrong year, or using cash reserves that were meant to protect the long-term plan.

The retirement number should therefore include both lifestyle spending and likely capital events.

Housing can make or break the retirement number

Housing is often the largest retirement variable.

A mortgage-free retiree needs a very different income from someone paying rent or servicing debt. A couple who own property in the country where they retire may need less income than a couple who plan to rent in an expensive city. Someone who owns UK property but retires in Europe may have rental income, currency exposure, maintenance costs, tax reporting and estate planning issues to consider.

For expats, housing decisions are often delayed because the retirement country is uncertain. That is understandable. But the plan should still model different housing scenarios.

• Will you buy or rent?

• Will you keep your UK property?

• Will you downsize?

• Will you release equity?

• Will you maintain more than one home?

• Will your property be in the same currency as your spending?

• Will rent be exposed to local inflation?

A pension number without a housing assumption is incomplete, because housing can change both the income needed and the capital available.

Your pension number depends on your secure income floor

Not all retirement income carries the same level of certainty.

If a meaningful portion of your essential spending is covered by secure income, your pension and investment pot may not need to carry the same burden. Secure income might include the UK State Pension, a defined benefit pension, an annuity, or, in some cases, reliable rental income after costs and tax. These income streams can create a floor underneath your retirement plan.

That floor matters because it changes the role of the invested portfolio. If your basic bills are covered by secure income, your investments may be used more flexibly for discretionary spending, travel, family support or legacy planning. If your essential spending depends mainly on an invested pension pot, the withdrawal strategy usually needs to be more cautious because market falls, poor sequencing or inflation can have a larger impact on your day-to-day lifestyle.

The pension number is therefore not just about how much capital you have. It is about how much of your required income is secure, how much is flexible and how much is exposed to investment markets.

The State Pension can help, but it should not be overestimated

The UK State Pension can be valuable because it provides a form of lifetime income. For 2025 to 2026, the full new State Pension is £230.25 per week, or £11,973 per year.

For a couple with full entitlements each, that can be a meaningful income floor. But many expats do not have full entitlement, have gaps in their National Insurance record, or retire in countries where annual increases may be restricted. GOV.UK states that the UK State Pension only increases each year if you live in the European Economic Area, Gibraltar, Switzerland, or certain countries with a social security agreement with the UK, although Canada and New Zealand are excluded from increases.

This is particularly relevant for expats who intend to retire in the UAE. You can usually claim your UK State Pension while living in the UAE, but under current rules, it is not normally uprated each year while you live there. In practice, that means the amount may remain frozen rather than increasing annually, which can reduce its real value over a long retirement. For someone planning to make Dubai or Abu Dhabi their long-term retirement base, the State Pension should therefore be included carefully in the retirement model rather than treated as an automatically inflation-linked income source.

The State Pension should be included, but not guessed. You need to know your forecast, your qualifying years, whether voluntary National Insurance contributions may be worthwhile, and whether the country where you retire affects annual increases.

A retirement plan that assumes a full, inflation-linked State Pension without checking the record and retirement country can be wrong from the start.

Defined benefit pensions can change the required pot

If you have a defined benefit pension, the pension pot you need may be lower than that of someone relying only on invested assets.

A defined benefit pension can provide a guaranteed income for life, often with spouse or dependant benefits and some inflation protection. That can reduce the amount of invested capital needed to cover core spending, especially where the scheme income begins at the right age and aligns with the currency and tax position of your retirement country.

The income still needs to be tested.

• When does it start?

• Is it enough?

• Does it increase?

• What happens on death?

• Is it paid in sterling?

• How is it taxed where you retire?

• Does it cover essential spending or only part of it?

A defined-benefit pension is valuable, but it does not eliminate the need for planning. It changes the model.

Other assets can reduce the pension burden

Your pension does not need to do everything.

Other assets can reduce the pressure on the pension and create more flexibility. Cash can cover short-term spending and avoid forced selling. Investment accounts can support early retirement before access to a pension or provide flexible withdrawals. Property income can cover core expenses. A defined benefit pension or State Pension can provide a secure income floor. Business proceeds or end-of-service benefits may fund specific goals.

The key is to decide what each asset is for. Some assets are better for a secure income. Some are better for growth. Some are better for liquidity. Some are better for inheritance planning. Some are better for tax-efficient withdrawal. A strong retirement plan gives each asset a job.

That is why the right pension number cannot be calculated by looking at the pension alone. It depends on the whole balance sheet.

Legacy intentions can change how much is enough

Not every expat wants their retirement plan to end with the last pound being spent.

Some want to preserve capital for a spouse, children or grandchildren. Others want to use wealth during their lifetime, help family earlier, fund education, support ageing parents, or leave property and investments in a structured way. These are very different objectives, and they can materially change the pension number.

If the goal is simply to fund a lifestyle, the plan can focus on sustainable income and capital depletion within acceptable limits. If the goal is to fund lifestyle and preserve a meaningful legacy, the required capital base may need to be larger, the withdrawal rate may need to be lower, and the investment strategy may need to balance income needs with long-term growth and succession planning.

For expats, this is even more important because beneficiaries may live in different countries, assets may be held across several jurisdictions, and tax treatment may change depending on residence, asset location, and the type of structure used. A retirement plan should therefore ask not only, “How much do I need to live comfortably?” but also, “How much, if anything, do I want to leave behind, and to whom?”

Legacy is not an afterthought. It is part of defining what “enough” actually means.

The 4% rule can be misleading for expats

Many people still refer to the 4% rule when estimating retirement income. It can be a useful concept, but it should not be treated as a personalised answer.

The rule of thumb was built on assumptions that may not apply to an expat retiree. It may not reflect your tax position, future retirement country, currency needs, investment costs, inflation, retirement age, asset allocation, estate planning objectives or desire to vary income over time.

A 4% withdrawal may look reasonable on a spreadsheet, but it can behave very differently if retirement begins during a market downturn, if withdrawals are taxed heavily, or if spending is in a different currency from the pension. Taking 4% from a £1 million pension suggests £40,000 per year before tax, but that figure is not meaningful until you know the tax position, currency, other income, inflation assumptions, legacy intentions and how long the money must last.

Rules of thumb can start a conversation. They should not finish it.

The retirement number should be built from spending, not assets

A proper retirement number starts with spending, not with the pension balance.

This sounds obvious, but it is where many expat retirement plans begin to go wrong. People often choose a target pension pot because it sounds impressive, £1 million, £1.5 million, £2 million, without first defining what that money actually needs to provide. The result is a retirement plan that feels strong on paper but has never been tested against the cost of the life it is meant to fund.

Why expats often underestimate retirement spending

Most expats underestimate retirement spending because they focus on ordinary monthly costs and forget the lifestyle they have become used to. They may include food, utilities and basic housing, but leave out regular travel, private healthcare, helping children, supporting parents, replacing cars, maintaining property, social spending, insurance, tax advice, legal costs, emergency flights, currency movements and the cost of living in the country where they actually intend to retire.

These are not small details. Over a long retirement, they can be the difference between a plan that works and a plan that slowly tightens.

There is also a psychological issue. While working in the Middle East, a high income can absorb a lot of spending without the lifestyle feeling expensive. Holidays, school fees, family support, eating out, upgrades, flights, healthcare and ad hoc costs are often paid from monthly income or bonus income. Once employment income ceases, those same expenses must be covered by capital. That is when spending that once felt normal can become structurally expensive.

This is why the first retirement question should not be, “How much pension do I have?” It should be, “What will my life actually cost?” Housing, travel, healthcare, helping children, supporting parents, maintaining property, cars, insurance, leisure, emergencies and tax all need to be considered. Once the spending is clear, the model can work backwards. It can test how much capital is needed, what income can come from pensions, what can come from investments, what is covered by property income, what is covered by the State Pension, and where the shortfall sits.

This avoids one of the biggest retirement planning mistakes: choosing a pension target simply because it sounds large. A £1 million pension can be more than enough for one retiree and insufficient for another. The difference is not only investment return. It is lifestyle, tax, currency, retirement country, inflation, housing, healthcare, spending discipline and whether the plan has allowed for real life rather than an artificially neat budget.

“The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” - George Foreman

That is exactly the point for expats. Retirement is not defined by the age you stop working or the headline pension value you have accumulated. It is defined by whether your assets can provide the income you need, in the country you choose, for as long as you need it, without gradually forcing you into compromises you never planned to make.

The order of income matters

Even if the total retirement pot is large enough, the order in which income is drawn can materially affect the outcome.

You may use cash first to bridge a relocation period. You may draw from taxable investments before pensions. You may draw pension income while residing in the Middle East before moving to a higher-tax country. You may delay certain withdrawals until State Pension begins. You may preserve a pension for spouse protection or draw more during life because of future inheritance tax changes.

The pension number is therefore not only about how much you have. It is about how the money will be used. Two expats can retire with the same assets and end up with very different outcomes depending on tax, withdrawal order, investment returns, timing and legacy objectives.

A simple example: why the number changes

Consider two expat households that both want the equivalent of £8,000 per month of retirement spending.

The first plans to retire in the UK, owns a mortgage-free home, has two full State Pensions in the household, a small defined benefit pension, modest travel plans and most future expenses in sterling. Their private pension and investment requirements may be lower because several core costs are already covered, and the currency position is relatively straightforward.

The second expects to retire in Spain, rent for several years before buying, travel regularly, support adult children, pay for private healthcare, and draw income from sterling pensions into euro spending. Their headline monthly income target sounds similar, but the capital required may differ materially once tax, rent, currency, healthcare, inflation, and timing are considered.

Now add legacy intentions. If the first household is comfortable spending down capital, while the second wants to preserve property or leave a meaningful inheritance, the gap widens again. This is why two people can both have £1 million and get very different answers. One has a retirement income plan. The other has a balance sheet that still needs turning into income.

What a proper retirement number review should assess

A proper retirement number review is not a pension calculator exercise.

It should assess your desired lifestyle, planned retirement country, local cost of living, spending currency, housing plan, expected tax position, inflation assumptions, healthcare costs, life expectancy, spouse or partner needs, State Pension entitlement, defined benefit pensions, existing UK pensions, offshore investments, property, cash, liabilities, beneficiary objectives, legacy intentions and withdrawal strategy.

It should also stress test the plan.

• What happens if markets fall early in retirement?

• What happens if inflation stays higher for longer?

• What happens if one spouse dies early?

• What happens if you retire earlier than expected?

• What happens if you move country?

• What happens if healthcare costs rise?

• What happens if you want to preserve capital rather than spend it down?

The value of advice is not in producing a single number. It is in showing whether that number is realistic, resilient and aligned with the life you actually want.

Before choosing a pension target, make the number prove itself

Expats often ask whether they need £500,000, £1 million, £2 million or more to retire comfortably.

The honest answer is that the number depends on the life behind it.

Thomas Sleep works with UK-connected expats across the Middle East to model retirement income, pensions, investments, taxes, currency, withdrawal strategies, legacy intentions, and future retirement-country planning.

The purpose is not to give you a generic pension target. It is to answer the question properly:

How much do you need, in the right currency, after tax, for the lifestyle you want, without running out of money later, and without compromising the legacy you intend to leave?

A comprehensive review should show what retirement may cost, what your existing assets can realistically support, whether your pensions are fit for purpose, and what needs to change before your retirement choices become harder to fix.

Book a complimentary expat retirement planning review with Thomas. Understand your retirement number, test whether your current assets can support the life you want, and identify what needs to change while you still have time, income and flexibility on your side.

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Final takeaway

Expats do not need a generic pension number. They need a personal retirement number.

The right amount depends on lifestyle, the cost of living in the planned retirement country, taxes, currency, inflation, longevity, healthcare, housing, other assets, secure income, withdrawal order, and legacy intentions. A pension pot that looks sufficient in one country, currency or tax system may be inadequate in another.

The goal is not to chase the largest possible pension. The goal is to know what is enough, what is missing, and what needs to be done while there is still time to act.

About Thomas Sleep and Skybound Wealth

Living internationally changes everything about how money works.

Income can rise quickly. Tax can fall away. Assets build across countries, currencies, and legal systems. On the surface, life often looks successful. Underneath, complexity accumulates quietly, and small decisions made in isolation begin to shape outcomes years in advance.

Thomas Sleep is a UK-qualified Financial Adviser at Skybound Wealth, specialising in cross-border financial planning for expatriates and internationally mobile families. Based in Dubai, he advises professionals, senior executives, and business owners across the Middle East, the UK, Europe, and offshore jurisdictions.

With over sixteen years of experience living and working abroad, Thomas helps expats bring clarity to complex financial lives. His work spans investment strategy, tax efficiency, retirement planning, and long-term wealth protection, aligning these areas into a single, forward-looking plan that adapts as circumstances and locations change.

Thomas is UK-qualified and regulated and holds the CISI Level 4 Financial Planning &

Advice Diploma. Through Skybound Wealth, he provides regulated advice within a firm known for its strong governance, international regulatory coverage, and client-first approach. His advice is measured, analytical, and outcome-driven, helping expats understand not only what decisions to make today but also how those decisions affect flexibility, tax exposure, and security over the decades that follow.

As both an adviser and an expat himself, Thomas understands where problems typically emerge. Wealth grows faster than planning. Assets are built in silos. Tax considerations evolve quietly until they can no longer be ignored. By the time these issues surface, options are often narrower and more expensive to implement.

Much of Thomas’s work focuses on identifying these risks early and addressing them deliberately. Through Skybound Wealth, he helps expats build resilient portfolios that travel with them, reduce future tax friction, and ensure their wealth supports their family and lifestyle long after their working years end.

This advice is for people who want clarity, control, and confidence that their financial life will continue to work as circumstances change, not just when everything feels stable.

FAQs

How much pension does an expat need to retire comfortably?

There is no universal figure. The amount depends on your lifestyle, planned retirement country, cost of living, tax position, currency, inflation, longevity, healthcare costs, housing, other assets, secure income, withdrawal strategy and legacy intentions.

Is £1 million enough for an expat to retire?

Often not. A £1 million pension can support very different lifestyles depending on where you retire, how your income is taxed, what currency you spend, whether you own property, what other income you have and whether you want to leave a legacy.

How much monthly income do expats need in retirement?

The right monthly income depends on the country where you retire and the lifestyle you want. You should calculate expected after-tax spending, including housing, healthcare, travel, family support, insurance, one-off costs, the local cost of living, and emergency reserves.

Does my planned retirement country affect how much pension I need?

Yes. Your retirement country can affect the cost of living, tax, healthcare, currency, property costs, reporting obligations and how pension income is treated. The same pension pot can produce very different outcomes in the UK, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Australia or the Middle East.

How does tax affect the pension number?

Tax can materially change how much pension you need because the income you draw from a pension is not always the income you can spend. A retirement plan should be based on net spendable income after local taxes, UK tax where relevant, double-taxation agreement treatment, charges, and currency conversion.

How does inflation affect expat retirement planning?

Inflation increases the cost of maintaining the same lifestyle over time. Expats may also face different inflation pressures depending on where they retire, especially for healthcare, rent, insurance, travel, local services and care costs.

How long should expats plan retirement income to last?

Many expats should plan for retirement income to last into their 90s, especially where retirement starts early or where health, family history and lifestyle suggest longer life expectancy. Planning only for the average life expectancy can leave too little margin.

Why does retiring early increase the pension number?

Retiring early creates a bridge period before the State Pension, defined benefit pensions, or other secure income begins. That bridge may need to be funded from private pensions, investments or cash, which can materially increase the amount of flexible capital required.

Should I include property in my retirement number?

Yes, but carefully. Property can provide income, capital, security, or flexibility, but it can also create tax, liquidity, maintenance, currency, and estate-planning issues. It should be included in the retirement model rather than treated separately.

Do legacy intentions affect how much pension I need?

Yes. If you want to leave capital for a spouse, children, grandchildren or other beneficiaries, your required capital base may need to be larger, and your withdrawal rate may need to be lower. Legacy planning can materially change what “enough” means.

Can UK retirement rules of thumb be used by expats?

They can be useful as rough context, but they should not be treated as personalised answers. Expats need to account for overseas tax, currency, residence, healthcare, future relocation, cross-border assets and different cost of living assumptions.

What should an expat retirement planning review include?

It should assess lifestyle spending, planned retirement country, local cost of living, tax, currency, inflation, life expectancy, healthcare, housing, pensions, investments, property, cash, liabilities, State Pension, defined benefit pensions, withdrawal strategy, spouse protection, beneficiary planning and legacy intentions.