Huston55
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
You might want to consider investing a chunk of your funds in Euro-based assets.
First year of retirement in Germany -- Seems to be Working..
- Thread starter Retirement_Rookie
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You might want to consider investing a chunk of your funds in Euro-based assets.
Bryan Barnfellow
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Welcome Retirement_Rookie from a neighbor to the south in Switzerland (Lugano, in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino). The dual tax situation can become complex, especially when accountants in your new country don't know much about the tax treaties or the details of IRAs, Roths, or 401(k)s.
I have found an extraordinary amount of misinformation, rumors, and myths concerning what is taxable in the US vs. Switzerland vs. both. It's always best to do your own due diligence; for me that consisted of a lot of google research, talking with other expats, and conversations with our tax accountant. We use one because the forms are only in Italian here and it would be easy to screw up!
We've been here for 9 years now and loving it in Europe. We have permanent residency and plan to apply for the Swiss passport as well. Just returned from a 12 day trip to Cornwall in the UK, via London. EasyJet from Milan (just to our south) to London was 120 euros roundtrip for both of us together, and that was paying for emergency exit seats. Hard to beat that!
-BB
I have found an extraordinary amount of misinformation, rumors, and myths concerning what is taxable in the US vs. Switzerland vs. both. It's always best to do your own due diligence; for me that consisted of a lot of google research, talking with other expats, and conversations with our tax accountant. We use one because the forms are only in Italian here and it would be easy to screw up!
We've been here for 9 years now and loving it in Europe. We have permanent residency and plan to apply for the Swiss passport as well. Just returned from a 12 day trip to Cornwall in the UK, via London. EasyJet from Milan (just to our south) to London was 120 euros roundtrip for both of us together, and that was paying for emergency exit seats. Hard to beat that!
-BB
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Richard8655
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2010
- Messages
- 114
I think the way healthcare overseas works for federal employees and retirees is that all costs are mostly covered by the Blue Cross Blue Shield federal plan. You do have to find a provider or hospital in the overseas country that participates, but there are always many to choose from. AXA insurance administers overseas healthcare for Blue Cross, and recommends establishing direct payment between the foreign facility and Blue Cross, eliminating all claims paperwork.
Germany is a great place to retire. The trick is to get permanent residence as a US citizen. I believe there is a path for retirees showing sufficient funds, retirement income, and healthcare coverage (probably the hardest part). One may be able to buy into such healthcare coverage in Germany.
Freedom56
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I would disagree with respect to food. I guess it depends where you live in the US. In the greater Los Angeles area the food choices are very good and same for South East Florida or Las Vegas. With all due respect, German food and wine isn't even close to what you can get in California. You can find all the best cuisines in the world here and many of the best chefs are also here. I would agree that the average restaurant in France and Italy are better than the average restaurants here. But you can easily avoid the bad restaurants and they usually shut down within 2-3 years.
F4mandolin
Full time employment: Posting here.
I spent 10 years working in Giessen American high school.....tough school to work at, but the area was great. Not far from where you are at.
I was in Munich for Oktoberfest last year and I paid more for my hotel room than on any of my other trips. I did have an excellent ribeye at a gastropub across the street from my hotel. Best steak I'd had in several years.
I just came back from Budapest where I rented a 2BDRM/2BA Airbnb for $68 a night! Everything in Budapest was inexpensive when compared to the other European cities I have visited in the last 5 years. Dinner out for two with a 1/2 liter of German beer was €21 including tax and 12% gratuity. Hungary does not use the Euro which partly explains why it is so inexpensive to visit there.
While researching rooms for my next trip, I've learned that there can be quite a price difference on Airbnb. For instance, there are no deals to be found in Geneva, and Barcelona is much more expensive than Madrid. I wonder if we could use Airbnb rates as a proxy for housing costs?
This thread is very interesting to me because I assumed that it was too difficult to get a long term residency visa for Germany for it to be an option. I'm not sure if my retiree healthcare plan will cover extended stays abroad, but I will spend some time researching that now.
I just came back from Budapest where I rented a 2BDRM/2BA Airbnb for $68 a night! Everything in Budapest was inexpensive when compared to the other European cities I have visited in the last 5 years. Dinner out for two with a 1/2 liter of German beer was €21 including tax and 12% gratuity. Hungary does not use the Euro which partly explains why it is so inexpensive to visit there.
While researching rooms for my next trip, I've learned that there can be quite a price difference on Airbnb. For instance, there are no deals to be found in Geneva, and Barcelona is much more expensive than Madrid. I wonder if we could use Airbnb rates as a proxy for housing costs?
This thread is very interesting to me because I assumed that it was too difficult to get a long term residency visa for Germany for it to be an option. I'm not sure if my retiree healthcare plan will cover extended stays abroad, but I will spend some time researching that now.
Red Badger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I did some of those when I was in the service, too.
I am so busted! But yeah, a good steak could be had. I always went for a medium rare porterhouse.
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Alan, is you spouse or partner US or UK? There are rules now for spousal visas and I hear they are complicated. I am a UK Citizen. we were toying with moving back for a few years ~5 or 10 but my DW of 31 years is a Canadian Citizen.
We are both UK/US citizens so have not had to deal with spouse or fiancé visas. There are a couple of good websites where you can find good info on this. I will PM you assuming our signal stays good. (We are on our way from the North Cape in Norway to Tromso at present)
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Thanks Alan.
SWR,
There are rules about right-of-abode for some Commonwealth citizens.
https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode
https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode/commonwealth-citizens
omni
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I think there are also tax consequences being a US & UK Citizen. IRA / 401k distributions etc. We looked it up extensively and USA has taxes based on Citizenship as has only one other 3rd world country.. .
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OP
OP
Retirement_Rookie
Dryer sheet aficionado
I've been using AirBnB in Poland, France, and Spain. I think it might be a good proxy for housing costs.. (Indeed, there's controversy in some markets because locals believe that Airbnb drives up housing costs as long-term rentals are converted to short-term rentals.) Regarding your point about long term residency in Germany, I was simply astounded by how easy it was to get a one year (renewable) residence permit. I don't know about other people but I had a health insurance plan that easily covers costs in Germany. That was important. I will have my first renewal of my residence permit in December 2018. I will let you know how difficult or easy that is.
