In Focus News & Insights

If you've moved abroad to live as an expat, have you attempted to learn the language? If you do decide to make the effort, then you'll be learning an extremely valuable skill, one that, as recent research has shown, many Britons are intent on achieving.

In fact, a new poll has suggested that one in five are planning to pick up a new language in 2018.

The survey was conducted by the British Council, the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, which questioned 2,109 UK adults. The British Council is hoping that more Brits pick up a second language because it will help the UK to remain "globally competitive post-Brexit", according to British Council schools advisor Vicky Gough.

Well, you have probably already swept away the party poppers and Champagne corks, but now is the time to reflect on 2017 and consider the future.

It's also, of course, the time to make New Year resolutions. For most people, such 'resolutions' are often ambitious, unrealistic and maybe even harmful (I mean, giving up chocolate – that's never going to happen).

In fact, research from the University of Scranton, USA, in 2013 found that a mere 8% of people achieve their New Year goals, and a ComRes poll from November 2015 revealed that 43% of all the failed resolutions that year hadn't even lasted a month.

It seems that the typical pledges of eating more healthily, taking up a new hobby and giving up bad habits are really not achievable and it's becoming increasingly common for resolutions to be financially related.

It's currently winter, which means it's also cold and flu season. Sometimes, despite trying to avoid the germs as best you can, you just can't help falling ill. And when that happens, you realise the value of quality healthcare.

For expats who have moved overseas, but can't yet speak the language of their host country, finding a doctor can be difficult and may be something that requires assistance.

At Blacktower we would always suggest that finding a suitable doctor is a priority and should be high on your list of priorities when working out your expat retirement planning.

Recent Brexit negotiations have not gone down well with many expats living in Europe. And this latest move may mean that receiving financial guidance, such as pension transfer advice for expats, is more crucial than ever to ensure a smooth transition into life as an expat in a post-Brexit world.

Theresa May has reached a phase one Brexit agreement with the EU that covers citizen's rights (as well as the divorce settlement and the UK's EU borders), which now means talks between Britain and Brussels can progress on to trade. But instead of giving Britons living in Europe the freedom they were hoping for, the agreement has instead caused anger across several different expat communities, including a very prominent group in Spain, the country with the largest number of British expats: 296,000 in 2016, according to the Institute of National Statistics.

As an expat, choosing a robust life insurance policy, as well as medical insurance, can provide help to reassurance that you and your loved ones will be cared for should the worst happen. And recent research has highlighted just how valued such policies are.

A new survey from Bupa Global has found that such policies are amongst the items expats expect most from their employer when they move to work overseas.

Bupa Global questioned 150 senior human resource directors and 1,851 globally mobile employees. The international health insurer's research showed that expats are putting an increasing demand on their employers to provide them with more health and wellbeing benefits.

It's a sad reality that almost every time a pension story breaks in the press, particularly when they're regarding UK pensions, it's rarely good news.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of December, British pensioners had to digest what was possibly the most disheartening news for a long while.

A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), which is the world's largest economic thinktank, has stated that the British state pension is the worst in the developed world, falling below Mexico and Chile.

It's never too early to start saving for a pension – you've no doubt heard that one before, perhaps while searching for pension advice online or in news reports on the financial future of pensioners in this country.

Hopefully, you took note of it and started saving as soon as you possibly could, thinking of your retirement planning long before other milestones such as getting married or having children. Maybe you left it a little later. Either way, solid financial planning, which may involve pension transfer advice from a professional financial adviser, should help you make secure financial decisions.

Young workers today don't need to have someone to remind them that they should be saving for retirement thanks to auto-enrolment, which is a scheme that makes sure, unless they choose to opt out, all workers pay part of their salary into a private pension scheme. As almost everyone could do with starting their retirement saving as early as possible, auto-enrolment is a great idea, and now it appears that it could be the main factor in the improvement of future pension incomes, settling fears that some young savers may have regarding the prosperity of their long-term future.

What would you look for when choosing a destination to move to abroad? A sea-side location with warm weather all year round, lots of culture and opportunity for adventure, perhaps? Or a place with a great economy and plenty of career prospects?

We guess there's one key issue for almost all expats, though, and particularly for those moving abroad with young families, and that would be safety. Large cities can sometimes be dangerous places, so it's good to know which have robust security and protection systems in place.

Luckily, The Economist Intelligence Unit has made it very easy to determine the risks by compiling a comprehensive study entitled the Safe Cities Index.