There was a thread on this subject in 2015 and it was as interesting read for me. Now, we’re close to retirement age (in 5 yrs.), our discussions are real. We’ve been toying with spending more time abroad in retirement but we’re not sure we’d move somewhere permanently. We are travelers and love to see new places but I also can see myself living in some spots even if it’s part time. Anyone thinking about doing the same?
We are… though in about 5-8 years. Two friends have recently gone overseas for retirement… one bought a house in San Miguel de Allende, in central Mexico; the other spends 8 months in Asia, the rest of the time in a small Colorado vacation house. We’re considering Portugal, parts of Central America, a couple places in Asia and rural France/Italy. The back up plan is radically different: the SF Bay Area. So, lots of options to focus on in the next few years.
One thing to be sure to check out is medical insurance coverage while you’re overseas. Some policies may not provide any medical coverage when you’re away from the US while others only provide coverage in their HMO.
Also, consider medical evacuation insurance in case you or loved one needs to get medical care and you want it back in the US—the last flight flight can be very costly, especially if you need a nurse and a private plane.
Also if you have a house and it’s vacant for an extended period, sometimes squatters may take up residence or you may need to arrange/hire house sitter. Also insurance for vacant dwellings is different (likely higher) than if it is owner-occupied.
Other than those issues, living abroad definitely has some allure to me. H on the other hand doesn’t like to be away from our home for more than a few weeks at a time.
Portugal requires you to have insurance in the US (and proof of funds you can get there quickly) before they will grant a long term visa for retiring expats.
Most retiring expats I know have US insurance, but simply pay for treatment where they live. Medical care can be very affordable around the world, even without insurance. That’s why medical tourism exists. 
Same story here…5 years out. We are considering many options. International and Domestic. We are thinking Denmark/England/Scotland. We lived in the Netherlands for several years and found it a very easy adjustment for Americans and a convenient place to travel to and from. We have thought it might better/easier to rent long term abroad and buy a permanent home here. It’s been difficult to formulate a plan because the options are so varied.
I think about it a lot. We talked about it (again) today. Italy or France? (International Living is on that topic right now)
Our approach will not be, “We are moving to XYZ forever”, but rather we will go live somewhere for 6 months to a year. If we don’t like it we will come back or go somewhere else. If we like it, we can stay as long as we want. The net result may be the same, but psychologically it will be easier to handle as a 6 month stint with possible extension vs a permanent overseas move. And we lived overseas many years ago so the idea of living in a foreign country is not, well, foreign.
I would prefer to sell our house just so we don’t have to worry about it when we are away. There is a ton of inertia to fight first, so I am not buying plane tickets just yet.
I’m waiting to see how the next election turns out. Might pull the cord.
I’m looking into dual citizenship, which would give me access to all the EU countries. Might need an escape hatch!
Do you have some connection which will make that easy, @greenwitch?
I’m eligible for UK citizenship through my mother. My husband, however, is not. With Brexit, it doesn’t have quite the same appeal it did just a few years back.
Given taxes, inheritance laws, leave to remain issues, we will probably spend some vacations abroad and avoid any actual move.
Wow, it’s great to find some people who are thinking along the same lines as us! We have friends who are 10-15 years older than us and have a home in Vancouver BC. They bought it when it was affordable (maybe early 90’s?) They spend 2 months there and then they travel volunteering for a dental nonprofit 1-2 months. They spend the rest of the year at home in the states.
@katliamom, we visited Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende last year. We could see ourselves spending a few months there. DH is fluent in Spanish and would love to have the chance to immerse himself in the language.
We are retired and definitely in this camp. We are looking at Ecuador and some EU countries. We plan to take some lengthy vacations in these places to see how they fit with the goal of splitting time between our home here and renting in other countries hoping #6 does not become our reality.
@lilmom, the drug cartel violence in Mexico worries me. It seems to be getting worse and more widespread, so I’d probably not make any major investments there – no buying of a house, for example. But to go there for several extended stays sounds very tempting. And yes, Guanajuato is also lovely.
We are looking at retiring in 5-7 years and have seriously considered extended stays (if not taking up residence) in Barcelona, San Sebastian, London, and Prague.
We also have done medium-length house swaps over the years in Vancouver BC, Scotland, London, and various locations in the U.S. (we’ve stopped doing this as much now that airbnb is so ubiquitous), which worked out very well. Getting the exact swap dates arranged for both parties can be challenging, but we have always had good experiences.
We had some friends thinking about this a few years ago. They were looking at Costa Rica. They visited and said, “uh, nope!”.
@pickledginger – I watch podcasts from a tech reporter, Paul Thurrott, who does the house swap for a month every year. Really interesting. I like the idea of “living” in a place rather just being a tourist. Of course, you’re still an extended tourist but at least you get to settle into the place to a degree.
North GA is very nice most of the year. What we’d like to do it clip the extremes; go away for a month in summer (July) and a month in the winter (January). You can’t beat the PacNW in July.
PS. If I won the lottery … well … you’d see me posting from a 100’ yacht (rental, of course, I wouldn’t blow it all buying one!) in the Adriatic Sea!
PPS. D18 had some friends from LA visit last week and they commented on how “green” it was here. Yeah, going from basically a desert to a place that gets 50+" of rain a year will do that! We had 4+" today…
I was hoping to retire to Malta, it has over 300 days of sun, English speaking and the chocolate treats remind me of my childhood. I’m not sure how Brexit will change this plan.
We belong in this group. Our longing is for BIG water and low political “value” or “aspirations,” so considering various Caribbean islands. We’re not ready to retire just yet (wish we were), but are hoping to start (continue) investigating places IRL to find somewhere we like.
H would like to live aboard a sailboat instead. He’s the sailor - I’m not. Time will tell.
This list is a little older now (Dec '16) but we’ve been using it for consideration since we’re in the camp who aren’t sure we want to retain citizenship here any longer. We want somewhere more inclusive of everyone and less polarized if it exists. Not sure that part does, but BIG water is still an attraction for our second half of adult life.
https://corpocrat.com/2016/12/22/30-countries-for-buying-citizenship-through-investment/
@doschicos Midterms will definitely be a consideration, mainly providing motivation for my wife. I am not one to lay down ultimatums, as in, “if this doesn’t happen then we are leaving the country!” but it will be a factor.
We are on the cusp of retirement and also in this group. We checked out Spain and Portugal a few weeks ago and decided that since we don’t speak Portuguese that was off the list. It’s true that we did find plenty of English speakers in most places in Portugal, but we would want to integrate into the community where we live. We both have a working knowledge of Spanish so Spain moved to the top of the list.
The process for gaining residence in Spain seems to depend on which Spanish consulate you need to work through (dependent on where you live in the US) and it is very hard to figure out. They don’t accept phone calls! Our daughter is currently living there and dealing with any official offices is completely chaotic, to say the least. She has had to tell the governmental employees that yes, they are able to process the paperwork she needs (to stay another year).
We’ve both explored our family heritages for gaining residency permits or citizenship in an EU country by that route, but encountered roadblocks in two countries. Our (deceased) parents had to have initiated the process, or in my mom’s case, retained her citizenship. I still have one country to explore.
The tax implications regarding investments will be crucial to any decision we make.
We aren’t quite retirement age. We do have relatives in the Vancouver, BC area. But, we’ve only visited in summer, which is beautiful. Dealing with winter would be a big adjustment.
We were once tempted by New Zealand, but that is very far away. Sigh, even November is very far away…
Malta was awesome when we visited!