Anyone thinking of leaving the familiarity of home behind to retire to a foreign country will be given a thousand reasons not to go. Their financial advisors should tell them to do what they want to do, but plan exhaustively first, according to the growing number of financial advisors in the United States who have retired clients scattered all over the world.

Just as there are a myriad of reasons why someone would chose to retire to Mexico, Canada, Europe, Australia or the Far East, there are many reasons that financial advisors end up with far-flung clients. Some advisors become foreign tax and investment experts first, and then actively seek out travel-minded retirees. Others stumble into the niche by accident when a valued client decides to leave the United States upon retirement.

Financial questions become more complicated when two sets of tax codes, inheritance laws or health care regulations have to be taken into consideration, but the resources available to financial advisors are growing as the number of expatriate clients increases.

"Friends and family will make excellent arguments for retirees to stay home. The days leading up to the departure, the retiree will be able to think of a hundred reasons to stay, and not to go. Go anyway," is the advice clients receive from George Middleton of Limoges Investment Management PC of Vancouver, Wash.

Middleton is slowly developing a clientele of expatriate retirees. To help them make decisions, he is making an exploratory trip to Panama in October to study the laws, cost of living, investment opportunities, real estate values and business opportunities there, to supplement his growing background in foreign retirement destinations. Right now he still recommends Mexico as a cost-effective destination; countries such as Argentina also represent a good financial value, although further removed geographically from the United States.

"Advising people who want to retire to another country is a niche I am developing," notes Middleton. "I tell them to look for a stable government and then look at the financial advantages. Some place like Argentina, a person was able to buy real estate at 20 cents on a dollar until recently. Now it is 40 cents on a dollar and going up. The opportunity is definitely still there, but it is closing."

Other Central and South American countries also are fertile ground for retirees, depending upon the person's reason for moving, whether investments will be kept in the United States and whether U.S. citizenship will be maintained. Most people retiring outside the United States do so to maintain a higher standard of living with less income than would be required in the United States.

"Mexico is one of the world's last, great ground-floor retirement opportunities," Middleton advises. "There, you can afford a maid, a gardener, a cook, plus you can still buy breathtaking beachfront property for as little as $40,000."

In other places, such as Panama, the local government is actively seeking U.S. retirees by offering protection on investments, tax exemptions on homes and other incentives. A nice home can be built for $40 a square foot and unskilled labor costs less than $7 per day, Middleton says.

But each country is different; each has different risks, and the number of factors to be considered before retirement grows exponentially when more than one set of laws has to be considered, warns Brian Wruk of Transition Financial Advisors in Gilbert, Ariz. Wruk specializes in United States residents retiring to Canada, and vice versa.

"I tell people it is like a dinner theater production," Wruk explains. "Before you start, you have a chance to set the stage and make all of the arrangements in your best interest. Once you take up residency in Canada, the curtain is up and you have to deal with whatever the situation is on the stage with no more time to plan."

Resources for financial advisors who are new to the international market include such organizations as Rotary International, which can assist in locating trustworthy real estate agents and lawyers in a foreign country, Wruk says.

"I advised a client who moved to San Miguel, Mexico, to find local real estate people and lawyers to deal with. If she wanted me to interview people for her I would, but I felt it was better for her to make the initial contacts," says Barbara Wolf of J. Cole Financial Advisors Inc. in Narberth, Pa.

Wolf has only one client who has retired out of the country, but she would gladly accept others; she feels the next one would be slightly easier than the first.

"The communication is done a little more by e-mail than I might like, but we just make our e-mails crystal clear, and my client returns to the United States about once a year for a face-to-face meeting."

Wolf's client went to Mexico out of a spirit of adventure more than as a money-saving measure. A renter in New Jersey her entire life, she is now investing in local real estate near San Miguel and needs assistance, but each client's needs can be different.

"Being a financial advisor is definitely becoming more of a global profession," says Barbara Steinmetz of Steinmetz Financial Planning in Burlingame, Calif., who had a client retire to Australia to be near family members. "It is a tax nightmare moving some investments to Australia, because of capital gains consequences and complicated tax issues. Each country has cross border issues, and most countries have tax treaties with the United States, so each side helps the other collect taxes that are due. And retirees have to remember, if income is coming from the United States it is still taxable here."

Like Steinmetz, advisor Tom Meyer of Meyer Capital in Marlton, N.J., fell into the international market by accident when a couple who are clients unexpectedly retired to South Africa.

"The husband was a dentist in Manhattan and his wife worked in his office to help, and they were going to retire here on the East Coast. We were going to have to turn their investment model upside down for them to be able to retire in the United States and maintain their lifestyle. But then they decided to move to South Africa, after numerous vacation trips there.

"They love the country and they could retire for half the price," Meyer says. "We did not have to change their portfolio at all because their income needs are now so much less. It took the pressure off of us as advisors, and off of them. At first they were going to maintain their place in Manhattan, but then they got such a good offer they made a clean break. Communication was a bit of a problem at first, but that has been ironed out."

For financial advisors who drop into cross border issues because of a single client, the best bet often is to turn to experts within the field who have more experience with expatriates.

"Sometimes I need to go to someone for advice who has a larger expatriate client base then I do," says Steinmetz.

One name that keeps recurring in conversations about cross border issues is Keats, Connelly & Associates Inc. in Phoenix. Bob Keats is the author of Border Guide, now in its seventh edition, which provides advice for those retiring to Canada.

"Because the United States and Canada share a close resemblance in social and cultural identities, Canadians tend to feel completely at home when visiting the U.S. Likewise, Americans feel the same when visiting Canada. Unfortunately, many of these visitors assume the laws governing investment, taxation and immigration are the same in both countries. They are not," Keats warns. "For anyone considering a move, the emphasis has to be on planning. The fixes we have had to make after the fact in some cases have been horrendous. If people just think ahead of time, they can avoid many problems and take advantage of many savings."

The types of investments people can make often change when they move outside the country.

"The United States is still one of the most inexpensive places to invest. Canada has a lot of expensive brokerage firms, and only 30% of investments in Canada brokerage firms can be foreign investments," Wruk says. "The rest have to be Canadian, which makes it more difficult to put together a well-diversified portfolio for your client. And Canada does not have the passive funds there that I am so fond of."

There are other issues to consider, such as the fact that debt incurred in the United States may immediately become due if the debtor moves out of the country. Likewise, transferring funds from an investment house to a bank can become a problem if the recipient is mentally incapacitated and cannot deposit a wire transfer in a bank, Wolf warns.

Health care and insurance can become an issue. Those moving to Canada will be covered by comprehensive Canadian insurance almost immediately. Wolf's client found her long-term health care insurance was not worth the expense once she moved to Mexico because long-term care there is inexpensive.

"What do you do if you die in another country?" asks Middleton. "Do you want to be buried there? You should know what the process is for getting the body back home. What happens to your inheritance if you die in a foreign country and your children are still in the United States?"

In a similar vein, "a trust moves to the place where the trustee lives," notes Wruk. "That may mean it will be taxed at the punishing Canadian tax rates. You may need a new will to replace one drawn in the United States. These are some of the things we have to advise clients to consider."

There are seemingly little details that can sometimes be the most upsetting to a client, Middleton warns.

"What about pets? How do you get them there and what are the quarantine requirements? This is all something that should be thought of ahead of time."

Sometimes the last thing potential expatriates think of is the cultural difference they will deal with, especially if the move is to Canada. Advisors need to tell clients to consider the vast differences in lifestyles, says Middleton.

"I tell people if they are not willing to adopt the culture of the country they are moving to, then don't go. If you want to go as an American, go as a tourist and then come home. I have not had anyone retire to another country and come back home yet."