Compass Property

Traditionally, the most efficient way to save for retirement was to find the best pension on offer and make sure you kept paying into it. The last twenty years have seen the most ambitious investors heading away from traditional pensions and using property investment as a pension. The theory behind this is a good one - that a pension will grow roughly in line with inflation - if you are lucky - while property prices in the UK are one of the major factors in inflation itself. Due to a lack of space and very concentrated areas of desirable residence, property prices in the UK will always be higher than most of the world, as will rental costs.

If you can arrange low deposit property investment within the UK, this is a great way of securing yourself for old age. It is also reasonably easy to manage property within the UK as the land itself is reasonably small and benefits from excellent transport connections (if not excellent transport providers). For many people, investing in or around London is simply out of the question, as the prices are phenomenally high and offer worse comparative rental returns than other parts of the country. As a result, more and more people are looking overseas for the perfect opportunity to secure a comfortable retirement paid for by tenants and inflation.

Two booming markets at present are property investment Brazil and, closer to home, Bulgaria property investment. Experts suggest that a first overseas purchase should usually be made in a place with which you are familiar and which can be easily reached. For most Britons, this makes Brazil a slightly edgier investment. The other side of the coin is that edgier investments can bring the best rewards. Brazil is still recovering from an economic collapse at the turn of the century which completely altered the operation of the country. Property prices are, as a result, better than can be found in the UK and, at present, offer growth of around 10-20% per year (as opposed to under 5% inflation).

If you have made a lot of money - perhaps you have benefitted from some excellent career coaching along the way - you could look at Dubai property. Homes in Dubai have proved very popular among wealthier investors and are generally very high-spec compared to most other parts of the world. As Dubai is a fashionable destination for European holidaymakers, rental returns can be good on property there although short-term lets are always riskier than long-term.

One booming market is that for investment property Romania. The country is now a fully-fledged part of Europe and is rapidly shaking off its Communist history. There are some very attractive locations which are proving very popular among British and German investors. It's little wonder, as Romania is one of the most temperate countries in Europe.