Stuart and Janet from Staffordshire want to retire to somewhere in the sun. They have helped look after four grand-children over recent years and now, says, Stuart, “our time has come”.
If you are wondering who might want to retire to Cambodia then so were the couple, when they visited A Place in the Sun Live exhibition in Birmingham last year, looking for info on Spain and Portugal.
“We spotted a stand with a poster of Angkor Wat [the Hindu-Buddhist temple complex] in Cambodia and our interest was piqued,” says Stuart, 72, who says he has retired ‘four times’, having got bored of not working on each occasion and then returned to a different job.
“We learnt enough about the new retirement development there to take a trip out. We had no real idea what it would be like and thought a lot about the cost, the culture, the distance, but at the start of this year issues such as the 90-day rule, the golden visa ending [in Spain], locals being fed up with tourists and house prices going up, also made us consider possible advantages.
The couple flew out to Cambodia for 9 days in March – via Singapore to Phnom Penh – and then onto Siem Reap, the city of the famous temple complex. They stayed in The Sullivan Retirement Residence, a new building of apartments to rent, run by a British expat family with an onsite driver, swimming pool, yoga studio and rooftop restaurant with room service.
They stayed in a two-bedroom apartment which will cost them US $2,000 (£1,569) a month, including its running costs and all these services. They also get a cooked meal provided each day. Private drivers are available for excursions or appointments.
“We were amazed. At first we felt a bit alien there but then we just relaxed and began to really like it. The roads were very good, the people lovely and friendly, we felt very safe,” says Stuart. “The food was so very affordable when eating out and we learnt about the healthcare and the price of private medical care.”
They also liked the spacious apartment in the complex, and the roof-top bar. “We did a quiz night there and sensed it was a very nice community too,” adds Janet, 70.
“We do realise that it will be very different when we live there – it won’t be the same as being there on holiday. We are going to keep a smaller house in the UK so we have somewhere to come back to.” They also have two grown-up sons based here.
Sullivan Retirement Residence staff will also help sort out their visa: In Cambodia the retirement visa only requires that you need to be over 55, not working and have some pension income. The couple will start are on a rolling one-year visa.
The couple will move out when their daughter and her husband and four children move to Australia, which was the clinching factor in their decision.
“It will be easier for us to travel and see them, and also we hope to explore Malaysia and Vietnam,” says Stuart. “I will probably end up volunteering or doing something to keep me busy.”
Find out more about Sullivan Retirement Residence at A Place in the Sun Live at London Excel – 9-11th May.
