Titles says it. About 10 days ago I realized I wasn’t saving any money for retirement and I also didn’t want to work all my life.

I created a plan to stop working at 55. I used r/fire and r/etfs and r/bogleheads and r/expat fire to come up with a target goal and date. I created a portfolio and now have allocations coming out of my paycheck into a TSP, Roth IRA, Brokerage account and HYSA.

I’ve never had a budget and didn’t know how to make one. So I learned how to use Microsoft excel and created one. It’s pretty sweet actually. I have it now so all I need to do is input how many hours of overtime I plan to work and it will calculate all of my deductions, (taxes, insurance etc. plus retirement contributions etc. plus bills) and it spits out a number of how much I will have each month leftover.

I feel like I accomplished a lot the past week for starting at ground 0 with almost no financial education or investing experience and no budgeting experience.

I just wanted to share this so that if anyone who is like me and didn’t have a clue what to do or where to start, it’s pretty wild what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.

Here’s to not going over budget haha. Sorry for the lousy picture.

I have dual citizenship though have spent most of my life outside of the UK. Looking to retire in 4-5 years at age 55. Married with two heading to college shortly. No intention of moving back to the UK but want to split time between east coast US and somewhere in Europe.

My wife’s family is German any we enjoy going to see them and we love Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovenia. Are there any benefits to my citizenship in any of these places (or elsewhere) or has Brexit made it pretty meaningless outside of the UK? Willing to invest locally if that helps.

Thanks!

Me and my partner of many years were both born in the UK, where we currently reside, however my partner also has a German passport. We are interested in trying to relocate to Europe and have thought about whether marriage might help us do that but we are unsure of the legalities.

From what I can gather if I were to marry my partner I think it would allow me to apply for a residence permit after the initial 90 day period in whichever European country we chose to relocate to, unless the country is Germany (her country of origin?), in which case we would have to follow Germany's own procedure.

Is this all correct or am I missing some details? If it is correct, does anyone have any experience of how difficult it is to make the application?

Thanks a lot in advance :)

Me and my husband and going to live in Europe for some time and we're unsure how to hedge against unfavorable currency exchange rates (eg if EUR/USD goes up) given the portfolio is almost entirely in USD.

I've read some things regarding treasury bond yields and how it may relate to the dollar index / the strength of the dollar against other major currencies, but am left more confused than I already was.

Are there any effective ways to achieve that purpose other than having a large part of portfolio in euros and taking the huge loss in growth? Getting euros directly means they can't really be invested due to local markets being much less reliable than US markets, and fixed income yields are abysmal in EU, so it feels like a bad, simplistic way to try and shield against currency risk that comes at a very high cost. Are there other options?

This move is currently planned for the short term (2-5 years depending on life circumstances) but may very well turn out to be a permanent life change depending on the circumstances, and I'm quite uncomfortable with the idea that SWR become meaningless when exchange rates can lower the purchasing power drastically. After all, EUR/USD exchange rate has been anywhere between 0.85 to 1.6 since inception and has fluctuated wildly over its two and a half decades of existence, so hedging against that feels just as important, if not even more important, than any other major FIRE risk management strategies like lowering SWR, having bonds...etc..

We currently help my mother in law (MIL) financially and she lives with us.

MIL is fully capable of living alone but her basic living expenses cost more than what she receives in SS. MIL has some medical issues but i think she exaggerates how they affect her bc she only brings up symptoms when she doesn’t want to do something or may be inconvenienced.

She has admittedly lived a selfish (yolo) lifestyle and has always relied on others to take care of her. Prior to living with us, MIL lived with her mother, my grandmother in law (GMIL). GMIL paid the rent and all utilities. When GMIL died, MIL couldn’t afford the rent so we asked MIL to move in with us before she became homeless.

My wife and I have been very fortunate to do well financially. We have sacrificed and invested diligently towards our goal of early retirement for years. We are on track to achieve fat FIRE by age 46. We plan to slow travel the world for a few years while we are still young and agile then choose a place to settle down and make a permanent home.

This may be selfish but:

I don’t want to delay early retirement to save for money for MIL needs.

I don’t want to bring her on our slow travel journey.

I don’t want her to live in one of our rental properties because it will reduce our income.

We have talked about buying a home somewhere in the US as a home base and letting her live there while we’re gone but i kind of feel like that is an unnecessary expense we don’t need during slow travel. Plus after traveling the world I’m not sure where we will make our permanent home.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do?

What would you do in this situation?

Edit: My wife and I are on the same page with all of this. We came to Reddit for suggestions.

Should someone move to US or maybe Canada in general if living in Germany? What are the benefits or should I look for another place inside EU?

In approx 7 to 10 years we'll retire to our place in Spain (my wife is Spanish so no Brexit issues). I'm looking for recommendations for an English IFA or Spanish equiv (would that be un gestor?) to help advise on optimal investment/savings/pension strategy given that we will be retiring to the Malaga region of Andalucia.

So, I think they need to understand UK pensions, ISAs, GIAs, etc + the Spanish side of the equation including any Andalucian specifics. Any advice/recommendations welcome. Thanks!

Hi All

I am trying to understand how things are taxed between Spain and my retirement accounts in the US. I am EU citizen but have 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA.

As I understand it if I give up my green card I become and NPR of the US. I also understand that my social security would be taxed at 30% by the US because of living outside the US. But I am confused as what would / wouldn't be taxed from the Spanish side.

Is it worth coming converting my traditional IRA / 401k to a Roth and paying tax in the US before moving to Spain?

A lot of the information I have found is about US citizens but not NPR.

Thanks in advance

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I have French Citizenship by descent and am in the process of getting my passport from the Consulate office in the US.

To have the Consulate mail me my passport they require that I Register online as a French Person outside of France. It's a 6-hour drive so I'd prefer they mail it versus I have to drive back to get it which does not require registration.

As a US citizen that has never lived in France and has no current plans to move to France is there anything about registering as a French Person outside of France that I should know about?

The only reason I would do it is to save a long drive but want to make sure it doesn't cause me any future issues. Or, if there are benefits that would be great to know too.

​

We operate our ecommerce stores under our Singapore company.

We need a bank account in the EU in order to receive payments from local clients in Euro.

Do you know what countries or banks would accept our application for a Business bank account?

One of our director is a EU citizen/resident if that helps.

I'm 38m who's decided to sell up in the US and move to Spain. Have a wife and 2 young children.

With proceeds from the sale of our house in the US, and savings, we'll have about $1m.

Where we're moving (which is all set up, place I know well) and being relatively frugal our monthly expenses for rent, bills, private school for the kids, groceries, healthcare, discretionary spend will be approx. $3k/month.

My wife and I will still be working, and able to cover our monthly outgoings.

Obviously I could make $50k/year in simple interest in my Betterment 5% savings right now. But what's a better long-term strategy for this cash, keeping pace with inflation but also giving us the option to live off the investments if we needed / wanted to, without touching the principal?

As a Puerto Rico bona fide resident you don’t have to file a US tax return and the capital gains rate is much lower. If you become a Puerto Rican resident for a year before moving abroad for ExpatFIRE could you save on US filing from the new country?

Does anyone here have any experience personally going through the process of acquiring Golden Visa to become a resident of either Malta or Cyprus? If so, could you share some insights into the process and your current assessment of the decision upon reflection? I am at a point where I am keen on getting an EU residency and since PT has changed the NHR laws I am no longer considering Portugal but looking at other options and Malta and Cyprus seem interesting.

I have vacationed in Central America for 1 week at a time over the last 5 years. Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama. I wanted to ask those who have FIRE’d in LatAm about my financial viability of doing the same.

I have 100k left on the mortgage of my primary residence. My only debt. I am married, no children. I own 2 rental homes.

Rental House #1 - 1800/mo net, no mortgage

Rental House #2 - 1000/mo net, no mortgage

If I quit my job, would the rental income and investments be feasible to fund a middle class existence?

Thanks!

Hello. I am non eu citizen currently working in Italy while receiving Italy tax break incentive.

I’m aware that the requirement includes commitment to stay in Italy for 2years.

If I leave Italy before that, will I have to pay back the whole benefited amount? I also heard that interest might be added.

I don't think I can pay it back so quickly because it will be a huge amount, but does anyone know how we might get asked to pay it back? I came to Italy on May 6, 2023 and started working on June 1. Does two years mean I have to keep paying taxes for two years hence till 31.05.2025? Or live in Italy until May 5, 2025?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but I would appreciate your advice. Thank you

So I’m 35. Just starting over basically. I have $20,000 in the bank. Will start maxing out a Roth IRA. Will max out an employer 401K with 5% match. And an additional 10,000 to a brokerage account yearly.

I’ve basically lived in Thailand for the last 8 years, but it’s always more of an extended vacation than it is a retirement. So I’ve never really got a good hold on peoples expenses. When I’m there I’m in vacation mode and really spend a lot of money. Stay in hotels and air bnb and eat out everyday etc.

Hoping to get an idea of at what age I can stop working or how much I would need to live on for so many years.

In 20 years at an 8% avg return I would have 2.15 million between the 3 above accounts. Not including social security and pension. Which would probably add another million or maybe 1.5 million bringing the total to $3 - $3.5 million.

Is this a realistic amount to live for 30 years? I don’t know where in Thailand I’d like to live yet as I really enjoy many different areas. But I would think Chiang Mai or maybe Samui.

Anyone in a similar situation in terms of age and money at their Fire year?

For a German/EU citizen how hard would it be to move to the US and work or work selfemployed?

So I expect to have some really serious capital gains that has not happened yet, but I do expect to happen later this year or next year. Therefore I'm in a very unique situation where it's very beneficial to go to a tax haven, even if it is just for a year, but I have to do it fast. I currently have minimal unrealized gains tax, and no property in Canada, so deemed disposition is not a problem.

I'm seriously considering going to a tax haven as a Canadian and I'm wondering if anyone has advice or contacts to accountants/lawyers that can help advise this. Seems like Nomad Capitalist is not recommended. How about Expat Money?

Also, I would LOVE to have a minimal minimum stay requirement for tax residency. But it seems like most popular places have a 6 month minimum stay requirement. Is there any place that doesn't have a 6 month requirement? I'm even willing to have a minimal amount of capital gains tax, say <5% to have a 2 month or less minimum stay.

Thanks everyone

I [44M] FIREd in north western Europe with $1.4M and two duplexes in the states that cash flow well and appreciate even better. The duplex equity is $250,000 and each of them appreciates by $20,000 per year. The RE is not included in my $1.4M.

I'm bored and don't like to sit around without things to do, and I want to buy flats in London and Paris.

What do you do, if anything, for extra cash to invest? I still hold a real estate license in the US and I sometimes list property through agents back home for a 50/50 commission split. I'm also earning some IT credentials (CompTia A+).

Welcome to the ExpatFIRE weekly discussion thread. This thread may be used for discussions which don't merit their own post, or which might not otherwise survive moderation - Cost of living, visa, travel or other discussions without explicit link to FI, but of interest to seekers of Expat FIRE.

All ExpatFIRE rules still apply-- it is only moderation which is slightly relaxed.

For context, please read my reply to a previous question regarding the automatic stay of the French exit tax for those relocating from France to the United States.

Form 2074-ETD for tax year 2023 was release by the French tax authorities. You can find the form and instructions (in French) here.

Specifically, page 4 of the instructions states:

Le sursis de paiement automatique s’applique dès lors que:

Cas n°1 : vous transférez initialement votre domicile fiscal hors de France dans un État membre de l’Union européenne ou dans un autre État ou territoire ayant conclu avec la France une convention d’assistance administrative en vue de lutter contre la fraude et l’évasion fiscales ainsi qu’une convention d’assistance mutuelle en matière de recouvrement2 et cet État ou territoire n’est pas non coopératif au sens de l’article 238-0 A du CGI.

Outre les États membres de l’Union européenne la liste des États (ou COM) concernés pour les transferts intervenus à compter du 1er janvier 2023 est la suivante :

... Etats-Unis ...

For those that don't speak French, this is the French tax authorities explicitly stating on their official exit tax form instructions that the United States continues to get the automatic deferment of French exit tax on unrealized capital gains when transferring a tax domicile from France to the United States. Such a taxpayer does NOT have to place collateral to the French tax authorities for unrealized capital gains.

Combined with the excellent treatment of US situs non-earned income (retirement income, capital gains, interest, dividends, etc.), this continues to make France a great choice for US citizens to retire to. As of now, relocating to the US from France at a later date continues to not require payment of collateral for the French exit tax.

Every FIRE discussion revolves around NW, which includes home equity. Our current NW is about $2.2M, half of which is equity, mostly from the apartment we live in and a little bit from a rental property.

This may be a dumb question, but it’s not clear to me how you actually realize the home equity component of your FIRE number in a way that isn’t too disruptive (ie I know I can sell, but then I’d have to buy again at likely equally high prices).

What are the ways home equity actually enables FIRE?

It has always been a bit of dream to own a small place somewhere to be able to crash out while traveling outside the US. My goal is to keep the investment low because 1) I don't have a ton of capital and 2) you never know what may happen in a country and may risk losing it all.

Does anyone have recommendations for subs or different online groups that discuss this topic? Some of the ones I have come across in the past end up being people trying to be the middle man to make a commission while pushing property that might not be right.

I am mainly curious about central Europe and EE. Some Balkan countries possibly. Georgia would be great (food, people and access to flights). But I think the pricing in Tbilisi may be too much for me and Batumi isn't my ideal beach place (I prefer sand to stones). Turkey is well located and lots of flight options.

And while I am already asking for something that might not exist, any countries where prices have not totally escalated too much?

My budget is mainly geared around value for cost. I will be traveling this summer and can wander around to check out countries. And I would go back a couple of times before trying to buy anything. I have had that experience where I liked it the first time but upon return it wasn't so great, so I know I need some time in a place to feel comfortable.

Thanks!

​

I’m considering the Balkan countries such as Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, etc. because the cost of living is rather low but it still keeps you in Europe.

Does anyone have experience with these countries? What does your budget look like?

My gf and I would probably be in our 40s when we retire. We also have 4 cats.

The country you leave has to accept that you're not one of its resident anymore. And the new country has to accept that you're its resident.
When you read all the laws it is never explained what is the exact date of change of residency. The date you first left before spending 183 in your new country? Or after the 183 days? ...
It can be important in case of the computation of the exit tax or if tax laws change.

Posting here something that I posted over on LeanFIRE since my plan involves moving abroad (SE Asia) so people here may have more insights. I have seen/read about how so often retirees are too conservative and end up dying with shit tons of money in the bank. Nothing wrong with that. But my ultimate goal is to kick the bucket having maximized my time and money...leaving little in the bank...maximizing time in the good years versus the "I'm dying" years. So what I'm asking is for your thoughts on how your spending/savings are going in reality vs what you planned? Are you spending more or less than you thought? And also looking for people to shit on my idea and poke holes in it.

Stats: 40y with NW $375k looking to geo arbitrage and go abroad.

Assumptions/Base Case:

• Assuming zero income going forward, in reality I'd have some side money from freelance gigs or pocket change from teaching english.

• Assuming no decrease in spending. When in reality as funds draw down I'd adjust along with studies show as you age your spending decreases

• Assuming $2k spend per month initially increasing yearly with inflation. When in reality it would probably steer less than that per month.

• Assuming 7% portfolio return annually with 3% annual withdrawal inflation

• Ignoring Social Security because its not accessible till I reach the "Im dying" years at which point I'll consider it a bonus.

Results:

-This scenario has my account drawing down to zero at year 25/26...short of the 30 year target I arbitrarily set. Now the thing that makes me not overly concerned about this scenario is that:

• Market returns in recent history and in my portfolio exceed 7%...if portfolio returns 1% higher at 8 percent then I make 30 years with plenty left over

• With side income of a measly $200 a month I make it to year 30 sticking to the base case scenario

• My spending would adjust easily depending on how my portfolio performs as that $2k a month is living very well in locations Im looking at. Could easily spend less.

• At 10 years I'll essentially be flat in base case (ignoring inflation) with a balance 10k below the initial starting amount allowing me flexibility to adjust if needed. Can pull the ripcord and abandon the plan at this point with the same $ I started with (minus opportunity costs/inflation)

Issues:

• Im assuming no sequence risk, kinda hard to plan for that, I guess always have one years living already liquid so dont have to tap into capital during a drawdown?

• Im assuming no giant unforeseen expenditures/purchases/emergencies. A large outflow can easily change the calculus.

• Im assuming I dont care about my life or live past 70 lol. Not to get philosophical or call me dark, but I dont have high expectations for or of desires of getting past a certain age where life is essentially just struggling against your aging body/brain.

Hoping for some perspective. I understand that all golden visas require the purchase of a property to qualify. However, my wife is an EU citizensh and thus we don't need to go that route. That being said, many of the expats I talk to ended up buying because of the visa, so they never really looked into renting in the first place.

I guess my question is, if you could move to country x and not have to buy, would you?

First post. Long time lurker.

Me and my wife are now seriously looking into expatFire. There are lot's of resources online but they are fragmented and overwhelming. Our plan is to do 1 year sabbatical to test the waters. We own property in a hcol city and have a 10 yr old.

Wanted to see if people here had a book that they'd recommend. I feel like a book is more organized and would be a good planning tool for taxes, renting out our house, education, visas, etc. We live in the US and have Roth, 401k, etc. we're looking to minimize blind spots in our plan.

Thanks in advance.

How do you manage? Property management company? Renting or leaving empty?

Looking to explore living outside the US but still keep our home there unoccupied for a year until we’re confident we want to live outside the US. Once we’re sure, we would sell and move permanently.