Best Places in Europe to Retire on a Budget
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 12, 2024 — People looking to retire in a charming European town on a budget have many fine choices beyond the obvious destinations like France, Ireland, and Scotland. They can be terrific places to retire, but countries like Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, and Bulgaria offer affordable rents, much lower cost of living, and sometimes liberal policies about permanent residency. They can also provide an ideal lifestyle for adventurous retirees.
Comments on "Best Places in Europe to Retire on a Budget"
Scott R L says:
I would add Poland to the list.
It's a beautiful country, with friendly people who like Americans (almost everybody has relatives in the US). A lot of Poles speak excellent English.
The cost of living is amazingly cheap (outside of Warsaw, anyway), the food is good, the beer is excellent, and the country is a mix of historic and modern. (I remember being struck by the juxtaposition of "Free WiFi" signs at medieval sites.)
Worth a look.
Admin says:
I agree. Poland is a beautiful country with big cities like Krakow and Warsaw and many little towns too. The food is great and the lifestyle healthy.
Jennifer says:
Poland is a wonderful country, however in light of current events, one might question its location and safety if a conflict should arise. Visting is great, not so sure about a long-term retirement residence.
Tom Egly says:
I would think healthcare would be the most important criteria when you retire. Is there insurance and how much?
Shalev Gilad says:
In addition to health care, one of the important criteria which is not talked about much is the amounts of purchase tax when buying property and capital-gain tax when selling a property. Are there any blogs related to these questions?
Admin says:
Good questions. Healthcare is a super important issue no matter where you retire. In many foreign countries you might have better access to high quality health care at lower prices than you might in the U.S, particularly if you retire to a rural area in America. European health care is generally high quality at low cost, but you can purchase insurance. Medicare does not apply outside of the U.S. The tax issues can be complex but you should be aware of how they might apply before you buy. Having good local legal representation is always a good idea.
Admin says:
Bad news for people who would like to retire to Spain. The country looks like it is about to join neighboring Portugal in dropping its Golden Visa Program. The popular initiative let non-EEU residents get extended visas to Spain if they invested at least 429,000 Euros in the country. The reason the program is being dropped is that most of these investments were occuring in real estate in the already crowded major cities. That has distorted the market and made housing unaffordable for local residents. An estimated 300,000 Britons are currently living in Spain. See https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13285823/british-expats-spain-golden-visa-scheme.html
Admin says:
The NY TImes has an excellent article on the steps you need to take if you want to retire abroad.