Financial Advice For UK Expats In Greece
Your Complete Guide to UK Pensions, Investments, Tax Planning & Retirement in Greece.
Relocating to Greece is an increasingly popular choice for UK citizens seeking lifestyle improvement, retirement abroad, or long-term international mobility.
However, moving overseas fundamentally changes how your pensions, investments and retirement income should be structured. Many UK expats assume their financial arrangements can simply continue unchanged. In reality, cross-border taxation, pension withdrawal rules, currency exposure and investment reporting can all shift once you become Greek tax resident.
Without proper planning, expats often pay significantly more tax than necessary or hold portfolios that are inefficient for their new country of residence.
This guide explains how financial planning works for UK expats living in Greece and how to structure pensions, investments and retirement income efficiently.
Why Financial Planning Becomes More Important After Moving Abroad
When you relocate to Greece, several core financial assumptions from the UK may no longer apply.
Your tax residency will usually move to Greece if you spend more than 183 days per year there or establish your main home in the country. Greek tax residents are generally taxed on worldwide income. This includes pensions, investment income, rental income and overseas assets.
Because of this, financial planning for expats is not simply about managing investments. It is about coordinating tax residency, income withdrawals, reporting obligations, currency exposure and long-term retirement sustainability.
Many expats who do not restructure their finances encounter avoidable problems such as holding UK-centric portfolios that are inefficient overseas, withdrawing pension income in the wrong sequence, or facing unnecessary administrative complexity across two jurisdictions.
The Greek 7 Percent Flat Tax Regime for Foreign Pensioners
One of the most important financial opportunities available to UK retirees moving to Greece is the country’s special tax regime for foreign pensioners.
Eligible individuals may apply to pay a flat 7 percent tax on qualifying foreign income for up to fifteen years.
This can apply to private pensions, drawdown income, overseas dividends, investment withdrawals and interest income. For many retirees, this replaces Greece’s standard progressive income tax system.
The key point is that eligibility alone does not guarantee optimal results. The effectiveness of the regime depends heavily on how income is structured. Pension withdrawal timing, consolidation decisions and investment positioning can all influence the long-term tax outcome.
Professional planning before relocation often makes a substantial difference to total lifetime tax paid.
UK Pensions While Living in Greece
UK citizens can normally continue receiving their UK State Pension and private pensions while living in Greece. The UK-Greece double taxation agreement generally means pensions are taxed in the country where you are tax resident, which is usually Greece once you relocate permanently.
This makes the structure of pension withdrawals extremely important.
Many expats leave multiple pensions with different providers, withdraw income on an ad hoc basis or ignore investment allocation inside their pension funds. These decisions often result in higher taxation, inconsistent retirement income or unnecessary complexity.
A coordinated pension strategy is typically the first step in building a stable long-term retirement plan abroad.
The Role of an International SIPP for Expats in Greece
For internationally mobile clients, an International Self-Invested Personal Pension can provide significant flexibility.
An International SIPP can allow broader global investment access than some domestic schemes, multi-currency investment capability, flexible draw-down planning and improved control over retirement income structuring.
For UK expats retiring in the Euro zone, currency flexibility can be particularly valuable because retirement spending is usually in euros while pension assets are often denominated in sterling.
An International SIPP is not suitable for everyone, but for many expats planning long-term residence in Greece it can form part of an effective retirement strategy.
Investment Planning for UK Expats in Greece
Investment portfolios designed for UK residents are not always optimal once you become Greek tax resident.
Dividend treatment, reporting obligations and tax efficiency can change. Currency exposure also becomes more significant when your lifestyle costs are euro-based but assets remain sterling-based.
A properly structured international investment portfolio should consider tax efficiency in your country of residence, global diversification, long-term retirement income sustainability and inflation protection.
The key principle is that investment strategy should be built around your residency and long-term plans, rather than left in its original UK structure.
Retirement Planning Considerations for Expats
Effective retirement planning abroad involves more than investment selection.
A strong strategy should include income sequencing, which determines the order in which pensions, savings and investments are withdrawn.
It should include currency planning to manage exchange-rate risk over decades of retirement spending.
It should include long-term tax modelling to keep withdrawals within optimal thresholds and estate planning that functions smoothly across international jurisdictions.
This level of integrated planning is often where retirees achieve the greatest financial benefit.
Why The Wealth Genesis?
The Wealth Genesis provides independent international financial advice for UK citizens living abroad.
Independence means recommendations are not tied to specific providers or products. Clients benefit from access to global investment platforms and advice structured around long-term financial outcomes rather than sales targets.
We operate using a transparent flat-fee advisory structure rather than percentage-based portfolio charges on transfers and account set-up. This approach removes many of the conflicts associated with traditional asset-based fee models and focuses the relationship on strategic planning rather than asset gathering.
The Wealth Genesis specialises in advising UK professionals, retirees and internationally mobile families who require coordinated cross-border financial planning.
Services include UK pension advice for expats, International SIPP setup, global investment structuring, retirement income modelling and tax-efficient financial planning for overseas residents.
With our office based in Athens, and in depth knowledge of the Greek system, our advisers are perfectly placed to help you.
Speak With a Local Financial Adviser in Greece
If you live in Greece or are planning to move there, structured financial planning can help reduce lifetime tax, improve retirement income sustainability, optimise global investments and simplify cross-border financial management.
The Wealth Genesis works with UK expats to build clear, tax-efficient international financial strategies tailored to long-term overseas living.
To book an initial discovery call to understand how we can help you, use the diary link below.
