Calling all Expats

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socalindex
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:51 pm

Calling all Expats

Post by socalindex »

Anyone has left with family to another country from the US and or retired ? I want to learn more about moving to Spain, Croatia, Turkey, or Portugal being places that interest me.

If any of you live or can educate me on moving abroad would be helpful.

Thank you all
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snackdog
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Location: PNW

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by snackdog »

Considerations could include -
Income
Expenses
Place to live
Transportation
Language
Culture
Taxes
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ResearchMed
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Re: Calling all Expats

Post by ResearchMed »

snackdog wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 1:25 pm Considerations could include -
Income
Expenses
Place to live
Transportation
Language
Culture
Taxes

Quality of and access to health care.
Retirement/aging care options.

RM
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Badinvestor
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Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:10 am

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by Badinvestor »

First and foremost consideration: being allowed to live in the country you're thinking of moving to.
chinchin
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Re: Calling all Expats

Post by chinchin »

FATCA
not financial advice
mykesc2022
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Re: Calling all Expats

Post by mykesc2022 »

There are a few folks here that have done it. I have been planning it for a decade and am close.

Where you want to look to is YouTube. There are Vloggers/bloggers virtually in almost every location you can think of. A lot of them these days will be the young, slick, digital nomads. Stay away from them except for entertainment purposes. They typically bump from place to place, make it all seem fantastic and move on.

Look for the retired folks. The folks who are doing exactly as you described. Pulled the plug on the home country, have settled down, either married there, or brought a family. Those the are real life vloggers and while they may not be as fun and slick as the kids, they have more substance in terms of real life information on rents, utilities, rural, city, budgets, crime, government issues, visas, etc.
SpaghettiLegs
Posts: 175
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:20 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by SpaghettiLegs »

I’d be interested in hearing how US citizen expats have handled finances, I.e. bank account for expenses in new home country, investment, retirement accounts, etc left in US institutions.

I did read recently that Portugal and I believe Spain have instituted a simplified remote work visa program that would make it much easier for some to ease into a retirement in Europe.
book lover
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:01 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by book lover »

The following book I found most interesting:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/17333 ... UTF8&psc=1
J295
Posts: 3402
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 10:40 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by J295 »

Google golden visa. Son is expat and is in process for one from Portugal.
halfnine
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:48 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by halfnine »

There are many different ways to be an expat. It is impossible to give appropriate advice to anyone who is thinking of pursuing an expat life without knowing what they are running away from and what they are running towards.
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cbox
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Re: Calling all Expats

Post by cbox »

socalindex wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 11:14 am Anyone has left with family to another country from the US and or retired ? I want to learn more about moving to Spain, Croatia, Turkey, or Portugal being places that interest me.

If any of you live or can educate me on moving abroad would be helpful.

Thank you all
I've been an expat and will be again, most likely, in the near future.

However, your question is too broad to get more than surface responses here. Broad categories you will need to research include specific country, visa options, tax situation on your investments, language, document recognition and conversion, driver's license recognition and conversion, health care, how comfortable you are in a culture, on and on and on. Tires me out just thinking about the categories. And bringing a family? Complications possibly multiplied by x!

Hope you're young!
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Hyperborea
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Location: Portugal

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by Hyperborea »

J295 wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 4:40 am Google golden visa. Son is expat and is in process for one from Portugal.
Portuguese golden visa program is over. Those in the pipeline will someday get processed but no more will be accepted.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 023-02-16/
Portugal announced on Thursday a hefty package of measures to tackle a housing crisis, including the end of its controversial "Golden Visa" scheme and a ban on new licenses for Airbnbs and other short-term holiday rentals.
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Vogatrice
Posts: 174
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Re: Calling all Expats

Post by Vogatrice »

This:
your question is too broad to get more than surface responses here. Broad categories you will need to research include specific country, visa options, tax situation on your investments, language, document recognition and conversion, driver's license recognition and conversion, health care, how comfortable you are in a culture, on and on and on. Tires me out just thinking about the categories. And bringing a family? Complications possibly multiplied by x!
There is no one-page cheat sheet for becoming an expat. I've done it twice so far, and the list above just scratches the surface of things you need to consider. Most importantly, if you have U.S. citizenship, the complexity increases exponentially. If you want to work, not retire, complexities increase again and options are limited. There are some very good articles on this wiki about the financial and investing aspects. The decisions, getting visas, moving, settling in etc. are a whole 'nother story.

I and the other posters here are happy to help but we could use a few more specific questions to answer. I agree, go find some good blogs, books and videos to get you started, then come back with more in-depth questions.

However, my knee-jerk response is that living outside your home country is a life experience worth chasing. It doesn't have to be forever, but you will learn and experience a tremendous amount by learning to adapt.

Edit: I did bring my family (husband-retired, adult daughter-student) and it's been great sharing the experience with them. However, my husband has serious health issues and I'm the only one who speaks the language, so all the work is in my lap. They are supportive but I'm the one who has to make the phone calls and brave the government offices! We are all happy and would do it again but it hasn't been easy. Be sure to understand your reasons for wanting to move and remember them when things get hard.
Vogatrice
Posts: 174
Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:56 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by Vogatrice »

I’d be interested in hearing how US citizen expats have handled finances, I.e. bank account for expenses in new home country, investment, retirement accounts, etc left in US institutions.
@SpaghettiLegs, this current thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=398826&newpost=7145 ... ead#unread has some good information, as do a number of older threads and the wiki. For any specifics, it might be best to start a new thread.

My experience has been that it has taken a lot of phone calls, emails and snail mail to get things set up the way I want them, but I do have banking and brokerage accounts in U.S., Canada and Europe at this point. I am no longer a U.S. citizen, and I have had to certify that to get European accounts set up, since European banks are reluctant or refuse outright to deal with the FATCA obligations imposed on them by the U.S. Treasury for any U.S. customers. That is a major complication for U.S. expats. Workarounds include Fintech near-banks (e.g., Wise) and International brokerage firms (e.g., Interactive Brokers) who will accept U.S. customers.

I said European banks/brokerages deliberately. So far, I have chosen not to open accounts in Italy because their fees are higher than I want to pay and their administration requirements are never-ending. Wise allows me to pay all my EUR bills from Belgium, IBKR handles my EUR investments from their subsidiary in Hungary. I have not yet succeeded in obtaining a EUR-denominated real credit card (as opposed to prepaid or virtual/debit card.)
Topic Author
socalindex
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:51 pm

Re: Calling all Expats

Post by socalindex »

Thank you all so much. I will def. watch retired expat videos and learn more. I still have another 20 years, so time is on my side.
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