Malaysia as a retirement destination is becoming more and more common for people from all corners of the world. The English speaking, low cost of living, no foreign income tax and complete explosion of diversity has made it rise amongst the ranks of the go to destinations to live out your golden years. Whether that's sipping Strawberry Daiquiris on a beach or prefer the Babe in the big city wandering, there’s an option for everyone.
If you are planning on Retiring in Malaysia, here are a few things, you may want to consider:
- Visa (MM2H):
- Once you have committed to where you want to live, you need to identify the visa that suits you. For retiree’s, the notable option is the MM2H visa (My Malaysia Second Home). This visa requires you to make an investment into Malaysia, by form of purchasing a property and a fixed deposit account to the amount the tier you chose specifies. Something that isn’t common knowledge, is that you can purchase the property up to a year after you Visa has been accepted, and if you purchase the property after you have been accepted, you can use part of the fixed deposit to cover the cost, this lowers your investment amount.
For those of you that are against purchasing a property, there is also the option of the SMM2H. This visa doesn’t require a visa but requires you to spend 30 days of the year in Sarawak, which is becoming more common amongst retirees.
If you do need help with either the MM2H, or the SMM2H – We can connect you with a trusted provider that we use.
2. Medication and Health care:
Unfortunately, with age comes a higher risk of existing or previous medical conditions, it happens to us all. So there is a chance, that if you are Relocating to Malaysia in your later years, you may be taking some sort of medication or require regular check-ups with your doctor. However, do not panic! Malaysia has some of the best health care in the world, and you will be saying goodbye to the long queues, or 18 months waiting lists that you’re used to! People travel from all over the world to use Malaysian Healthcare, so you are in good hands! Here are a few things to consider with healthcare.
- Emergency Services: The emergency Services contact number is 999, however for healthcare this isn’t usually the best option. In Malaysia, it’s easier to contact the hospital directly, this way they can prepare for you and usually they have their own ambulances. Ensuring you know the contact number to closest or highest rated hospital to you (Princes Court, Pantai, Sunway, Columbia, etc..) can ensure that if you do have an emergency, you’re being transported to the hospital that suits you.
- Health Insurance: As you’re getting older, you want to ensure that the health insurance you take now, is the one you have for life, as going through the underwriting process in the future. And you do need health insurance, please do not attempt to self-insure, this only works if you never ever get sick (Which we all know doesn’t last forever). You need to note that most insurances will not include pre-existing conditions or any on-going medication. Taking a comprehensive international insurance is always the best option, this ensures that you are never going to need another health insurance for the rest of your life, because you can take it everywhere with you. But make sure you read every aspect of the insurance, you want to ensure that you know everything you are covered for and have no surprises.
- Medication: For those who are currently taking medication prescribed from their doctor, you need to ensure that medication is available in your new country. Luckily for you, if it is, it’s probably cheaper! But as an example, if you are moving over from the US and are using a new FDA approved drug prescribed from your doctor, it may not be readily available in Malaysia, so you will need to ensure you have an alternative method prior to moving here.
3. Wills and Life cover
- Wills: Chances are you already have a will in your home country, most people do. However, that Will may not cover international assets. So for those who are living abroad, especially on an MM2H visa which requires you to purchase a property and have a substantial amount in a fixed deposit, not to mention any investments you make as an expat, it will help your family if you have a Malaysian/ International will in place that covers your new assets in your new jurisdiction. Without getting this will in place, your family may have to spend a lot of time moving back and forth between Malaysia to ensure your assets are distributed correctly – So this helps them out.
- Life Insurance: This same concept applies to life insurance. Anyone who has a dependent on them, should have life insurance. However, your current life cover may not cover you for accidents abroad. Ensuring you have an international life insurance can make sure you’re not only providing support for your dependants but also include repatriation back to your home country if an emergency happens. The same rule we spoke about in health insurance, applies for life cover too – Make sure you know what is included!
4. Estate and Retirement Financial Plan
- Retirement Plan: Depending on what period of your retirement you are moving to Malaysia; your spending patterns will be changing. All though you may see a drop in the cost of living, the initial move (Inclusive of your visa, flights, property, insurance, etc..) will make a drastic change to your spending patterns, so you want to ensure you are still making up for potential short falls later in life. Utilise the advantages you have as an expat regarding offshore financial planning with firms like Melbourne Capital Group, this will ensure you are not overpaying on unnecessary tax and remaining in a stronger currency. You want to ensure your retirement plan, is for the full retirement.
- Estate Planning: This goes hand in hand with the will we spoke about previously, you need to ensure your estate is set up in a full cross border structure to ensure your family have the smoothest outcome, if anything was to ever happen to you. Also, something that’s going to keep up with inflation and spending patterns, whilst not overspending on tax – If you want to have a deeper talk about this one, feel free to message me.
5. Building Connections:
- Whether you’re moving to a new country on your own, or with your family, it’s important to build connections! Most expats who move abroad, find that their first network is the workplace, when retiring you don’t have this luxury. The only way to expand your own community, is by going out and meeting new people. The easiest way to do this is by joining expat communities, like The Expats Club. Look for events and activities that you would enjoy, that way you can meet new like-minded people.
- Here at the Expats Club we have a monthly ‘Expat Retiree and MM2H holders Lunch’ with the aim of bringing the retirement community together in Kuala Lumpur! We host in a restaurant, have a charity raffle for a prize and raise money for our charity of the month. To join these events, you can send us a message by clicking here.
Malaysia is our home, and we love it! And we are so happy to share any tips and advise on how to retire here and are happy to invite you into our community.
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