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Old 12-11-2014, 09:56 PM   #141
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Kramer, may I ask where you are in the Phillipines?


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Old 12-13-2014, 08:58 AM   #142
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Kramer, that truly was an excellent summary of the reasons people retire abroad. Personally, it was the opposite for me. I was overseas for 42 years as an international school teacher living in 12 countries, but in the process met numerous people who retired in the countries I was in and for the same reasons you listed. In my case, I actually wanted to explore my own country, the US, at the age of 68, the year I returned to the States.

I'm not done exploring my own country yet. I still have to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and just about every other sight most of us have seen but I haven't. I'll probably re-settle overseas. It's easy to do, and that option is always there if your mindset is a citizen of the world and you're used to doing that anyway.

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Old 12-13-2014, 09:39 AM   #143
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bcmgonic: PM sent!

I am glad that other expats have had similar experiences abroad compared to what I described.
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Old 12-15-2014, 09:41 AM   #144
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Kramer, that truly was an excellent summary of the reasons people retire abroad. Personally, it was the opposite for me. I was overseas for 42 years as an international school teacher living in 12 countries, but in the process met numerous people who retired in the countries I was in and for the same reasons you listed. In my case, I actually wanted to explore my own country, the US, at the age of 68, the year I returned to the States.

I'm not done exploring my own country yet. I still have to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and just about every other sight most of us have seen but I haven't. I'll probably re-settle overseas. It's easy to do, and that option is always there if your mindset is a citizen of the world and you're used to doing that anyway.

Rob
Rob,
Can you tell us which one of the 12 countries you lived in was your favorite and why so.....
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Old 12-16-2014, 08:34 AM   #145
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I lived and taught at international schools in wartime Vietnam (was evacuated at the fall in 1975), Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iran (just before Shah overthrown), Korea, Venezuela, Liberia, Egypt, Jordan, Cambodia, and Singapore. I included teaching in the US also.

I was in Singapore for 25 years, but only teaching 20 of those years while calling it home. I maintained my home there and traveled to Egypt and Jordan to teach. I returned to Singapore last year only to decide to not retire there but live in the States. My own country is a foreign one for me, and I always have the option to return overseas again. Travel is always available.

I would not recommend retiring in any of those countries, although Singapore was home for me, and I was a permanent resident there. The housing situation can be expensive, and it is very densely populated, quite different from the Singapore I knew in 1988. However, I traveled summers in Malaysia. I even got the Malaysian retirement visa, called MM2H. I gave that up, knowing that it is easy to get later on. I gave it up mostly because I disliked the requirement of having US$50,000 in a local bank. Next time I would go there on the pension scheme. Also, being a dog lover, Malaysia is not the place to be. I visited Thailand, and met so many expats retired there, and they love it. That's always a possibility in the future for at least part of the year.

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Old 01-14-2015, 09:25 PM   #146
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I recently learned that Cambodia is offering an investors/retiree visa which requires approx 75k usd. I will search for more details and update this post.

Cambodia is a fast developing nation and while my opinion is that it is not a place for a beginner expat retiree- traveler it does offer some interesting experienced and low cost of living.
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Old 01-14-2015, 09:32 PM   #147
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Rob. Pm sent to you. Thanks sir.
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Old 02-13-2015, 09:05 AM   #148
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This thread might be of interest to some people. If you are talking about visas, then presumably you have already considered the initial question, 'should you retire overseas'.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...eas-75792.html
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Old 04-13-2015, 06:48 PM   #149
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Portugal has some very attractive offers for retirees who are willing to purchase real estate (I think 200K euros). My understanding is that new residents under this program will not pay any income tax on retirement income for a period of 15 years.
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Old 05-02-2015, 03:09 AM   #150
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We are US citizens who have retired to Portugal, and purchased a house recently. The retirement VISA that is applied for in the states gives you 4 months to settle in. Then residency permits are applied for here, being Non EU, a 1 year is issued, and then 2 Two years, followed by Five year permits after that. One can take a Portuguese Test, reading, writing and speaking, after 5 years, to apply for permanent residency . We will still have to file and pay US taxes, and as residents of Portugal we will have to file annually here with Portugal IRS. We are applying for the Non habitual resident tax status, which provides 10 years tax credit, so taxes here will be minimal, depending on dividends collected, since pension will be tax free . Also, Portugal does have a tax treaty with the U.S. Portugal does offer a Golden VISA also. English is the second language here, and the Portuguese are the nicest people we have ever met in our travels, they try hard to understand if they can. We do have to carry private health insurance, however it is a complete plan, health, vision and dental at a third of the cost of just a health plan in the states. We did spend a substantial amount of time researching this move. The weather here is amazing compared to Pennsylvania and New York, the food is so fresh and delicious! We wanted to improve the quality of our lives, and we have!


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Old 05-02-2015, 06:21 AM   #151
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We will still have to file and pay US taxes, and as residents of Portugal we will have to file annually here with Portugal IRS. We are applying for the Non habitual resident tax status, which provides 10 years tax credit, so taxes here will be minimal, depending on dividends collected, since pension will be tax free .
US SS checks will be tax free if you are a US citizens and Portugese resident. However, as you point out, you will still have to pay US tax at the full rate on the rest of your income because if you are not taxable in Portugal you will not get any foreign tax credits.
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Old 05-02-2015, 07:40 AM   #152
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We will still have to file and pay US taxes, and as residents of Portugal we will have to file annually here with Portugal IRS. We are applying for the Non habitual resident tax status, which provides 10 years tax credit, so taxes here will be minimal, depending on dividends collected, since pension will be tax free . Also, Portugal does have a tax treaty with the U.S.
Doing some research on this I have discovered that some tax treaties will allow the foreign country to treat capital gains within an IRA and a ROTH IRA as regular taxable capital gain rather than tax-deferred or tax-exempt. Do you know how this is for Portugal?

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We do have to carry private health insurance, however it is a complete plan, health, vision and dental at a third of the cost of just a health plan in the states.
Do you know if they will reject clients if they have a pre-existing condition?
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Old 05-02-2015, 02:06 PM   #153
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We will still have to file and pay US taxes, and as residents of Portugal we will have to file annually here with Portugal IRS. We are applying for the Non habitual resident tax status, which provides 10 years tax credit, so taxes here will be minimal, depending on dividends collected, since pension will be tax free .
I can see that SS might be tax free if there is no tax on it in Portugal, but all other pension income will be taxed. Watch out for the standard Saving Clause in all US tax treaties.
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Old 05-02-2015, 03:12 PM   #154
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We are US citizens who have retired to Portugal, and purchased a house recently. The retirement VISA that is applied for in the states gives you 4 months to settle in. Then residency permits are applied for here, being Non EU, a 1 year is issued, and then 2 Two years, followed by Five year permits after that. One can take a Portuguese Test, reading, writing and speaking, after 5 years, to apply for permanent residency . We will still have to file and pay US taxes, and as residents of Portugal we will have to file annually here with Portugal IRS. We are applying for the Non habitual resident tax status, which provides 10 years tax credit, so taxes here will be minimal, depending on dividends collected, since pension will be tax free . Also, Portugal does have a tax treaty with the U.S. Portugal does offer a Golden VISA also. English is the second language here, and the Portuguese are the nicest people we have ever met in our travels, they try hard to understand if they can. We do have to carry private health insurance, however it is a complete plan, health, vision and dental at a third of the cost of just a health plan in the states. We did spend a substantial amount of time researching this move. The weather here is amazing compared to Pennsylvania and New York, the food is so fresh and delicious! We wanted to improve the quality of our lives, and we have!


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So glad that this has worked well for you. What city or town have you chosen? I am sure that weather there varies with both altitude and latitude. I would not move there (or anywhere else), but I could easily enjoy spending few months in an attractive place. Portuguese is a beautiful language.
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Old 05-02-2015, 03:24 PM   #155
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We are near Tomar, home of the Convento de Christo, Templer Knights history. Today was sunny and in the upper 70's. .


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Old 07-26-2015, 07:46 PM   #156
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I've been considering Spain. Nothing unusual needed to get a long stay retirement visa. Check out the link "Residence for Retiree" at this consulate page: Visas

One huge problem is the legendary density / absurdity / tenacity / incompetence of Spanish government bureaucracy. There are no shortage of information about the process for Brits, the largest group of expats in Spain. Few first hand reports for US citizens.

Several sources cite knowing Spanish is an unofficial requirement. The public information available by phone from consulates and their embassy in the US is always done by leaving a message and them calling you back. If you left a message in English, they never call back. Once in Spain, one can hire a 'guide' to navigate the bureaucracy. Not speaking Spanish means your guide and each official may conspire to make the process financially rewarding to the officials.

One couple did extensive research, knew it would take saintly patience, prepared themselves for different answers to the same questions from different people on different days, etc. As required, they entered Spain on a tourist visa, presented all the documentation obtained from the Miami consulate, and asked for a visa. Nope. One of the documents from the Miami consulate was signed by an official but not stamped. The outcome of the subsequent conversation was yes you meet all the requirements but you need Miami to apply the stamp - the same stamp I have here on my desk. So they did an unplanned round trip flight.
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Old 10-11-2015, 03:13 AM   #157
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I recently read that Ireland has in 2015 changed their retiree visa scheme and it now requires a significant pension income of 50k euros per annum to qualify for retiree resident visa renewal. Apparently There is no other means testing aside the 50 k euro income test. People are being forced to repatriate as a result. Please post if you have more insight.
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Old 10-11-2015, 03:26 AM   #158
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I recently read that Ireland has in 2015 changed their retiree visa scheme and it now requires a significant pension income of 50k euros per annum to qualify for retiree resident visa renewal. Apparently There is no other means testing aside the 50 k euro income test. People are being forced to repatriate as a result. Please post if you have more insight.
I already did:

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An American friend living in Ireland sent this:

Ireland rejecting American retirees under new rules - IrishCentral.com
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Old 10-11-2015, 08:33 PM   #159
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This thread might be of interest to some people. If you are talking about visas, then presumably you have already considered the initial question, 'should you retire overseas'.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...eas-75792.html

Didn't this thread seriously deteriorate toward the end with name-calling, putting people on ignore, and banning?

Anyway, we own a condo in Puerto Vallarta, our home in Austin is up for sale and we hope to spend 6 months in Mexico in 2016 after I fully retire.


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Old 10-11-2015, 08:42 PM   #160
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I've been considering Spain. Nothing unusual needed to get a long stay retirement visa. Check out the link "Residence for Retiree" at this consulate page: Visas

One huge problem is the legendary density / absurdity / tenacity / incompetence of Spanish government bureaucracy. There are no shortage of information about the process for Brits, the largest group of expats in Spain. Few first hand reports for US citizens.

Several sources cite knowing Spanish is an unofficial requirement. The public information available by phone from consulates and their embassy in the US is always done by leaving a message and them calling you back. If you left a message in English, they never call back. Once in Spain, one can hire a 'guide' to navigate the bureaucracy. Not speaking Spanish means your guide and each official may conspire to make the process financially rewarding to the officials.

One couple did extensive research, knew it would take saintly patience, prepared themselves for different answers to the same questions from different people on different days, etc. As required, they entered Spain on a tourist visa, presented all the documentation obtained from the Miami consulate, and asked for a visa. Nope. One of the documents from the Miami consulate was signed by an official but not stamped. The outcome of the subsequent conversation was yes you meet all the requirements but you need Miami to apply the stamp - the same stamp I have here on my desk. So they did an unplanned round trip flight.

There was a recent article published that if one could prove one was of Spanish Jewish descent and one's family was expelled during the Inquisition, the Spanish government would consider giving one Spanish citizenship if one passed a Spanish history and language test and possibly/maybe a means test. I think.

I know this was my paternal family's legend - that we were expelled in 1492, etc. - but how to prove it? Some distant relatives had a genealogy done in the 1960's and I know my long dead uncle saw it. I asked my first cousin about it but she did not know more about these distant cousins than I did. What little I could find on the internet was the email address of a possible distant cousin. I wrote to her but so far, crickets.

I think it would be cool to have Spanish citizenship because then, as an EU resident, I wouldn't have to switch countries every 3 months if I didn't want to. Oh well.


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