The average weekly wage in the UK is £457, said Simon Fraser, president of the Retirement Institute at Fidelity International. But in retirement Brits can expect to receive just £215 a week on average, which would be less than those working a 40-hour week on the minimum wage of £5.52 an hour. [Telegraph]

Record numbers of Britons are leaving UK, but the number of Britons relocating to UK is also increasing every year – last year more than 80,000 expats came home.

We have written before about making it work in Almerimar, adapting to life in Spain and advice on people that are returning back to the UK, so it was with interest that I read in the Telegraph that ITV1 is making the second series of ‘No Place Like Home?’ which aims to give British expats an opportunity to fact-find, and equip themselves to make an informed choice - to remain an expat or realise it’s time to come back home.

Two million British citizens have left the UK in a decade, the greatest exodus from this country in almost a century, new figures will show.

And who can blame them!!!!!! Never a week goes by without us meeting some people from the UK that have either just moved here or are thinking of moving over here from the UK and the message is pretty much the same:

• Too Expensive
• Poor Quality

How many of you have heard about IRIS? How many of you use IRIS? I do and I have reminded Sands that she should sign up for it when she is in the UK this week. You can only sign up when you are leaving the UK, but it is a great time save when you return to the UK.

With the Euro continuing to strengthen, expats with fixed incomes coming from the UK may want to think of a way of ensuring that things don´t get any worse. Whilst life may be cheaper here in Almerimar for one, it is still concerning, and maybe time to look at how to make the most of the currency exchange rate for the future:

Do you find this happens to you? You drift along happily on life, then someone mentions something and bang! Next thing you know you are surrounded by information on the subject. I wrote about Returning To Live In The UK after Sands told me that a couple of friends are doing just that. Now everywhere I turn I seem to be seeing advice on the subject!

Just learned that another couple that we have known for a while are returning to the UK to live. This triggered something in my mind that I had read a while ago about the potential pitfalls of returning to the UK and the things you can do to plan ahead if you do decide to go back to live in the UK after a period of living abroad.

Four years ago in a drive to cut “health tourism”, new regulations effectively barred access to the NHS, except in emergencies, to British expatriates resident in Europe for more than half the year.(Telegraph)

Of course if expats at a later stage chose to return to the UK full-time, they can then re-register with the NHS, but if you happen to have switched your residency, for instance to here in Spain, it may take six months before you are eligible again!

Any idea that the exodus from Britain of those settling abroad might be waning appears wildly premature. The latest survey predicts 1.8 million Britons retiring abroad by 2025 and 3.3 million by 2050 (Telegraph)

Not only does it look from the above that more and more people are set to leave the UK, but it also appears that very few have any intention of ever returning:

The ‘credit crunch’ that many expats thought they had escaped when they left the UK for a life of retirement in Spain seems to be slowly eroding the quality of life for many. Prices have in effect soared by 17.6 per cent over the past 12 months, as the pound’s value has slid steadily against the euro. Last week, the exchange rate dipped to 1.25€ to the pound for the first time, compared with 1.60€ not so long ago.

With all the recent focus on the strays it is good to see that there is an ‘up side’ for many animals, and that as an Expat there are some pretty interesting ways to make money - even if you think you have retired!

Paul and April Carrier set up their Alpha Dog Centre at Rota, near Cadiz, eight years ago, and now run courses on obedience training, guard and defence work.

Here’s another sale from Monarch for anyone here in Almerimar fancying a trip home, or anyone in the UK up for some of the lovely sunshine we a having now. Summer is certainly on its way and for me the next couple of months are usually some of the nicest in the year.

Monarch fly regularly between Almeria and Manchester, London Luton and Brimingham.

“grab the sun!

Thank you to Mary Adamson-Leigh for this insight into whether UK expats who are resident here in Spain, actually need to switch to a Spanish licence plus more!

You will all have no doubt read quite a bit by now about the budget in the UK, but I thought a quick summary of the 2 main things that affect we expats might be useful, having said that the first one only affects those of a certain age!

Ok so we all know that you can pick up some good deals on flights to and from Almeria if you are flexible about when you want to travel, but it seems that things may be about to become a little more expensive.

Apparently from an article I read yesterday, airport taxes at Heathrow and Gatwick are about to rise, and the latter definitely affects Almeria.

Once again Monarch have a sale on flights, which includes flights between Almeria, and Manchester, Birmingham and London Luton. So if anyone fancies and trip home to the UK, or from the UK to the lovely sunshine here, if you book today or tomorrow you could get a really good deal!

Anyone thinking of a trip to Almerimar or elsewhere in this area, OR expats fancying a trip home, might like to take a look at Monarch Airline’s latest flights sale, their Easter ‘eggs’travaganza!

Spring into action and grab your Easter seats!
March is upon us already and the year is racing away at a fairly swift pace! The same can be said for our Easter flights as they are being snapped up by a lot of sun-hungry people!

We’re always hearing about the increasing number of immigrants in the UK, but it is the rate of emigration that is currently going up year on year, and after Australia and New Zealand, Spain is still high up in the choice of countries. I found an interesting article this week that talked about who and why people are leaving Britain and which age groups are going where.