Moving Money Overseas for Retirement

One issue which frequently concerns people who are considering an overseas move, whether it is for retirement or other reasons, is how they can access their money while living in another country. This week we have a guest blog from Jon Delacruz with icomparefx.com, a fund transfer company which specializes in helping people move money from one country to another. 

Because of the interest many Americans have in retiring overseas, sometimes permanently and sometimes just for a few months or years, I felt this information would be extremely helpful for my readers.

A Guide to Moving Money Across Borders When Retiring Overseas

The U.S. Social Security Administration sends more than 500,000 payments every month to Americans who live outside of the country. This is a considerable rise from the 400,000 retiree payments that were sent overseas in 2016. There are around 247,000 British nationals over 65 years of age who live in European Union (EU) countries, and around 85,000 people in the same age bracket from the EU who live in the UK. These numbers show that a significant number of people from different countries retire overseas.

When you choose to retire in another country, planning your finances becomes crucial. After all, you do not want to end up in a foreign land with access to less money than you originally figured you would have. Fortunately, moving money across borders is no longer as time consuming, complicated, or expensive as it used to be until the turn of the last century.

Receiving State Pensions

Depending on the country where you have lived and worked throughout your life, you might be able to receive your state-sponsored pension payments in a foreign country. All you need to do to find out if you qualify is get in touch with the relevant authorities in your country.

More than half a million Americans reside out of the country and receive some kind of Social Security benefit, including disabled and retired workers, as well as spouses, children, widows, and widowers. The U.S. government considers you to be out of the country if you spend more than 30 days in a row in a foreign land, and you may receive your Social Security payments overseas, provided you are eligible.

Retirees who plan to move outside of the U.S. should inform Social Security about their travel dates to find out if their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be affected in any way. An online tool gives you easy means to determine if you may continue receiving your Social Security benefits outside of the country.

If you are a citizen of the UK, you stand to receive your state pension no matter which country you choose for your retirement. However, you will not receive increases if it is a country with which the UK does not have a social security agreement.

Areas where you will continue receiving increases include the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, Gibraltar, Jersey, Isle of Man, Guernsey, the U.S., and most of the Caribbean. Some of the exceptions where retirees from the UK do not receive pension increases include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Pakistan. The complete list is made available online.

Should You Receive Your Pension Payments Overseas?

If you plan to receive your pension payments from your country’s government directly into an overseas bank account, the cost of the transfer will depend on the service provider used to process the transfer. However, if you get your pension payment into a local bank account, there is no exchange of currencies involved.

In this scenario, you may then use an online overseas money transfer company to move your money from the bank account in your home country to a bank account in your new country of residence. However, you will need to consider the cost of maintaining a bank account in your home country.

Handling the Money You Have Saved

When time comes to relocate, do you plan to take your savings with you? If so, you will need to determine what you plan to do with the money in your bank as well as your investments in the form of stocks and bonds.

The maximum amount you may transfer depends on where you live. For instance, transferring major currencies such as U.S. dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, euros, and Japanese yen come with little to no restrictions. However, you might have to worry about government regulations when it comes to regulated currencies such as the South African rand, Chinese yuan, and Korean won.

Limits may also apply depending on the service provider you select. For example, some banks and overseas money transfer companies have daily, weekly, monthly, and even annual transfer limits in place.

Banks or Overseas Money Transfer Companies

Turning to your bank to transfer money overseas may seem convenient, but it might not be your best bet. Most banks tend to add noticeable markups to existing mid-market exchange rates, and the rates they apply on the transfers they process are often less than desirable.

Specialist money transfer companies such as TransferWise, WorldFirst, WorldRemit, OFX, and Currencies Direct are able to provide bank-beating rates consistently by leveraging technology and keeping overhead costs to a minimum. While a small difference in exchange rates might not seem like much, it can have a considerable effect if you are transferring a large sum.

Banks are also known to charge steep transfer fees, whereas you end up paying little to no fees when working with a specialist money transfer company.

Factors to Consider

Given that there are a number of overseas money transfer companies from which to choose, it is important that you pay attention to different factors. Start by making a shortlist of companies that facilitate transfers between both of the countries in question, because lists of supported countries and currencies tend to vary from one service provider to the next. 

Cost effectiveness. The cost of moving money across borders depends on more than just the exchange rate  that applies on the transfer. Some companies are known to charge a percentage of the transfer amount as fees, whereas some others have fixed per-transfer fees in place. Some offer fee-free transfers, and some have fee-free threshold limits. The receiving bank may charge a currency conversion fee, and you may also incur additional fees when paying using a debit or credit card. 

Waiting for a better rate. If you feel that the exchange rate might swing in your favor in the near future, you might consider transferring your money using a market order. In this case, you set a target rate, and when it reaches the desired level, your transfer goes through automatically.
 

Lock in the rate. If you feel that the existing exchange rate is to your liking, you may use a forward contract to lock it in place for a transfer you wish to carry out in the future. Several money transfer companies let you lock in exchange rates for up to six months, and some even let you lock in rates for up to a year. 

Negotiate. Almost all money transfer companies add slight markups to prevailing mid-market rates. As a result, negotiating for a better rate is not out of place, especially if you plan to carry out a large value transfer.

Conclusion:   Moving money across borders when retiring overseas presents you with multiple alternatives. No matter whether you wish to receive state pension payments to take your own money with you, selecting the right method and a suitable service provider can result in noticeable savings.

Author Bio:

Jon Delacruz works as a researcher and mystery shopper with iCompareFX, a website that lets its users compare the world’s leading overseas money transfer companies. Outside of work, he likes to explore new sounds from different genres of music.

If you are interested in learning more about where to retire in the United States and overseas, financial planning, Social Security, Medicare, common health issues in retirement and more, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional helpful articles on this blog.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  Photo of beach in Portugal courtesy of Google images.  

Health Self-Exams and Disease Prevention

While all of us rely on occasional visits to our physician to get an official health evaluation, the truth is that the ultimate responsibility for our health is up to us.  We are the ones who need to pay attention to our bodies and watch for any symptoms which could indicate a problem.  We are the ones who need to practice good preventive measures to keep our bodies functioning as smoothly as possible.  We are the ones who need to be able to concisely report any suspected problems to our doctors during the 15 minute annual appointment they allow us.

However, most of us have no idea what we can actually do to evaluate our health.  How do we recognize suspicious changes to our body?  How can we keep our body operating smoothly?  Start by talking to your doctor about any special self-exams or preventive measures which would be specific to your medical conditions.  In addition, you may want to take the following actions.  The suggestions below came from my healthcare provider, Kaiser Permanente, or were recommended in the August/September 2017 issue of AARP Magazine or the September 2017 issue of the AARP Bulletin.  I've pulled them all together in one location here.

Health Self-Exams

Check for Breast Cancer - Breast cancer can occur in both men and women, although it is more common in women.  Both men and women should do monthly breast self-exams while in the shower, checking for lumps, discharges, rashes or unusual changes in the breast area.

Check for Skin Cancer - Even one bad sunburn as a child could make you more vulnerable to skin cancer as an adult.  Everyone should look for changes to their skin.  In addition, run your fingers over your skin to see if there are areas where it feels different.  Check for patches which feel rough, spots of shiny pink or brown bumps with raised borders, or moles which have changed shape or color.

Check your Eyes - Has your sight suddenly changed?  Do you have blurry spots in your vision? Has your peripheral vision decreased?  Does your lower eyelid droop?  Is their a bump on your eyelid with missing eyelashes?  All of these could indicate serious problems which should be reported to your eye doctor quickly.

Check your Hair - Are you losing more hair than normal?  Everyone loses some hair every day.  However, if the rate of hair loss suddenly increases, it could indicate anemia or thyroid disease.  Also, check your scalp for signs of skin cancer.

Check your Heart - There are several self-tests you should do periodically to make sure everything is OK.  Buy a blood pressure monitor and check your pressure regularly.  Unless your doctor gives you other instructions, strive for blood pressure under 130/80.  At the same time, check your resting heart rate.  Your blood pressure monitor may do it for you, or you can do it manually by feeling your pulse in your neck or wrist.  Ideally, you should have a heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute.  If you are very fit, your resting heart rate may be slightly under 60. Report high blood pressure, an extremely high or low heart rate, or an irregular heartbeat to your doctor.

Check your Motor Skills or Ability to Move - Can you walk one meter (or 4.37 yards) at your normal pace in four seconds or less?  If not, you may want to spend more time walking, with the goal of increasing your normal walking speed.  Faster walkers tend to live longer.  You may also want to test your ability to sit on the floor and get up again.  Your goal is to be able to do that with reasonable ease and without outside help, relying on just your own hands and knees.  Being able to do that comfortably is also linked to better health.

Disease Prevention

In addition to your health self-tests, you will want to make sure you take advantage of all the preventive measures possible. Most of them are covered by Medicare or private insurance, with little or no co-pays.  Below are some which are recommended:

Get an Annual Physical - At least once a year you should see a doctor and have your blood tested for cholesterol and any abnormalities which could indicate the early stages of a variety of diseases.  The earlier an abnormality is detected, the easier it is to treat.  It is amazing how many health issues can now be detected through a simple blood test, so make sure you have yours checked at least once a year. If you have been keeping up with your health self-exams, bring your results with you when you see your doctor.  Also, write down any questions you have for your doctor so you remember to ask them during your appointment.  Between the results of your self-tests, the questions you ask, and your blood work, the results of your annual physical will be much more meaningful.

Innoculations - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC), only 1/3 of people over the age of 65 have gotten the shingles shot; less than 2/3 have had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years; only 2/3 have had the pneumococcal vaccine; and only 2/3 of people between the ages of 65 and 74 received the flu vaccine last year.  These inoculations can save lives and also prevent misery.  Even if you had a shingles shot or pneumonia shot five or more years ago, you may want to ask your doctor whether or not you should get the updated, more protective versions. Most healthcare providers recommend these innoculations.  Check with yours to make sure you do not have a healthcare problem which would prevent you from getting one of these vaccines.

Get recommended screening tests - If your doctor recommends you get a mammogram, colonoscopy, or other screening test, be sure to follow their recommendation.  Colonoscopies can actually prevent many cases of colon cancer, since doctors remove precancerous polyps when they perform the procedure.  Screening tests can catch cancer and other diseases early and make them easier to treat.

Follow your heathcare providers' instructions for maintaining your health - This could mean losing weight, following a special diet, stopping smoking, cutting back on alcohol, getting more exercise or making other recommended lifestyle changes. Simple changes can improve both the quality and length of your life.

While taking the above steps cannot guarantee you will have perfect health for your entire life, they do increase your odds of leading a healthier and longer life.  They also make you an active participant in maintaining your health.  Ultimately, you are the person who knows your body best and you are the one responsible for seeing that it gets the best care possible.

If you are interested in learning more about common health issues affecting baby boomers, retirement planning, where to retire, Social Security, Medicare and more, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.


You are reading from:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  morguefile.com

How Gut Bacteria Affect Your Brain and Body

Most of us have a vague understanding of how the microbes in our guts can affect our health.  We may eat yogurt to keep things running smoothly and some of us even understand that probiotics in yogurt and other foods are especially important after we have had a course of antibiotics, so we can restore the good bacteria in our gut.  However, researchers are discovering that healthy gut microbes are more important than they initially understood.  In fact, maintaining good bacteria in your system can protect you from many health problems.

This week, we have a guest post from Jennifer Chin who has studied microorganisms in our digestive track and how wasabi and other healthy foods can provide your body with the important probiotics and prebiotics it needs in order to function at its best.  As the author of this blog, I especially appreciated how much scientific research she included in her helpful guest post.

Understanding the Importance of Your Gut Microbiome

Meet Your Microbiome: Your Gut and Your Health

Why Your Gut Needs Daily Attention

Think you're browsing the web alone right now? Think again. The human body contains around 100 trillion cells, though only one in ten of these is truly human. The remainder are made up of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Individually, these microorganisms are called ‘microbiota,’ and collectively they’re known as your ‘microbiome'.

And, as you’re about to see, your microbiome has a substantial impact on your physical and mental health.

The vast and diverse microbiota that call our bodies home can be found on the skin, in our intimate parts, in our mouths, and, most of all, in our guts, where they feast on a constant supply of nutrients. In total, our microbiome weighs around two kilograms and is highly specific to each individual. As more and more scientific findings come to light, the medical community is beginning to recognize the human digestive system as a universe unto itself.

The Basic Microbiome Functions & Components

Our microbiota carry out important functions within our bodies. The most well-known include producing vitamins K and B, and aiding the digestive process, especially with the breakdown of certain foods the small intestine finds problematic on its own. Our microbiota also help us fight nasty microorganisms and prevent them from becoming pathogenic, or capable of causing disease, thus maintaining intestinal integrity and healthy intestinal mucosa.

In other words, our immune system very much depends on the barrier that our microbiome form inside us.

Photo credit:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora#/media/File:EscherichiaColi_NIAID.jpg

These microscopic colonizers keep us healthy

Meeting the Microbes: Bacteria, Yeast, & Viruses

Our guts contain the largest number of bacteria and widest variety of species. It’s estimated that around 4,000 to 5,000 species of bacteria live in the human gut. Some of these bacteria are neutral, meaning they take up space but don’t do anything in particular to boost health. Some are negative, and some are absolutely imperative for good health.

Fungi, particularly yeast, are also in abundance in the human gut. The Candida species (responsible for causing vaginal and oral thrush) can quickly become pathogenic in immunocompromised individuals.

The gut is also home to different viruses, especially bacterial ones that are responsible for colonizing various bodily sites. These viruses have been linked to some diseases, but more often than not, they live quite peacefully in little bacterial communities.

The Microbiome’s Impact on Physical Health

While our microbiome may seem small, it can indeed have a mighty impact on our health. According to a new studypublished by JCI Insight, gut flora could be blamed for arthritis and joint pain among obese people. Osteoarthritis is a side effect of obesity that plagues 31 million people in the United States. Previously thought to be a natural consequence of excessive stress on joints, the condition is now understood to be linked to bacteria in the gut.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical center have identified diet—and the direct effect it has on gut health—as a key driving force behind the debilitating disease. They found that lean mice had far less harmful bacteria in their guts than obese ones and that this bacteria was causing inflammation that lead to rapid joint deterioration. When the mice were supplied with prebiotic supplements, the negative symptoms were rapidly reversed and the joints of the obese mice quickly became indistinguishable from the lean mice—even though the mice did not shed weight!

Poor Gut Health Could Cause Heart Attacks

The curious relationship between the gut microbiome and atherosclerosis has recently been unearthed by researchers at Western University. Atherosclerosis is a condition that’s measured by the amount of plaque in the carotid arteries, and it is one of the leading causes of heart attack and stroke. A study found that patients with unexplained atherosclerosis (meaning that they did not present as high-risk) had higher levels of toxic metabolites produced by intestinal bacteria.

The study indicated that human gut flora played a pivotal role in an individual’s risk for developing atherosclerosis. This research is now paving the way for new dietary treatment options for patients at risk of developing the disease.  

Gut Health and Crohn’s Disease

Poor gut health has also been linked to several autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s disease. Penn Medicine researchers have identified a single bacterial enzyme called ‘urease’ that’s responsible for an imbalance in gut flora leading to the painful inflammatory bowel. They discovered that wiping out a large portion of bacteria in the gut microbiome, then reintroducing a good bacteria that lacks urease, was effective in treating Crohn’s.

While the link between the enzyme and Crohn's disease is still not fully understood, the study reinforces the strong link between healthy gut flora and physiological health.

The Link Between Gut and Brain

Psychobiotics is a revolutionary new science that aims to examine the relationship between the bacteria in our gut and our mental health. Scientists now believe that our microbiome could be responsible for various psychological conditions, such as anxiety and depression.

Photo credit:   https://pixabay.com/en/mental-health-brain-training-mind-2313426/

Good Gut Health Makes For a Healthy Mind

Researchers have discovered that the gut regulates the brain’s fear processor. This is because the amygdala – the part of our brain responsible for fear responses – receives key signals from the gut. When examining mice, scientists found more acute reactions to fear in mice that lacked a healthy microbiome.

The Gut Impacts Psychiatric Disorders

But fear responses are not the only psychological reactions the gut controls. The bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain has also been associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and autisticdisorders. Other studies have linked the gut microbiome to neurologic disordersincluding Alzheimer’s, MS, and ALS. Gut microorganisms are even capable of producing neuroactive substances like serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for making us feel happiness.

As the effect our microbiome has on our psychological health becomes more apparent, researchers hope to develop some experimental treatments for anxiety, such as dietary intervention through probiotics. Some experts have suggested "psychomicrobiotics" as a novel way to treat psychiatric disorders.

How to Nurture Gut Microbiome

The good news is that, while each of our diverse mini-universes of gut microbiota may be vastly different, there are certain steps we can take to ensure our gut is nurtured and able to thrive. Given the way in which our microbiome is linked to physiological and psychological wellness, it’s important to examine the ways in which we can influence it. 

 Photo credit:  https://pxhere.com/en/photo/922773

Yoghurt & Oats Are a Great Source Of Probiotics And Prebiotics

Eat A Diverse Diet

A varied diet, consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and antioxidants, can have a huge impact on your gut flora, in a very short amount of time. A poor, undiversified diet is the number one contributing factor in an unhealthy gut. Eating the same foods all the time leads to a lack of diversity within the gut bacteria because the diet is what provides the bacteria with the nutrients needed to grow and thrive.

Modern, western diets consist of high amounts of processed carbohydrates, fats, and sugars, all of which help bad bacteria to thrive while doing nothing for the good bacteria. Without a healthy population of diverse bacteria, the bad kinds can more easily become pathogenic. So instead of opting for convenience food or relying on the same foods all the time, change up what you eat, and opt for real foods.

Consume More Probiotics

While probiotics are a bit of a buzzword at the moment, with moms even buying specialized options for children, there’s a good reason for this trend. Consuming more probiotics can help increase the abundance of healthy bacteria in the gut. Fermented foods such as kimchi, yogurt, kefir, tempeh, and kombucha are all great sources of probiotics.

Add Some Prebiotics

Adding prebiotics to your diet is also a fantastic way of boosting the beneficial gut bugs. Prebiotics contain lots of fiber, which passes through the body undigested but helps promote growth for the microbiota. Good sources of prebiotics include bananas, asparagus, lentils, oats, and nuts.

How Our Gut Bacteria Got Here

As important as it is to consider what we can do to help our gut microbiome to thrive, it's equally crucial to be aware of the patterns and cultural norms which got our bodies off-track, to begin with.

Unhealthy Lifestyle & Dietary Choices

Poor lifestyle choices – such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, not getting enough sleep, skimping on fruits and vegetables, and a lack of exercise – have been shown to have a negative effect on gut health. As repetitive as the advice may seem, a conventionally healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet with added pro- and prebiotics, exercise, and sleep, is the best route to a diverse microbiome, which in turn means an abundance of health and happiness.

Fewer Natural Births

The womb provides a sterile environment for babies to develop. During birth, they come into contact with a whole host of beneficial bacteria, from the birthing canal, which then forms their unique microbiome. Babies born via cesarean are not exposed to their mother’s microflora and are often at a higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases and asthma later on.

Due to this, babies delivered via C-section today are often given a vaginal swab, to ensure they’re given the same protection as babies birthed vaginally. Healthy microbiome development in infancy also depends on babies receiving their mother’s colostrum through breastfeeding, a secretion rich in natural antibodies.

Obsessive Cleanliness

It also appears that our modern obsession with cleanliness is actually working against our health. Antibacterial agents and other harmful chemicals found in soaps and detergents are having an adverse effect on our gut microbiome. One study even linked overt cleanliness with an increase in autism.

To this end, perhaps letting children dig around outside is more beneficial than previously thought. Instead of keeping our kids in plastic bubbles, or automatically scrubbing them down at the first appearance of dirt, the old saying that “a little dirt never hurt” seems to prove a positive parenting motto. 

Antibiotic Overuse

One of the biggest destroyers of our microbiome is antibiotics. Antibiotics eradicate the pathogens that make us ill. Although they are completely necessary at times, general antibiotic prescriptions often aren’t even related to the offending strain, thus offering no health benefits, while bringing on a serious decline in gut flora. That is why experts are strongly urging doctors to curb extraneous prescriptions and to only suggest antibiotics for serious illnesses. The fewer and less diverse bacteria we have, the sicker we become, as individuals and as a society.

Only the Beginning

As the complex relationship between gut flora and health is slowly uncovered, we may be on the way to discovering another great hope in preventative medicine. These discoveries draw stark parallels with the complex consequences of the human genome project.

Unlike our genes, however, we can easily influence our microbiome, and we must learn to care for the microscopic colonizers which so drastically impact our physical and mental health. When considering your daily health and wellness regimen, be sure to also incorporate steps to keep your gut microbiome functioning at its best. After all, your body—and your mind—depend on it.

About the Author:

Bio:  Jennifer Chin is the Community Manager at Your Wasabi in Abbotsford, BC. Our goal is to provide anyone, anywhere, with 100% genuine wasabi for their health.

All of our wasabi is grown, dried, and processed on our farm in British Columbia, which is family owned and operated, and always will be. Find out more about Your Wasabi and how you can discover the hidden health benefits of wasabi here:  yourwasabi.com

If you are interested in learning more about dealing with common medical problems as you age, Social Security, Medicare, where to retire, financial planning and more, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com