Anybody Have Questions About Retiring to Europe?

[Alan]

How are you able to live in Europe/Schengen zone for longer periods than 90 day restrictions (unless you have some type of Residency Visa).

Have a look at post #5 where his process is laid out.

 

[Cpadave]

How do you convert US dollars to Euros? I would imagine you would need to do that for rent and living expenses.

 

[Alan]

How do you convert US dollars to Euros? I would imagine you would need to do that for rent and living expenses.

You can use a forex company such as xe.com or Transferwise, or a regular bank. I have used all 3 and for the last 3 years use Transferwise exclusively.

 

[Retireby45ish]

How do you convert US dollars to Euros? I would imagine you would need to do that for rent and living expenses.

Yes it’s quite easy after filling out some paperwork with one of these companies. The spread was about 0.5-1% or so when moving 50k it so. Better than using a traditional bank which would be 4-5% or something crazy.

 

[Cpadave]

Thanks for the info.

 

[pj.mask]

What about taxes? I know they have a different process. (401k, Roth, capital gains, etc). Are you a resident and therefore taxed there or are you just living there and paying US taxes

 

[Alan]

What about taxes? I know they have a different process. (401k, Roth, capital gains, etc). Are you a resident and therefore taxed there or are you just living there and paying US taxes

He answered this here. The UK also doesn’t tax US government pensions as per the Double Taxation agreement. The UK does tax US SS so I expect Germany will as well.

Yes, taxation will be interesting. I've heard three schools of thought on this from resident Americans:

(1) They just slip under the radar. (I think this is crazy and don't plan to do this, but I talked to one lady who has a residence permit and has been here for years and somehow not paid taxes.)

(2) They find that the dual taxation treaty with its tax credits makes Germany marginally more expensive but not terribly so.

(3) The German government doesn't tax U.S. government pensions. (Somebody told me this is a legacy of the post WWII occupation.) I am still researching this. But apparently U.S. military and federal pensions may not be taxed at all. This doesn't apply to social security I think. I am still investigating this and will report back when I find out. If it's true than this is the best of all worlds. Florida income tax levels in Europe!

 

[Retirement_Rookie]

It depends if you're buying or renting. For buying take a look at www.green-acres.fr (they have other sites for other countries in Europe). It's a good place to start.