Moving Abroad Checklist for Retirees: Documents, Money, and Logistics

Most of a move abroad can be handled in any order. A few things can't: some documents take weeks to authenticate, some accounts are much harder to set up once you're gone, and your visa often needs proof of insurance before it's approved. This checklist puts things in the order that avoids those traps.

Work backward from your move date. If you're doing a six-month trial first, you can use a lighter version of this list and keep your U.S. home as a base.

6 Months Before: Decide and Start the Slow Paperwork

• Pick your visa and confirm the income requirement. See retirement visa requirements by country
• Order certified copies of your birth certificate, marriage certificate, or divorce decree, and start apostilles now. They can take weeks
• Get an FBI background check if your visa requires one; many do
• Review your will and name an executor who can act while you're overseas
• Talk to a tax preparer who works with expats. You'll still file U.S. taxes every year

3 Months Before: Money, Insurance, and Accounts

• Buy health insurance that starts the day you land. Medicare won't cover you abroad, and many visas ask for proof of coverage
• Decide what happens to Medicare and confirm your Social Security and 401(k) will keep paying where you're going
• Open a travel-friendly checking account and a no-foreign-fee credit card, and keep your U.S. bank accounts working
• Set up a transfer service like Wise so you're not losing 3-5% on every transfer
• Port your phone number to Google Voice so verification codes still reach you
• If you have a pet, start the vaccination and paperwork timeline for moving abroad with pets. Some countries need months

1 Month Before: Address, Belongings, and Access

• Choose a U.S. mailing address and a domicile state. Here's how to keep a U.S. address while living abroad
• Decide what to ship, store, or sell. For most people, checked bags beat a container
• Refill prescriptions for 3-6 months and get a letter listing every medication by generic name
• Update the phone and email on every account, switch to paperless statements, and test each login
• Book a furnished short-term rental for your first 1-3 months

Legal Documents to Prepare Before You Leave

These are all far easier to notarize and authenticate while you can still walk into a U.S. office:

• A healthcare directive and medical power of attorney, notarized, with copies for the person you've named
• A durable financial power of attorney so someone in the U.S. can handle banks, the IRS, or a property sale for you
• An updated U.S. will. You may need a local one later if you buy property; see estate planning when you die abroad
• Apostilled vital records for your residency application. If your country isn't in the Hague Apostille Convention, you'll need embassy authentication instead

Your First Month Abroad

• Register with the U.S. embassy's STEP program so consular staff can reach you in an emergency
• Find a doctor and a pharmacy near home before you need them
• Get a local SIM and, once you have residency, a local bank account
• Start the search for a long-term rental only after you know the neighborhoods