AJK

Greetings everyone! First time posting here; so here is a short intro. My wife and I are both from Hungary, immigrated to Canada in our 20s. We are now starting to think about finding a country to move to when we retire: somewhere with semi-decent climate, low rates of crime, low cost, low taxation and high-quality health care. Hungary (or more specifically the North Shore of Balaton) is on the short list.

I am curious to hear from anyone about their experiences of settling down and living in Hungary. The pros and cons, differences between expectations and reality, generic impressions and practical advise - all is appreciated.

AJ

Peter_in_Hungary

Since you are Hungarian there must be advantages in moving back to Hungary. (as opposed to another country). If you take time to read through the various threads here you may come to the conclusion that a lot of the problems that people have are related to either language difficulties or/and being absent from their properties for a good part of the time. I presume neither of these two will apply to you.

A semi decent climate is a matter of opinion and choice, but I guess you know the Hungarian climate anyway and the area around the Balaton is a bit warmer in the winter than some other areas.

The north shore of the Balaton is a good choice, not least of which because we have been here for 22 years! Actually not the north shore but a bit further north, in the Balaton uplands. If you knew the Balaton area in your 20s, then it has changed quite a bit and it is not the tourist mecca that it was then. From a personal view point I would not want the Balaton shore but a bit further north in the Balaton uplands as there tends to be more permanent residents whereas some of the Balaton shore villages can be deserted in the winter (too many holiday homes)

Crime is low and generally restricted to low level petty theft and alike. Tax for pensioners is low, pensions are zero rated, so no tax payable there but AFA (sales tax) is an annoying 27%. Health care is good and the health spas still function with 2 sessions available annually at reduced rates to ease the aches and pains of old(er) age that accompany the pension cheques. The practice of handing over bribes to the doctors has disappeared now. (In 22 years we have never resorted to this corruption and had no problems)

PaulinEger

We've lived here, in various places near Eger for 8 years now and it is certainly not what we'd hoped for. Don't get me wrong, the reasons I left England have only got worse there and I'd never go back to live, although I do miss my family.
We have to work as we're not in a position to retire yet but I don't intend to hang around until I'm in my 60's for that. Finding regular, secure work is always an issue and the summer months are incredibly difficult for us - no work = no money.
The bureaucracy is horrendous and being able to speak the language is a massive help although I know a couple of couples who don't speak Hungarian and they get by.
The cost of living, once you've bought your house is not too much cheaper than in England (other than council tax). I was recently back in England and food shopping was actually cheaper than here. If you drink and smoke then those products are considerably cheaper here.
Another thing to consider is the exchange rate. If you're relying on a Canadian pension then your income will vary each month. Again, I know 3 couples who live in our village who've taken early retirement (on not substantial pensions) and they've taken a big hit since Brexit. A couple of years ago the exchange rate was down to about 280huf to 1gbp then it shot up to more than 410huf to the gbp. That's a huge difference to take into consideration.
We've generally had pretty good experiences with the healthcare system but we've also seen bad practice. There are no curtains around the beds in hospitals, extra beds crammed into the aisles of already small wards, being tied to the bed so the patient can't buzz the nurses (when she had terminal cancer) and more.
That all sounds pretty doom and gloom but we still enjoy living here. The pace of life is much slower and we have 2 houses with big gardens in the countryside which we couldn't afford in England. We get by and have made a lot of friends, predominantly Hungarian and have tried to get back to basics, growing our own vegetables and relaxing more than working.

Peter_in_Hungary

In defence of the hospitals the hands of patients are sometimes tied (loosely) to stop them pulling out the drips which can happen when patients get delirious.

PaulinEger

The person in question was my wife's aunt who was tied to the bed and definitely not loosely.She was unable to reposition herself due to the advanced cancers as she was very weak and only had a few weeks to live. At a later date the staff removed the restraints and also the buzzer!
We had some friends over for the weekend and (I believe it was) the woman's uncle who was also tied to the bed.
Old habits die very slowly in this country.
I could also mention the old woman who was unable to move, in the bed next to my mother. The staff would bring her food but as she was unable to move the food would be taken away later, uneaten. She was immensely grateful when my mother offered to feed her, as she was starving. When my wife complained the nurse simply said that they didn't have time to feed the old woman.
We have had many other experiences with hospitals and doctors. Most of those have been adequate to quite good.

AJK

Thanks for the responses. We feel quite apprehensive about the quality of health care in Hungary. We are familiar with the system of envelopes stuffed with money - if that is what it takes to buy privileges in the public system, so be it. We would however prefer private clinics and care if possible - does anyone have experiences with them, or do they even exist?

wolfi

Especially here in/around Hévíz there are many medical practitioners with a private practice - and they advertise their services, from ultrasound exams to psychiatry ...

My wife also uses them sometimes, when she wants a quick appointment.

Often these docs work in a hospital and do this as an aside to make some money, pay back the loans from their education - wages in the state medical system are horrendously low!

Peter_in_Hungary

In my experience the quality of the state health care is good. The system of envelopes stuffed with money has gone. There are private clinics and care available. As wolfi says often it is the same doctors in the private clinics as in the state funded system. As with many state funded health care systems the waiting times for non urgent problems tends to be longer. An old lady in our village (very low income) needed cataract operations, from diagnosis to first operation 6 months, second operation again 6 months after the first operation was cleared as OK. (She also gets daily visits from the local care worker (free) to help with her 'independent' living.

My own recent experience, I had a trapped nerve in my neck, x-ray showed nothing and the doctor was reluctant to advise treatment without an MRI. State system wait time 6 weeks, private 3 days, so I went private for the MRI, having got that the doctor then prescribed a series of water therapy treatments and massage at a health spa, not free but at a much reduced rate and travel paid by the state system. Wait time for the treatment - none!

Again as wolfi said - wages in the state medical system are horrendously low. But the government scored a bit of an own goal as some years back it required a foreign language exam for anyone getting a degree, which means doctors and nurses need a language exam, which once got gives them their degree - and makes then more employable abroad. To stem the exodus of health care workers there has just been announced a 26% pay rise next year followed by 8% the year after then another 8% the following year.