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What countries are best to retire to, with little money |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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What countries are best to retire to, with little money
We are not likely to have a big pension and I need to retire early at around the age of 56ish.
We will have an asset in the form of our house but thats not worth that much. What sort of countries, which ideally are English speaking are good value, safe, welcoming and easy for UK citizens to go and retire to? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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We've been discussing this so I'd be interested in any info too. I'm not sure we will be welcome many places soon!
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jul 2012
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Cyprus? Depends how far you want to go really.
![]() There are many Brits in Turkey and Pathos |
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#4 |
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There are actually very good deals in some Spanish repossession properties just now but they are mostly in towns rather than resorts. However, their economy is very uncertain and prices could rocket.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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I was in Malta one time and was astonished at how many retired Brits went out for months on end, congregated and socialised together, moaned about life back home and about "bloody immigrants".
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#6 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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It really depends what you are looking for.
Do you wish to stay close to home? Is your priority year round warm weather. Also something else that becomes important as you get older - healthcare. At present as we are still in the EU all of the EU is open to you - but you will still face cold winter months. But there are places further afield which may offer warm weather, and alternatives and relatively easy permanent settlement for Brits where English is widely spoken eg Malaysia, Belize, Thailand and Mauritius. Bar Belize they all drive on the left too. However traditional retirement destinations like Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada aren't options now unless you have £500k plus each to invest to get a permanent stay retirement visa. But you can stay in these countries as a visitor for up to six months a year as a tourist - but you can't stay permanently. Just depends how adventurous you are. Rural Ireland is lovely - cheap housing and you can still shop at Tesco, Aldi and Lidl. |
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#7 |
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Health care is definitely important. Not sure about climate, I cant take it very hot
Ive always been interested in Italy but with brexit, I would be worried about the EU I never thought of Ireland I suppose an option could be living somewhere each winter, renting a long term rental say and the living back here in the summer, then we wouldnt need to worry about residency. However that would involve having to have an empty property for 6 months of the year |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Quote:
Health care is definitely important. Not sure about climate, I cant take it very hot
Ive always been interested in Italy but with brexit, I would be worried about the EU The low pound doesn't help at the minute. Have you thought about just moving to a cheaper part of the UK? Then you have the same climate, no currency issues, the NHS... |
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#9 |
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Quote:
Health care is definitely important. Not sure about climate, I cant take it very hot
Ive always been interested in Italy but with brexit, I would be worried about the EU I never thought of Ireland I suppose an option could be living somewhere each winter, renting a long term rental say and the living back here in the summer, then we wouldnt need to worry about residency. However that would involve having to have an empty property for 6 months of the year A retired lady up the road from my sister does that. She rents her house out for six months (UK winter time) whilst she's in Florida (uses Florida as a base to go cruising) She then comes back and lives in it for the UK summer. I don't know all the details, but I think she uses a property manager or something to arrange it all. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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You could rent your house for those six months. It could go towards paying for the place you're renting in the winter.
A retired lady up the road from my sister does that. She rents her house out for six months (UK winter time) whilst she's in Florida (uses Florida as a base to go cruising) She then comes back and lives in it for the UK summer. I don't know all the details, but I think she uses a property manager or something to arrange it all. However if you want to stay for more than 3 months (via the standard ESTA visa waiver) you need to apply for a B2 Tourist visa which requires a face to face interview at a US embassy or consulate in the UK. They are normally no problem for retired people and allow you to stay for up to six months a year for several years. Cruises may of course avoid this as you probably only come into the US For a few days. The big problem with the US of course is health care - you need private insurance and that can be costly for retired people. Canada and New Zealand let Brits in for up to six months without a visa per annum and Australia 3 months but you need an online visa. Australia and New Zealand like EU nations also have a reciprocal health care agreement with the U.K. so UK citizens can make some use of their health services/Medicare systems but you still need some private cover eg doctors visits for exceptional cases like repatriation etc. Visas and health care are very important - so need to be factored in. But none of these countries are exactly cheap places to live |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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How about India?
There was a BBC documentary a few months ago about exactly this, with a bunch of oldie celebs going to India to consider retiring there. Three part series, all on iPlayer now. Episode 1. Worth a watch. I went to India last year. Their driving is shocking! Almost everyone speaks English. But the contrast between well off and poor can be a shock as well. Opposite where I was was a brand new Mercedes AMG dealership, all glass and stainless steel. Would look fantastic in downtown Manhattan. But literally ten yards away were slum shacks with someone selling sandals and a couple of goats wandering around.
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#12 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Quote:
How about India?
There was a BBC documentary a few months ago about exactly this, with a bunch of oldie celebs going to India to consider retiring there. Three part series, all on iPlayer now. Episode 1. Worth a watch. I went to India last year. Their driving is shocking! Almost everyone speaks English. But the contrast between well off and poor can be a shock as well. Opposite where I was was a brand new Mercedes AMG dealership, all glass and stainless steel. Would look fantastic in downtown Manhattan. But literally ten yards away were slum shacks with someone selling sandals and a couple of goats wandering around.Maybe be too much of a culture shock - and sounds like the OP wants somewhere nearer the UK. And again you can only stay for up to six months as a British citizen and you can't come back for at least 2 months. Also getting permanent residency is close to impossible - unless of course you are of Indian origin so would qualify for citizenship. In the real world Dame Judi and Maggie would have been deported as overstayers! ![]() I would actually favour Malaysia or Thailand as they offer permanent retirement programmes for Brits - they cost a bit initially but Unlike India Brits can buy property there. They even have Marks and Spencers and Tescos in Malaysia! |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: France
Posts: 3,592
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Germany seems to be particularly welcoming of immigrants at the moment.
![]() Here you go... cheapest countries in the world in which to live... courtesy of Time. If you want English-speaking, I think you'll find the Canadas, Australias, New Zealands of this world need visas and you may not qualify. I wouldn't want to live in the US without a good level of wealth at least in part because of the cost of health care there. Things to ponder: If you are reliant on UK state pensions, these may be frozen (no increases) on the date you leave the UK so in 10 or 20 years an already meagre pension may diminish with inflation. What will happen to emigrants' pensions post-Brexit has yet to be decided. The NHS has many problems but so do the health care systems of other countries and, for eg, in France the state only covers 65-70% of treatments... the individual buys top up insurance to reclaim the rest... or doesn't and takes a risk. Life-threatening illnesses are covered 100% but if you are in hospital for 3 weeks after a car accident (for eg) you may be responsible for 30+% of all costs including operations and other procedures. Even southern mainland Europe can get very cold in winter so put thoughts of no heating necessary out of your mind and energy will only get more expensive. Don't underestimate the challenges of fitting into a new culture. It's easier for 20-30 year olds to do that, I think. Post-50 you've spent the first half of your life in a culture that's (often) embedded in your bones. Once the charm of the new has worn off, any country is just another country once you are paying tax, paying the equivalent of council tax, sorting out car insurance, car repairs, health insurance... yes, the house may be nicer and the views better but house and views don't feed you when money is tight. If you decide to move elsewhere, I would strongly advise you to first rent for a year or at least 6 months between October and March (northern hemisphere) to see whether you like a place in winter. Rural northern France, for eg, more or less closes down during winter and entire villages are shuttered and there's scarcely a light visible after dusk. If you're used to a much more active southern England for eg (my previous area of expertise!) rural France can drive people mad in winter. In any event, if there is any way you can keep a property - even a small property - in the UK, it is worth it long-term. It may deliver you some rental income but it gives you somewhere to go back if partnerships break up, a partner dies, the culture shock of moving elsewhere is too much... or you just plain don't like it after a few years. There is no shame in trying something and not liking it. Longer term, if one of you needs a care home (for eg) will you want to be in a place where (potentially) no one speaks your language and you do not have the shared culture of growing up in the 50s / 60s that you have with own-country contemporaries. To be rather too blunt (I suspect ) if you have to ask what country to move to, you really shouldn't move. You need a strong affinity with a country and culture to make it work (and it doesn't always work, even then) if you are retiring to it rather than going there for employment reasons.All imo, of course. ![]() and ps (sorry for the length of post) you also may - depending on your circumstances - need to factor into any move the cost of going back and forth to visit family especially if grandchildren or increasingly elderly parents are in the picture. I speak from experience on the elderly parents part. I've spent about £1500 a year going back and forth to sort my parents' needs as they've grown older. |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Apr 2011
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Cyprus is a popular place, generally English speaking and the road sign are in English and they drive on the same side of the roads but you need to consider the costs (the gaffer who did live over there for a while) says things like getting the tank drained of sewerage (open the lid and thousands of roaches come pouring out) and the winter time bringing in the rugs etc into the house would be greeted with joy by the local cats as plenty of mice would of made their homes in the rolled up carpets and you can guess the rest.
You really need to spend some time and research on things like do I want to learn a new language/will the stuff i bring over work here and 1001 other questions down to even the can i just drop bog paper down the loo! |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,993
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Quote:
How about India?
There was a BBC documentary a few months ago about exactly this, with a bunch of oldie celebs going to India to consider retiring there. Three part series, all on iPlayer now. Episode 1. Worth a watch. I went to India last year. Their driving is shocking! Almost everyone speaks English. But the contrast between well off and poor can be a shock as well. Opposite where I was was a brand new Mercedes AMG dealership, all glass and stainless steel. Would look fantastic in downtown Manhattan. But literally ten yards away were slum shacks with someone selling sandals and a couple of goats wandering around.That was a load of rubbish - you can't retire to India if you don't have family connections or a business visa. I have friends who live there but are always under threat of visa changes - 6 months is the longest you can stay there and then you have to go out of the country to renew your visa. A couple of them went to Sri Lanka to renew and India brought in a new rule that you had to stay out of the country for 2 months before you could return and they were stuck there !!! Now they have changed that rule back to what it was.Yes it is cheap - in the past we have lived there for 6 months in the winter but would not sell up in UK to go there. |
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#16 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
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I am in Spain at the moment and I can tell you it is not hot and the evenings are quite cold - these places are built for Summer living not Winter and you need central heating.
We have a house in UK and can come and go whenever we want but have friends who gave up their property to live here full time and are now worried about what is going to happen about Brexit - it is mainly the Health Service they worry about which is now free but who knows what will happen in the future. Prices are increasing - it is not cheap to live here now - petrol, electricity, gas etc are almost on a par with UK. I would not retire to another country unless I had plenty of money. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 40,276
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Cyprus is a popular place, generally English speaking and the road sign are in English and they drive on the same side of the roads but you need to consider the costs (the gaffer who did live over there for a while) says things like getting the tank drained of sewerage (open the lid and thousands of roaches come pouring out) and the winter time bringing in the rugs etc into the house would be greeted with joy by the local cats as plenty of mice would of made their homes in the rolled up carpets and you can guess the rest.
You really need to spend some time and research on things like do I want to learn a new language/will the stuff i bring over work here and 1001 other questions down to even the can i just drop bog paper down the loo! |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 9,229
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I wouldn't call Italy cheap. Spain is better value I think, but doesn't have quite the same buzz. Then there's Greece.... (but I've never been there). All three are very hot in summer, if that's going to be a problem.
The low pound doesn't help at the minute. Have you thought about just moving to a cheaper part of the UK? Then you have the same climate, no currency issues, the NHS... Ive always had a dream to live in Italy although I know I said Egnlish speaking. Im looking at rightmove, they've got some habitable properties there for as little as 15k. I think what would worry me about leaving my property to be rented for 6 months is how do you guarantee that the tenant would leave in time? |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 9,229
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Quote:
Germany seems to be particularly welcoming of immigrants at the moment.
![]() Here you go... cheapest countries in the world in which to live... courtesy of Time. If you want English-speaking, I think you'll find the Canadas, Australias, New Zealands of this world need visas and you may not qualify. I wouldn't want to live in the US without a good level of wealth at least in part because of the cost of health care there. Things to ponder: If you are reliant on UK state pensions, these may be frozen (no increases) on the date you leave the UK so in 10 or 20 years an already meagre pension may diminish with inflation. What will happen to emigrants' pensions post-Brexit has yet to be decided. The NHS has many problems but so do the health care systems of other countries and, for eg, in France the state only covers 65-70% of treatments... the individual buys top up insurance to reclaim the rest... or doesn't and takes a risk. Life-threatening illnesses are covered 100% but if you are in hospital for 3 weeks after a car accident (for eg) you may be responsible for 30+% of all costs including operations and other procedures. Even southern mainland Europe can get very cold in winter so put thoughts of no heating necessary out of your mind and energy will only get more expensive. Don't underestimate the challenges of fitting into a new culture. It's easier for 20-30 year olds to do that, I think. Post-50 you've spent the first half of your life in a culture that's (often) embedded in your bones. Once the charm of the new has worn off, any country is just another country once you are paying tax, paying the equivalent of council tax, sorting out car insurance, car repairs, health insurance... yes, the house may be nicer and the views better but house and views don't feed you when money is tight. If you decide to move elsewhere, I would strongly advise you to first rent for a year or at least 6 months between October and March (northern hemisphere) to see whether you like a place in winter. Rural northern France, for eg, more or less closes down during winter and entire villages are shuttered and there's scarcely a light visible after dusk. If you're used to a much more active southern England for eg (my previous area of expertise!) rural France can drive people mad in winter. In any event, if there is any way you can keep a property - even a small property - in the UK, it is worth it long-term. It may deliver you some rental income but it gives you somewhere to go back if partnerships break up, a partner dies, the culture shock of moving elsewhere is too much... or you just plain don't like it after a few years. There is no shame in trying something and not liking it. Longer term, if one of you needs a care home (for eg) will you want to be in a place where (potentially) no one speaks your language and you do not have the shared culture of growing up in the 50s / 60s that you have with own-country contemporaries. To be rather too blunt (I suspect ) if you have to ask what country to move to, you really shouldn't move. You need a strong affinity with a country and culture to make it work (and it doesn't always work, even then) if you are retiring to it rather than going there for employment reasons.All imo, of course. ![]() and ps (sorry for the length of post) you also may - depending on your circumstances - need to factor into any move the cost of going back and forth to visit family especially if grandchildren or increasingly elderly parents are in the picture. I speak from experience on the elderly parents part. I've spent about £1500 a year going back and forth to sort my parents' needs as they've grown older. |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 9,229
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I am in Spain at the moment and I can tell you it is not hot and the evenings are quite cold - these places are built for Summer living not Winter and you need central heating.
We have a house in UK and can come and go whenever we want but have friends who gave up their property to live here full time and are now worried about what is going to happen about Brexit - it is mainly the Health Service they worry about which is now free but who knows what will happen in the future. Prices are increasing - it is not cheap to live here now - petrol, electricity, gas etc are almost on a par with UK. I would not retire to another country unless I had plenty of money. |
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#21 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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The Canary Islands have a pretty low cost of living.
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Wiltshire
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Quote:
How about India?
There was a BBC documentary a few months ago about exactly this, with a bunch of oldie celebs going to India to consider retiring there. Three part series, all on iPlayer now. Episode 1. Worth a watch. I went to India last year. Their driving is shocking! Almost everyone speaks English. But the contrast between well off and poor can be a shock as well. Opposite where I was was a brand new Mercedes AMG dealership, all glass and stainless steel. Would look fantastic in downtown Manhattan. But literally ten yards away were slum shacks with someone selling sandals and a couple of goats wandering around.India is a beautiful country, people are friendly and there are many pros when it comes to retiring to India. I would be worried when it comes to pollution. India is very polluted, water is scarce and food is in many places very polluted and unhealthy too. I know that as a Brit, you'd be able to afford good quality of almost everything, but you can not pay for clean air and soil for growing vegetables. So, it depends on your budget and what are you willing to sacrifice. |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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India is a beautiful country, people are friendly and there are many pros when it comes to retiring to India. I would be worried when it comes to pollution. India is very polluted, water is scarce and food is in many places very polluted and unhealthy too.
I know that as a Brit, you'd be able to afford good quality of almost everything, but you can not pay for clean air and soil for growing vegetables. So, it depends on your budget and what are you willing to sacrifice. |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 6,365
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Quote:
How about India?
There was a BBC documentary a few months ago about exactly this, with a bunch of oldie celebs going to India to consider retiring there. Three part series, all on iPlayer now. Episode 1. Worth a watch. As for India it is too much of a culture change to actually consider retiring there imo. It's not all about whether you can get cheap therapies. Having said that, the figure of £500 a month was mentioned for renting an apartment in someone's property. The families getting that sort of money must be laughing all the way to the bank. No wonder they are taking incomers into their hearts! Locally that would have been a huge sum - though I guess small beer if you are a celeb used to London prices.. I've had Northern Portugal mentioned to me pre Referendum. But I would be inclined to wait till after the Brexit dust settles before investing in overseas. In particular the Eurozone as a whole needs caution. There are perhaps some financial as well as political upheavals on the way. Plus it is not just about property. There is healthcare to consider as already said - plus what your pension will buy. There has been a steady drip of expats returning from Spain from well before the Referendum because they are finding it hard to manage. |
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#25 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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To be honest we're in a cheap part of the UK! We are in east Kent.
Ive always had a dream to live in Italy although I know I said Egnlish speaking. Im looking at rightmove, they've got some habitable properties there for as little as 15k. I think what would worry me about leaving my property to be rented for 6 months is how do you guarantee that the tenant would leave in time? The bureaucracy involved in doing anything is a nightmare and when i was there (10 years ago) backhanders where very much the norm if you wanted to get anything done within a reasonable time. Its is a very expensive place to live. Food is cheap, but things like electrical appliances cost a bomb. Talking of food, if you eat Italian then everything is lovely, but they really cannot do any other type of cuisine. You will get bored of pizza and pasta! The men can there can be very creepy, hissing at women in the street, etc. There is a lot of racism and problems with migrants too. |
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Almost everyone speaks English. But the contrast between well off and poor can be a shock as well. Opposite where I was was a brand new Mercedes AMG dealership, all glass and stainless steel. Would look fantastic in downtown Manhattan. But literally ten yards away were slum shacks with someone selling sandals and a couple of goats wandering around.

) if you have to ask what country to move to, you really shouldn't move. You need a strong affinity with a country and culture to make it work (and it doesn't always work, even then) if you are retiring to it rather than going there for employment reasons.