We want to retire back home to Ghana. What should we get in order first?

The question

An illustrative letter.

The answer

My dear, what a beautiful plan: to go home, after a working life here, and grow old among family and familiar things. Four years is a good amount of time to prepare, and asking now is exactly right. A move like this has many pieces, but none of them is beyond you. Most simply need to be done in the right order, with a few phone calls and some patience.

Will our Social Security follow us to Ghana?

If you are U.S. citizens, your Social Security payments can generally continue while you live in Ghana. If either of you is not a U.S. citizen, extra conditions may apply, depending on your citizenship and your work record. Social Security's Payments Abroad Screening Tool, on its website, tells you whether your payments would continue. Check it now, while there is plenty of time to plan around the answer.

Social Security can keep paying into a U.S. bank account while you live abroad, and Ghana is among the countries where it can also pay directly into a local bank account. Wherever the money lands, Social Security will periodically send you a questionnaire to confirm you are still eligible. Answer it promptly, because if it is not returned, payments can stop.

Why keep a U.S. bank account?

Your income will arrive in dollars, and your savings and any retirement accounts are here. A U.S. account lets you receive benefits, pay any U.S. bills and move money to Ghana when you choose, rather than all at once.

Some banks and investment firms restrict or close accounts once the owner lives abroad. Ask yours, before you go, whether your accounts can stay open with a foreign address, and move them to a firm that allows it if they cannot. It is far easier to arrange this while you still live here.

What happens to our health care?

This is the piece people most often underestimate. Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the U.S. So you will need a plan for health care in Ghana: look at what the national health insurance there covers, and price private health insurance that works in Ghana, especially for serious illness.

Then there is Medicare Part B, which has a monthly premium. If you keep it while abroad, you pay for coverage you can use only on visits to the U.S. If you drop it and later return to live here, you can usually only re-enroll during a set period early in the year, and you may pay a late enrollment penalty of 10 percent more for each full year you went without it, for as long as you have Part B. Neither choice is wrong, but it should be made with eyes open, before you leave.

What about taxes?

U.S. citizens generally must keep filing U.S. tax returns while living abroad, reporting income from everywhere. Ghana may also tax you as a resident. How the two fit together, and how your Social Security and retirement withdrawals are treated, is worth getting right from the start. A CPA who knows the rules for Americans abroad can tell you how they apply to you.

Why try a long stay before selling anything?

Because home changes, and so do we. Spend three to six months in Ghana, living as you would in retirement, before you sell your house here or move your savings. Rent rather than buy at first. See how daily costs feel, how the health care works, how family life fits and how you both feel after the first few months, when the visit is no longer a holiday.

Many people find the plan is just right. Some find they want to split the year, or wait longer. Either way, a trial costs far less than undoing a move.

What if we plan to build or buy in Ghana?

Before any money goes toward land or a house, have the title checked at the land registry by a lawyer you choose yourself, and make sure the property is registered in your names. Pay for building in stages, after someone you trust confirms each stage is done. Land disputes are a painful and familiar story for people who build from abroad.

What else needs to be in order?

• Wills that work in both countries, since you will have property and accounts in both.
• A power of attorney naming someone you trust in the U.S. to handle matters here if you cannot.
• Your documents: passports, Social Security cards, Medicare cards, marriage certificate and pension papers, with copies kept safely in each country.
• Some savings kept in dollars, because your income is in dollars and exchange rates move over the years.

You have built a life here so that you could rest well there. Prepare with care for these four years, and the homecoming can be everything you have hoped for.

One thing to do this week

Use Social Security's Payments Abroad Screening Tool, and ask your bank whether your account can stay open with an address in Ghana.