Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi there,

I've been reading this forum for years now and have finally decided to post as I understand the value of this forum and the thoughts and opinions of those on here.

I am 39 and thinking of buying a property with the intention of using it as a holiday home/place to retire. The idea is to buy it in the next year or so, let it out some, stay in it some and pay it off in the next 20 years or so.

I was wondering your thoughts on where the best places in Europe would be (obviously somewhere warmer than where I am now in Scotland) to retire? Somewhere with good healthcare, transport links, low crime, nice community of people, sunny, warm - and well just fabulous!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Kind regards,

Jennifer in Edinburgh

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Well, I have googled this and found the following article:

http://www.escapefromamerica.com/201...ire-in-europe/

I haven't been to Cyprus yet or Croatia....Spain several times though.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hello Jennifer,

There are so many factors to consider. First, of course, is your budget. If you want to retire to Tuscany and renovate an old farm house there, you're talking about needing hundreds or thousands of pounds. As you've spoken about paying it off, I'm assuming you'd be getting a mortgage to buy it. If that's the case, you could try slightly less obvious places (and cheaper than the usual France/Spain/Italy hotspots) like Bulgaria, Romania or even Portugal.

You also need to consider language: which ones do you speak or do you think you coulld learn or are you just planning on going to an area with enough expat Brits in it that language learning isn't that necessary?

Also consider how you'd like to spend your free time. What do you like doing? What areas of Europe provide those activities? Sitting on the deck with a G&T watching the sun go down in a foriegn clime is great on holiday, but gets boring if you're doing it full time! The area would also need to have some attractions if you wanted to rent it out more easily.

How much time would you want to spend travelling to and from the house? This is especially important if you want to rent it out. Do you want to be able to drive there from the UK? Is there an airport nearby.

Good healthcare is probably going to be the tricky one. Generally, the cheaper the country in terms of cost of living, the lower the quality of healthcare. As long as there's a private hospital nearby you should be ok. You can alway go back to the UK for anything more serious.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi, language is an important factor when you need hospital treatment. Maybe in 20 years, all European hospital staff will speak English, but at present this is certainly not the case, at least in Southern Europe. From my own observations in France and from the BE forum, expats who don't speak the language of the country have problems communicating with nurses, carers, dinner ladies, ... and "young" retirees and the elderly fare even worse since it's too late to learn the language.
But you're organising yourself well in advance, and once you've decided which country you wish to retire to, you'll have plenty of time to learn the language before you move there for good! :)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies so far. I knew it would be a good idea to post here as you've given me much food for thought.

To answer some of your questions:

1) I speak/have studied the following: French, Spanish and Italian
2) It's important to me to not use a car - as this is an added expense and I really love having a pedestrian lifestyle (it's what I do now in Edinburgh and I feel really great about what I am doing for the environment as this will hopefully cancel out anything I do by adding it back by air travel! :))
3) Out of everything, I would say healthcare and nice environment with friendly people are the most important factors to me (by nice environment, I mean low crime, aesthetically appealing)
4) Ideally, not longer than a 2 hour flight away from the UK
5) Yes, I will take out a mortgage to pay for the place. My husband will service our mortgage here in the UK and I will service the foreign property

There really are so many places to choose from. But as noted above, I have lots of time.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

remember that Spain has a tax on a house sale, also - subject to very few exceptions - they also can claim income tax on world wide income unless you are very careful, which could mean both UK and Spain getting a lump before you do.

its not as free and easy as it used to be think very carefully and take Good legal advice.

rgds

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I suppose if you want a head start on the language, you're best off going for a place where they speak romances languages, so Italy, Spain, Portugal, France or Romania.

Do you want a place with plenty of other expats?

Can't tell you much from first-hand experience about the other four, but I'd say Romania probably isn't for you:

It's still quite wild and if you were to live in the countryside, you'd probably need a car unless you're happy with village life, cycling, hitching, or waiting for irregular minibuses.

Healthcare from the state is pretty much non-existant. Well, it exists, but you have to pay for it (discrete envelopes to the doctors and nurses). Private healthcare is fine though.

It's more than two hours from the UK. If you had a holiday home in Transylvania, it would take you about 3-3.5 hours to fly to Targu Mures airport from London (plus however long it takes you to get to London!).

On the plus side, you can get a decent renovated property for about 50K with a few bedrooms and some land. The landscape is fantastic and there are plenty of countryside pursuits to take part in if you don't mind getting in with the locals. You'd pick up the language in no time as you speak Italian and the cost of living and property taxes and stuff like that are very low. Crime is low (just petty theft most of the time) and it's warm and sunny most of the year (although winter can usually present one harsh month with plenty of snow and minus temps). If you want expat community support too, Romania isn't awfully good, especially in the countryside. You're likely to be the only non-Romanian in any particular village (although that might be seen as an advantage!).

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Good to know and something to think about. I made the assumption that if my main residence was in the UK and I had a holiday home elsewhere and only stayed a certain number of days in the foreign country, that I wouldn't be paying double taxes (actually, I am a dual UK/US citizen and already have to pay US taxes when I make a certain amount about UK ones, so I would for sure want to avoid paying any additional tax!!!).

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Romania sounds great - thanks for sharing.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Jenn, it is a complicated matter - isnt all taxation :eek:

however, it is also difficult for the layperson to get it right, after all ask 3 accountants and get 5 answers :(

as the first step is to look at domicile then you need to see the HMRC
website on Double Taxation Agreements - which is where countries have agreed to allow only one tax payment
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxtreaties/dta.htm

since man first started travelling to other places there have been taxes to pay, so the more you move around the more taxes you pay.

buying a property in another country, i.e. Spain, will indicate you have money, so they will start looking at you carefully, and there is a tax on certain elements of purchase plus also IVA/VAT.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Very helpful :), thanks so much. Maybe I'll just buy a place on the coast of the USA as I am already set up there and know the systems.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Try Ayamonte ticks all your boxes and with 2 international airports close by it is a 2.5hr flight from most airports in UK.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

QUOTE:Somewhere with good healthcare, transport links, low crime, nice community of people, sunny, warm - and well just fabulous! QUOTE:

You have just described Carinthia in Southern Austria

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Can she walk to the beach.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi - just Googled this place. It looks fantastic!

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I will check it out :) thank you.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

If you mean by the massive lakes we have, then yes

If you mean the sea, then no but that wasn't a criteria in her description, or did I miss it?;)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

did you consider malta?

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi there - I've never been to Malta. Is it nice? What are the benefits?

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Your thinking is very close to mine.
I'm keeping an eye on this thread !

How about all of the extended European locations, like islands European countries own. I don't know what they all are (that are treated as European) but They exist ! Corsica I think. Some of the Dutch Antilles (or whatever they are now called) Mauritus and Guadalupe I think are some. As a European Citizen you can just move there, get a property and start working. I hear !

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Yes in my opinion it is very nice. I am Maltese myself and in truth I am looking to go live and work in the UK, but ultimately I want to retire here in Malta. Summers here are hot and humid but beaches and granita make all that bearable. Winters are a different cold than most people are used to because of high humidity but its not unusual to get by here without heating your home. (I wouldn't say the same for summer and cooling your home). On the plus side keeping something cool tends to be cheaper than keeping something warm. Malta is small so everywhere is close to everywhere else, meaning you can choose to live in a quiet area and still be very close to the hustle and bustle of the villages. Its not cheap to live here but its not expensive either if you know where to shop. I think from what I have been seeing lately that its relatively cheap to rent here. A 3 bedroom apartment with decent sized rooms is probably around 300-350 euros per calendar month. I wish you lots of good luck on whatever decision you choose to take :)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hey, thanks very much :)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

How about Lake Balaton or the Zala Hills in Hungary? Cold in the winter, though it is short and sharp and no worse than my memories of Scottish winters ;) Summers are long and hot whilst property is inexpensive and the people are cultured and very welcoming.
We live in a rural village with a traditional farming community but there are more affluent villages, spa resorts etc

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

:):):) Europe's Best Kept Secret " Slovenia"! N E Slovenia is like Fairy Land,fantastic landscape,great people,amazing light,wonderful wildlife,the best cup of coffee in Europe :):):)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hey thanks. I'll put it on the list of places to check out. I've heard a lot about Hungary and look forward to visiting.:thumbup:

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I have a friend who raves about Slovenia as she is from there. I've never been myself, but have heard many wonderful things from her. Any town in particular I should check out? :starsmile:

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Austria makes the top 5 (and I think the number 1 spot several times in terms of place to retire)...another place I haven't been to yet, but really need to see. I am a big fan of architecture and I understand that there is some really beautiful buildings there.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I thought you were making the move across the border to the land of the Magyar ;) There was me on the look out for yurts :lol:

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi Rural:)Keep Looking!:) We have our eye on a little place just on the border with Hungary,so we can have the best of both worlds;)! Re where to visit,for me its the countryside that makes it special ,with 74% of the country covered in amazing forests,the right to wander where you will,great for collecting superb fungi and mushrooms for breakfast!The Goričko National Park in the very N.E,next door to "Rural" is a must,stop any where for a coffee and the local cake and watch the world go by,Very Slowly!!:)A trip to Slovenia's oldest town Ptuj is also a to do,sitting on the river Drava with great views from the castle perched high above the town,and spend a while sitting in the square watching life go by too!If you want to take home a handmade traditional basket ,then give us a call!;)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Oh, I think you have enticed me to visit :) We have friends who live close to the Slovenian border and others the Austrian border, means they benefit from the cheap cost of living, property prices, council tax etc in Hungary whilst enjoying regular visits to the neighbouring countries - makes sense.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

good friend of mine who was involved in the Romanian relief convoys some years ago liked Transylvania so much he bought property there and now lives there whilst letting a property for holidays. The views are breathtaking.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I can vouch for that Domino. I live in the capital, which is handy for work and so forth, but the Transylvanian region is really breathtaking. It would be hard, however, to make a living there unless you worked in tourism (running house rentals, guesthouse, tours, etc) but if you really want to get away from it all it's a fantastic place. Main con for retirees would be poor access to decent healthcare.

A lot of the villages still don't have basic amenities like on-grid water (still use wells), sewage systems (sh1thouses are still the thing), and gas, and lots of villages will have nothing except maybe a small shop selling a handful of non-perishable and some bottles of beers (they also kind of double as the local) and so most villagers still live off their smallholdings, not in a Good Life back-to-basics kind of way, but just because that's what they've always done. On the positive side you can pretty much do what you like without getting bogged down in petty bureaucracy.

Villages nearer the big towns like Brasov, Sibiu or Cluj are generally modernized and have reasonable access to shops and so forth, but then you might as well live anywhere.

Life here doesn't suit everyone, but if you the kind of person who doesn't like their local government telling you how many sheet to use when wiping your butt or sticking their noses into everything you do, and don't mind getting your hands a bit dirty growing your own and can live without too many modern comforts (of course, everything is available at a price and with plenty of patience if you really need it), then Transylvania could be a good place to consider - beautiful landscape for hiking/riding, lots of fishing and hunting, ruined castles, mountains to climb, forests to explore, and so on.

Properties, however, tend not to be as cheap as, say, Bulgaria. A small ruined village house in need of complete renovation with about 1000m2 of land will cost about 10K Euro. You can get a fully-renovated place for about 60K, and there's everything in between. Go further north and further from major cities and you get the better deals. The buying process is relatively easy and fees normally come to about 2-5% of the buying price in total (notar's fee, tax, land registry fee). The main thing to be wary of is on-going property disputes, but any decent local lawyer will be able to sort that out (i.e., tell you to stay away from the deal).

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Which part of Europe had you in mind???;)

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I know many people who have happily retired to Turkey, sunny climate, milder winters and with great quality of food and cheaper lifestyle. maybe worth considering.

I can provide further local information around Fethiye area, where there is a good ex-pat community, or send me a pm.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Portugal,
Climate - superb & Varied - sunny and beautiful all year in the South, hilly and beautiful in the North, even ski-ing possible for a couple of months in the centre.

People - some of the nicest you'll ever meet.

The lowest cost of living in 'Sensible Europe' - some parts of Eastern europe really are only for the 'brave'.

Good transport links to the world, Faro,Porto and Lisbon connect to everywhere.

Healthcare good (still regarded as a caring profession here), Dentistry amongst the best in the world.

Legal system - accepts foreign wills, no death duties for immediate family - none of the nightmares of Spain etc.

We love it here

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Republic of Northern Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal, Malta are all interesting possibilities to me. Have only been to the latter to date but will check out the other two next year.

Asia still an option and have researched Ecuador but think South America probably not suitable in my case.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

According to me,London is the best place for retire.it is a best place for tourist attraction spot in the world.
Thanx

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

I live in London, and although I'd agree it's great for a tourist visit, or perhaps to persue a career in the media or in the city etc., I can't see that it's a good place to retire. Too expensive, too congested noisy and polluted. Only plus factor I suppose is the availability of top class hospitals.

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Hi there - I'll have to look into this. Does anyone here know what these islands are and whether one can just pack up and move there with a British passport?

Re: Best place in Europe to retire
 

Thanks for the reply - Romania might be a little out of my comfort zone..but who knows, things change and they change rapidly, so who knows, it might be a consideration in the future.:thumbup: