Retiring abroad sounds great but can be lonely. Here’s what can help.

You may know someone who has done it, or dreamed of it yourself: After a long career, an increasing number of people are opting to retire abroad — often in countries where the weather is good and the cost of living comparatively low.

But while international retirement has its perks — imagine spending your golden years sipping margaritas on a beach in Mexico — it can also bring a greater chance of loneliness, as those who retire overseas find themselves far from networks of family and friends built up over a lifetime, according to a peer-reviewed study published Thursday in Psychology and Aging, a journal of the American Psychological Association.

“Older migrants face double jeopardy as they are vulnerable to both age-related and migration-related risk factors of loneliness,” wrote the authors, Esma Betül Savaş, Kène Henkens and Matthijs Kalmijn.

‘Social loneliness’

The authors, from the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, measured whether being a migrant had any effect on the likelihood of two types of loneliness: emotional, stemming from “the absence of an intimate figure, such as a partner or a best friend,” and social, which “stems from the absence of a broader group of contacts and a sense of community.”

Respondents were asked to answer “yes,” “no,” or “more or less” to statements such as “I experience a general sense of emptiness” or “There are many people I can trust completely.” Other risk factors for loneliness — including having children and self-reported health — were taken into account, so the researchers could disentangle the impact of people’s migrant status.

The study was based on a survey of 4,995 Dutch people between the ages of 66 and 90 living in 40 countries — including common retirement destinations such as France, Spain and Thailand — as well as 1,338 Dutch people in the same age bracket who live in the Netherlands. The people sampled collected a Dutch basic state pension at the time, and data was provided by the Social Insurance Bank, which implements the Dutch public pension system.

Overall, retirees living abroad reported higher levels of social loneliness compared to Dutch retirees living in the Netherlands, but their levels of emotional loneliness were roughly the same, results showed. Savaş, one of the authors, said this is probably because retirees typically move abroad with a romantic partner, and their relationship quality is likely to be high because they are taking a major step together.

Less time with family

Some overseas retirees may suffer from spending less time with family: The study showed that losing contact with one’s adult children increased the risk of emotional loneliness. Kelly Hall, who teaches social policy at Britain’s University of Birmingham, said that changing family relationships, particularly when people get older or lose mobility, means that family ties can become more focused on the person’s care needs and less on the personal relationship.

Other factors, such as not feeling a sense of belonging to the new country, can also increase social loneliness, researchers found. Savaş said overseas retirees may have a hard time meeting people if they don’t speak the local language.

However, the study also found several elements associated with lower risk of social and emotional loneliness, including having frequent contact with a neighbor in the new country. Researchers said having at least one good friend in the destination country was associated with lower levels of social loneliness. But “making new friends [is] a bit more difficult as you age,” Savaş added.

And even when retirees make friends abroad, they may feel the friendships are not as deep as those they had back home, said Hall, who was not involved in the Dutch study but previously carried out research on retirement migrants.

The Netherlands institute researchers said their study had some limitations, including that it didn’t measure people’s loneliness before they emigrated. For example, it could be that people chose to retire abroad because they were already feeling more distant from family and friends back home. The Dutch study also focused on the quantity of people’s relationships, not their quality, and did not include people who retired abroad but then returned home, suggesting that loneliness among the sample could have been underestimated. Finally, it looked only at Dutch retirement migrants, who may have cultural particularities that are not generalizable, the researchers said.

How loneliness affects well-being

Savaş said the findings show that moving abroad for one’s retirement is a big life change not to be undertaken lightly.

Although loneliness is subjective, it can be harmful. Those who report feeling lonely can be at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety, among other risks. Vivek H. Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general, noted in a 2023 report that “the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.”

How to combat social loneliness if you retire abroad

Hall and Savaş said there are ways for those who retire overseas to combat social and emotional loneliness:

Choose your retirement destination strategically: Hall, who has conducted research about older British adults who move to the Spanish coast, says those who are younger and healthier tend to report a high quality of life, in part because there is a network of British people living there and active British volunteering groups.

Don’t live like a tourist: Hall said some people retire abroad “but almost live like a tourist” in their new countries, seeking out a familiar lifestyle to what they had at home. This can prevent them from making friends, developing a sense of belonging or learning to use local public services. One way to avoid this, according to Hall: Learn the local language.

Develop hobbies: Learning a new hobby is known to be associated with higher well-being. The activity can give people a sense of purpose and help them meet others.

Keep up with family and friends back home: Savaş said retirees should nurture their ties at home even as they grow their network in a new country. The study found that maintaining ties with family and friends in the Netherlands reduced the risk of emotional loneliness.

Make a plan: Consider the following questions: Do you ever plan to return to your home country? If you experience the loss of a partner, or declining health or mobility, how will you access care in your new country? “Most people don’t like to think about what happens when you get older,” Hall said — and his leaves them unprepared if a crisis arises.

While retiring overseas might be a lifelong dream, Savaş said the public messaging around the change rarely shows people what the downsides could be. “You are a migrant at the end of the day, but that is not what they associate that move with. So I think before moving, there needs to be some more kind of managing of expectations,” she said.