Dollars and Sense
Peter Hall, UC Berkeley

A key question is whether you will be living entirely on your UC pension, or other U.S. income, or also drawing income from the country in which you’re living.  This matters a lot because of the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar in relation to other major currencies such as the Euro and the British pound.  

The current exchange rate is effectively two dollars to the pound – far worse than a decade ago.  Your pension, which by law must be banked in a California bank but can then be repatriated, won’t go as far as it should.  The best strategy is to leave it earning the best rate of interest you can find in the U.S., and exchange only when the rate improves again – assuming that eventually it will!

The other big point is that you will be “out of area” UC health benefits, and so will not be able to get medical treatment without paying for it and then claiming back.  Since “out of area” options involve deductibles and pay only part of the treatment, this can be expensive.  My experience is that you will pay most of the treatment yourself!  So it matters whether you can alternatively use health plans in the country where you reside, for instance the British free National Health Service (NHS).  You need to check your eligibility for such schemes before you relocate.

Finally, real estate in some locations can be very expensive, though maybe not more so than in California locations such as the Bay Area or West LA!  You should consider the sale value of your home and what it will buy in the location where you intend to live.  London is notorious in this respect: real estate is escalating month on month and is some of the most expensive in the world.  So be careful, and check it out!

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