Retiring abroad? Don’t forget to make new friends

Many of us dream of retiring to a sunnier country—but there’s a real risk of living a lonely life there.

Retirees aren’t factoring in the difficulties of forming new social networks abroad, say researchers, and there is also reduced contact with friends and family they’ve left behind.

Researchers from the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographics Institute surveyed 4,995 Dutch people who had moved abroad and compared them to 1,338 retirees who had stayed at home.  Although most said they were happy in their new sunny country, they did admit they felt lonely.

They had failed to form new social groups, and feelings of loneliness increase the risk of chronic health problems, the researchers say.

“It’s important for people considering retirement migration to think about how they can maintain their social ties in their origin country and make new ones in their destination country,” said Esma Betul Savas, one of the researchers.

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community