Based on two qualitative research projects on transnational mobilities after retirement, the authors analyze critically similarities and differences of older people with and without a migration background. The mobility of ageing populations has attracted much interest in the last years. Research has shown that transnational mobility concerns older people (60+) with and without a migration background alike, but scholars usually do study these two groups separately. Our main contribution to the literature is to conduct a comparative analysis of the transnational mobilities and experiences of Swiss-born and non-Swiss older people. This paper is based on two ongoing qualitative research projects studying transnational ageing and mobility patterns. Both authors conducted qualitative interviews with older people (60+) who have in common the entitlement to a Swiss pension because they spent most of their working life in Switzerland. While one study focuses on former labor migrants who returned to Portugal after their retirement, the other research emphasizes the experiences of retirees without a migration background that are currently living in Spain. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the authors analyze the similarities and differences in the reasons and motivations for their re-location to another country and their transnational mobility in old age. We will show that although there exist some differences in their transnational practices due to former mobility, we can also find similarities between the two groups.

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