scrubbedexpat099

That would seem to rule out the US.

marbella-james

Have you ever been to the Costa Del Sol?? There's probably more English spoken than spanish here so i wouldnt consider that to be a problem. I would say that the biggest problem is ex-pats expecting life to be the same as in the uk and find the change hard to take. If your retired then its a great place to live and property couldnt be cheaper.

Ramble on

I think you missed my point. In order to 'integrate' you really ought to learn the languauge, something I'm not really interested in. I use the word 'integrate' in its broadest sense here. I understand of course that there is no need to speak Spanish, but we both know that it's a hell of a lot easier if you can speak at least some. It's like where I live now, many expats have no grasp of the local language (and why should they if they're just working here for a few years), but I do and there's no two ways about it, my life is a lot easier.

The climate is attractive, I'll give you that. It's the whole package I'm looking at though, living somewhere all year round is quite different to spending a holiday there as I'm sure you'd agree, right now I don't believe Spain is as attractive as the U.S.

Steve_

Don't underestimate the costs of healthcare, that's why someone mentioned it. Plus not having worked in the US, you would not be eligible for Medicare when you reach 65 unless you pay Part A premiums which are currently $450 per MONTH. And that's just Part A, you'd want more than that.

Also if you decide you do want to work, payroll taxes in the US are really high, especially if you're self-employed.

If you move to Spain, you're a citizen of an EU country, so you're covered and the healthcare costs are much lower.

The basic problem with EB-5 though is that it's $500,000 and you're not guaranteed to get it back. You'll most likely get most of it back, I've never heard of anyone losing the whole lot but it doesn't seem to be uncommon to be $100,000 or more worse off. Plus it's conditional - there's no guarantee you'll get the conditions removed. And even if you get the money back and you get the conditions removed, at a bare minimum that money is going to be tied up for many years.

You might want to look at The Bahamas, $500,000 for permanent residency and they let you keep it, the snag is that it is easier to lose it by being away and becoming a citizen is very hard (20 years residency and you have to renounce other citizenships).

Steve_

That comment piqued my interest. What's so special about "current times"?

John_K.

What about the very high unemployment rates and (potential) social unrest in a large number of countries in Europe? Hopefully it will be just a short term issue but we don't want to or need to second guess.

Bob

You've described the US too.

Ramble on

From what I can gather I would be looking at circa $15k per year for family coverage. And yes that is expensive, bloody expensive I agree. Right now I'm paying Bupa £2,200 a year for the entire family.

Yes, that surpised me actually, but point taken.

I'm already a EU citizen (British), as are my children (dual in their case), but my wife is not.

I agree. I read somewhere else on these forums that you're essentially buying a green card, that's pretty much how I see it.

The whole island thing doesn't really appeal to me. Happy with the warmer climate and happy to be near the beach but I'd like a little bit more civilisation, better choice of schools etc.

christmasoompa

Yeah, because the unemployment rate in the US is really low at the moment isn't it?

Steve_

I don't want to rain on your parade because I don't know where you live in Florida, but when I lived there I used to help tutor kids on occasion and I was pretty shocked where they were at high school level. Plus also being familiar now with the California system, that is definitely better. Florida pays mainly for schools out of property taxes because there is no State income tax so education standards vary considerably across the State (although they're not supposed to).

Given that property taxes took a pounding over the last few years I can't imagine the situation has improved much.

Steve_

Wait until you pay for a prescription.