Author Topic: Moved Abroad  (Read 23957 times)

Linea_Norway

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #100 on: April 25, 2019, 11:16:39 AM »
Well, Taiwan is getting old. Time for a change soon.

We are still hoping to get to Spain. It seems the visa paper work is a lot of work - and has to be done from your home country.

Any suggestions?

Maybe Portugal is easier? Should be pretty similar.

YK-Phil

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #101 on: April 25, 2019, 11:23:57 AM »
Well, Taiwan is getting old. Time for a change soon.

We are still hoping to get to Spain. It seems the visa paper work is a lot of work - and has to be done from your home country.

Any suggestions?

You may want to contact the consulate of Spain (or Portugal if you decide on Portugal) in the country you currently reside, or the nearest. I know for Mexico, one can apply for temporary or permanent residence at any Mexican consulate in the world, regardless of where you reside.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #102 on: April 25, 2019, 11:31:51 AM »
can one move to one of these countries using the retirement visa, and still do contract work with companies back in the US? i'm pretty sure i can work from abroad for my current company for a good long while while making the transition to FIRE. we're not there yet - maybe 10 years out. but, if we cut the COL by going abroad, and sell the primary residence, that would certainly accelerate things.

Here in Italy, you can't.  You can only get the elective residency (retirement) visa if you don't plan to work at all in any country while you have it.

Shane

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #103 on: April 25, 2019, 01:31:27 PM »
For anyone reading this thread who may be considering moving to Spain, here are step by step instructions on how to get a Non Lucrative Visa.

SamIAm38

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #104 on: April 26, 2019, 10:54:06 AM »
This thread is so tempting! I'm almost at 500k and single, seems like I could easily FIRE or at least sabbatical in some of these places instead of keeping up with this corporate grind.

What do you think the pros and cons are on long term residency in specific areas are over just moving at the end of normal travel visa periods to the next location? Socializing concerns? Stability concerns? Having too much stuff to easily pick up and move every 3 months?

letsdoit

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #105 on: April 26, 2019, 11:03:46 AM »
For anyone reading this thread who may be considering moving to Spain, here are step by step instructions on how to get a Non Lucrative Visa.

this link is the least clear, least step by step thing i have read in a long time
 i would have rather read it in spanish, as it makes no sense in english
it's good to know you can get that visa, tho

kenmoremmm

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #106 on: April 26, 2019, 11:26:26 AM »
For anyone reading this thread who may be considering moving to Spain, here are step by step instructions on how to get a Non Lucrative Visa.

this link is the least clear, least step by step thing i have read in a long time
 i would have rather read it in spanish, as it makes no sense in english
it's good to know you can get that visa, tho

quoted for truth.
i can't stand sites like that.

Shane

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #107 on: April 26, 2019, 12:38:07 PM »
For anyone reading this thread who may be considering moving to Spain, here are step by step instructions on how to get a Non Lucrative Visa.

this link is the least clear, least step by step thing i have read in a long time
 i would have rather read it in spanish, as it makes no sense in english
it's good to know you can get that visa, tho

quoted for truth.
i can't stand sites like that.
lol, yeah, sorry, it looks like they're trying to sell a book for $47.95 and "consulting services." Maybe that explains why the information that used to be easily and freely accessible on that site is gone or hidden.

Here's another blog post from a US family explaining how they got the Non Lucrative Visa for Spain. Hopefully, it'll be more helpful than the first one.

Sorry, the first link was kind of lame. Hopefully, this one has some better info.

beekeeper

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #108 on: May 10, 2019, 08:49:24 AM »
This thread is inspiring!

We have talked about moving to Spain/Portugal with kids and retiring early on the 4% SWR but we are too wimpy. Great to read about other people actually doing it.

Eurotexan

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #109 on: May 11, 2019, 09:59:41 AM »
Loving this thread too. I also have a UK passport (not as useful as it once was, bloody Brexit!).

I have a few more years left to save and get daughter to college. I will be revisiting this thread often for ideas.

malacca

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #110 on: September 16, 2022, 11:29:20 PM »
Well, we returned to the USA Oct 30th, 2019. We had planned on moving to Spain in Aug 2020.

Well  the Pandemic killed that idea. We did end up in Panama, Turkey and Denmark in 2021 and 2022.

Now my kids are older and in all honors classes in Middle and High School - so hard to move abroad again (once you stop, you cannot get back in those tracks).




tj

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #111 on: September 29, 2022, 08:42:18 AM »
Well, we returned to the USA Oct 30th, 2019. We had planned on moving to Spain in Aug 2020.

Well  the Pandemic killed that idea. We did end up in Panama, Turkey and Denmark in 2021 and 2022.

Now my kids are older and in all honors classes in Middle and High School - so hard to move abroad again (once you stop, you cannot get back in those tracks).

So are you staying in USA until they are in college?  Have you been to a South America country yet? My understanding is that most of them don't have tax treaties with the US so you get extra screwed on taxes?

brooklynmoney

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #112 on: September 29, 2022, 07:58:29 PM »
Spain is from what I know one of six countries to have a wealth tax. There’s no way in hell I am paying a tax annually on my assets. Except I believe Madrid has set the rate to 0%. There are complicated tax and visa issues in terms of moving abroad. I am exploring “golden visa” programs in different EU countries and have been checking them out for a few years now but definitely would not make a move without consulting a tax and legal advisor.

ca-rn

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #113 on: November 02, 2022, 03:02:09 PM »
Spain is from what I know one of six countries to have a wealth tax. There’s no way in hell I am paying a tax annually on my assets. Except I believe Madrid has set the rate to 0%. There are complicated tax and visa issues in terms of moving abroad. I am exploring “golden visa” programs in different EU countries and have been checking them out for a few years now but definitely would not make a move without consulting a tax and legal advisor.

I found there are 5 countries that have a wealth tax
Columbia- 1% Net wealth over 1.3 million
Norway- .7 and .25 FMV 180K/single
France - .5-1.5 Personal net real estate over 1.3 Euro
Spain- .2-3.5 of assets
Switzerland-.05-4.5 FMV gross assets

For the FIRED people in Spain, how has the tax bite been in reality?

ca-rn

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #114 on: November 02, 2022, 03:03:59 PM »
Holyoak,

We plan to move to either Spain or Portugal in the next 2 to 3 years, so while I cannot give you exact answers to your questions, I can pass along the information I found researching in preparation of our move.
The cost of living for your targeted location can be found at numbeo.
Generally speaking, a budget of $3500/mo will provide a good standard of living in Spain for a couple. That amount includes health insurance as well. Private health insurance for a couple will be no more than $3000/year.
Both Spain and Portugal have a relatively generous immigration policy for retirees - Spain has a so called non-lucrative visa - you first obtain a one  year visa, which can be renewed until you reach 5 years of residence in Spain. At that point, you become permanent resident. The process is long and requires a lot of documentation. Two of the most important things that you need to prove are: financial resources that will allow you to support yourself and your family for the duration of your stay (this should not be a problem for one who reached FI); and proof if medical insurance.
A car may not always be necessary - it depends which area you are targeting, how close you are to shops, etc, and more importantly, lifestyle. You have a lot of options - you can design your lifestyle based on your interests and more importantly, based on your budget.
I hope this answers some of your questions.

Can you provide an update?  Did you end up moving to Spain or Portugal? 

ca-rn

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #115 on: November 02, 2022, 03:09:01 PM »
Of potential interest to folks on this thread, I just discovered that France changed its wealth tax so that it applies only to global property in excess of 1.3M euros, rather than any net worth in excess of that amount as it did previously. This took effect at the beginning of this year. This is good news for us, as living for a while in southern France is also a possibility.

How is the Global Property value assessed?  Annually? 
I plan to slow Fire Abroad but will keep property that is "valued" at the limit per Zillow but in reality would not get that much.  If its per property tax, I'm safe.

FLBiker

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Re: Moved Abroad
« Reply #116 on: November 08, 2022, 01:38:06 PM »
I realize that this may barely count as abroad in some folks mind, but we moved from the US (Tampa, FL) to Canada in July 2020.  There are certainly pros and cons, but we love where we are (semi-rural Nova Scotia).  As other folks have mentioned, there are certainly complexities when it comes to tax time and holding investments, but it's certainly doable.  One nice thing about Canada is that they recognize Roth IRAs.  We can't contribute to them anymore, but we declared them with our first year's taxes, and they'll be tax-free forever going forward.

 

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