kev1n

There is something called public transport! We have lived in Spain for 17 years without owning a car in fact I didn't even renew my driving licence when it ran out.

Fred James

Not for me it wasnt! I retired, and started drawing my pension on my 50th birthday.

I have never regretted it and have lived here for 23 years now and never eared a penny but have had a wonderful time.. In two years time (inshallah) I will celebrate having spent more years retired than at work.

Lynn R

I gave up my job and moved to Spain when I was 50, and like others here have said, have never regretted it. I certainly don't spend all day sitting in the sun, nor have I ever been to the beach. I devoted a lot of time for the first two years I was here to learning Spanish, going to classes, doing the homework I was set, and also doing an intercambio twice a week with a young Spanish man who was learning English. We like to travel and explore places, and find no difficulty doing that by using public transport. Until 3 years ago I spent 3 afternoons a week at the gym, swimming and doing classes, until my cardiologist advised me to cut out the strenuous stuff. So now I walk 5km to the public pool in the next town, rather than going to the one 10 minutes' walk away, just for the exercise. It's quite possible to go hiking by catching a bus and getting off at a convenient spot and then hiking back. Our Ayuntamiento runs a senderismo programme of hikes outside of the summer months, transport provided, at a very reasonable cost. Living in a town without a car, I would bet I do more walking than people who live in the countryside and have to get in the car every time they need something from a shop. It certainly beats having to get up in the morning and go to work, putting up with crap from the people you have to deal with.

PoloMarco

Your comment mortgage free implies you own your own house. If you’re not aware, watch out for the Capital Gains Tax trap if planning on selling a UK property when tax resident in Spain. Depending on property value gain, you might wipe out the tax free lump sum from the pension.

Dxf

Hola,
Have you considered NOT taking the lump sum but converting all the money into your pension - it sounds like you don't actually need the lump sum and it is not compulsary

Davexf

Moses2013

Public transport is my worst nightmare and will of course have to use it when I'm no longer able to drive, you are just so limited with the places you can go to for a day trip. We are lucky that we have a bus stop near our place in Spain, so at least we could get to town but people who live rural still need a car.

Last month we had breakfast in Pineda de Mar and from our place it's just over a 30 min drive and decided to have a visit to Tossa de Mar later in the day which would be 50 mins drive from Pineda. Try doing the same with public transport and it would be nearly 8 hours travelling and I have not looked at the journey back home from Tossa.

rbs_gb

The amounts are what you have in the account(s) at the time you make the visa application. The first year, it is based on 400% of a value called IPREM (Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples). It is an indexed value which moves each year. When you do the renewal, that would be for two years, so you would need to prove at the time of the renewal, that you have funds to satisfy 2 x 400% x IPREM. It is a snapshot of your funds at the time of the application. Your private pension possibly would not be allowed as funds for this purpose as at this moment in time you cannot access it. You would be well advised to get professional advice from a lawyer to understand that aspect.

Without knowing the numbers, but given what I think I have understood for your situation, would the golden visa be possible? That has many advantages in terms of allowing residency without being forced into tax residency. Given that you already own property in Spain, you may even be able to work that into the equation. Absolutely no personal knowledge to help you on this, but is it worth looking into?

EDIT: My thinking in terms of the golden visa would be that it gets you round all of the residency issues, and in 2025 assuming you still want to do a drawdown of your pension fund to improve your liquidity you would then just need to make sure you are not tax resident in Spain in that tax year. Again,professional advice would be recommended.

Joppa

Spain, Portugal and other countries offering Golden Visa are under pressure from EU to rescind it, as it's considered unfair and discriminatory for the majority of other applicants, i.e. visa for the rich. So there is no guarantee Golden Visa will still be on offer when you are ready to apply. While visas are a sovereign issue allowing each member state to decide and implement, if something is seen to be against the spirit of EU, they would want to intervene and put pressure on.

rbs_gb

Originally to fast track Russian oligarchs wanting to buy properties in Spain but probably not many oligarchs nowadays in the current climate! Also the race to the bottom started with countries like Malta offering bargain basement deals that give fastrack EU residency, so not at all surprised by what you write.

BandauSpallet

Lots of replies - thanks - and plenty of food for thought! In response to some of the points...

No - we don't own a home in the UK. Sold it last year, and we now live 6 months of the year in a park-home on a 12-month holiday park, and the other 6 months (in sporadic chunks, as the current rules permit) in our Spanish villa.

As for the lump sum suggestion...taking the 25% tax-free is just my current thought. It might well be that I plough it back in somehow, but the thought of having it under my full control is tempting! We have more than enough in savings to cover however many years are needed to be "proven" for the €34000 each yeae..but I wonder whether an "income" does need to be shown - or is proof of savings enough?

As for retiring early...both of us worked for years (36 for me, 29 for my wife) in IT...the last few years for UK banks. Over the last 5-6 years, the constant internal bullying and divisiveness combined with "senior management" thinking that teams delivering less than 10% of what they were delivering 10 years ago (due to management incompetence and farcical levels of risk-adversity) was "fabulous" just drove us out. The majority of my work (software engineering) was being farmed out to offshore companies anyway, and by the time I left, there were only about 10 staff left in the UK office, and 250+ in India (doing the same work that 25 of us had been doing for 5 years)! I took a couple of months out due to stress (70+ hour weeks were pretty common during Covid), and ultimately bailed out. People wonder why a fair number of people in their 50s are retiring early...I saw numerous examples, and fully understood their reasons. Some large companies publically tout that they're "all over" mental health. In reality, they're driving their staff into the ground. Similar story with my wife...worked for a different bank, as an anslyst in a team of 4 people. After 4 years, the "powers that be" decided to replace the 4 people with 4 teams based in India, each consisting of 15 people...so 60 people to do the job of 4. She was a contractor, and although she was asked to renew, her health was suffering. Working out the figures, it just wasn't worth carrying on - particularly after seeing (between us) 4 work colleagues dying between the ages of 48 and 52.

My skills are "legacy" ones, so my line of work was dying a death anyway. My wife could return, but as it stands, she has no desire to, and she sees no real benefit.

tebo53

"We have more than enough in savings to cover however many years are needed to be "proven" for the €34000 each yeae..but I wonder whether an "income" does need to be shown - or is proof of savings enough?"

Some regions will not take savings into consideration as income, some will accept a nominal amount plus a slight reduction in annual income. Annual income of €34,000 per couple has to be a solid provable income from pensions, stocks and shares etc, etc. as part of the NLV application. Full private healthcare paid for a full year is also required.

Steve

Ronnyone

Have you any solid proof of this? I haven't heard anyone say they have been refused after showing savings at the £34,000.

tebo53

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...lucrativa.aspx

The link mentioned guaranteed income in the first paragraph. Savings are not a guaranteed income.
Income has to be proven again at years 2 and 4, saving could be depleted by then for "some applicants" NLV renewal.

Steve

rbs_gb

Sorry Steve, this text is from your link "that verify the perception of a periodic and sufficient income or the holding of an estate that guarantees the perception of that income."
The "or" means savings can be used to cover the IPREM requirement.

tebo53

I have in the past read on expat sites of a refusal to issue the NLV due to insufficient proof of "Guaranteed" income. Savings are not a guaranteed income as they can be depleted in the short term by paying back funds borrowed to satisfy the income requirements to gain an NLV. Documented evidence of regular income is normally required.

When i applied for residency i had to prove regular income paid into a Spanish bank account from pensions.

Steve