Retirement_Rookie
Dryer sheet aficionado
Am reading this forum with interest. Retired in 2017 at 55 after 28 years federal service. I'd done everything my career had to offer and I wasn't happy with the politics of the moment as well as where my agency was heading. Retirement was well-timed: I have two 94 year-old parents, both with serious health issues, living in rural US and I spent six months helping them get squared away while a sibling moved closer to help them. During that time I finished up a long and costly divorce from my wife of thirty years, ran through a lot of money, and decided to move abroad. My parents are squared away now. I visit when I can and there are other siblings who stepped up.
Things are going better now. I have moved with my new German partner to her homeland of Germany, where the cost of living is considerably less than in the U.S. I have a large house out in the country which I rent for €1300 a month (+another €100 in water and heat charges). I own a used car, have about $275,000 in the bank or in an IRA, and get a small pension of $2600 a month. (Half of my federal pension.) I have good health care, plan to start drawing social security when I can, and found that the red-tape to get a German residence permit was minimal. (It basically took a day at the government office. It's renewable annually. I don't have the right to work but don't want to do so.)
I am still adjusting with the challenge of going from a very high-paced, high-action job to my new rural life. I ride my bicycle a lot, swim at the outstandingly good local swimming pools (cost = €2.50 per entry) and eat and drink way better here in Germany than in the US. To my shock my grocery bill is probably less than a third of what it was in the U.S. I am increasingly of the opinion that it's as cheap here in Germany (my area of Germany, a lower cost area) as the more expensive areas of Mexico.
We travel a bit. (Just got back from a week in Portugal. The tickets to get there were €75 each roundtrip, and Portugal is cheap.) Also go to France and elsewhere; we travel based upon what's cheap at the moment, and usually use AirBnB which is fabulous.)
I don't have much of a safety net but so far things are working in Germany. If anybody has any advice to offer -- or questions about moving to Europe, feel free. I appreciate all the honesty on this site.
Things are going better now. I have moved with my new German partner to her homeland of Germany, where the cost of living is considerably less than in the U.S. I have a large house out in the country which I rent for €1300 a month (+another €100 in water and heat charges). I own a used car, have about $275,000 in the bank or in an IRA, and get a small pension of $2600 a month. (Half of my federal pension.) I have good health care, plan to start drawing social security when I can, and found that the red-tape to get a German residence permit was minimal. (It basically took a day at the government office. It's renewable annually. I don't have the right to work but don't want to do so.)
I am still adjusting with the challenge of going from a very high-paced, high-action job to my new rural life. I ride my bicycle a lot, swim at the outstandingly good local swimming pools (cost = €2.50 per entry) and eat and drink way better here in Germany than in the US. To my shock my grocery bill is probably less than a third of what it was in the U.S. I am increasingly of the opinion that it's as cheap here in Germany (my area of Germany, a lower cost area) as the more expensive areas of Mexico.
We travel a bit. (Just got back from a week in Portugal. The tickets to get there were €75 each roundtrip, and Portugal is cheap.) Also go to France and elsewhere; we travel based upon what's cheap at the moment, and usually use AirBnB which is fabulous.)
I don't have much of a safety net but so far things are working in Germany. If anybody has any advice to offer -- or questions about moving to Europe, feel free. I appreciate all the honesty on this site.