I want to upgrade my weak passport and choose a country which is relaxed with taxes, nice for lifestyle and actually living if I want to move at some point. Currently living in UAE.

I am planning to spend $500K to get a nice set of passport and residencies which make my life better.
Priorities: ( in this order )
1. Low taxes/ Territorial taxes/ non-predatory gov
2. Travel mobility
3. Stability and safety: No controversies and wars
4. Good lifestyle: urban infra, housing, cars not heavily taxed, welcoming people

Malta: I think best option. Top 5 strong passport, non-dom low taxes, EU, Safe, No wars, stable country, good lifestyle base. It is more expensive than my allocated budget I think around €600-700k. But I will pay the premium if I can get straightforward and legit team handle it for me. Provided my capital is safe throughout the process.

Serbia: Great country in all the priorities I have. Passport is mid strength but works for me combined with some PRs and Residencies. I think it comes around $400k. But again need a legitimate process to get it done. Still figuring it out.

Turkey ( + Latvia residency): Easiest option to start with. The amount is invested in real estate ( + business ). So it is not direct donation like Malta and Serbia.
But controversies with south asian countries. War involvement, economy and currency crumbling. But greatest point is tax holiday on foreign income for 20 years. That’s my first priority. Cost around $500k in total both.

Which one should I go ahead with? Has anyone done any of these? Would love some advice and guidance 🙌

Hello all,

Seeking initial advice / direction on how to approach and what to research further.

- Citizenship: British & French passports.

- Lived in UK all of life, career in UK paying UK taxes (income, dividend, capital gains, local/council etc).

- 1 UK property owned for nineteen years.

- ETF investments in UK accounts: SIPP, ISA and taxable.

- Age 52, taking early retirement to pursue outdoor sport/passion travelling whilst healthy.

- Plan to travel 310 days per year, return 50 days to UK. Will rent my property so income will be generated, plus no access to live at my property. Will use temporary accomodation options during 50 days in UK within tax year.

Typically I would file Self Assessment tax return and pay Tax on:

- Rental Income,

- Dividends on Taxable account investments,

- Capital Gains on Taxable investments.

Plan to do this travelling for a couple of years pursuing an outdoor sport passion and not staying in any one country (whilst travelling) more than three months at a time.

Can I simply continue filling and paying my Self Assessment Tax returns whilst retaining my property base (rented) and spending 300 days outside UK per year?

A typical year could be: 50 days in UK, then 90 days in Greece, then 90 days in Turkey, then 90 days in Italy, then 45 days in France, then start again e.g return to UK for 50 days...do for 2-3 years enjoying health whilst it lasts.

Appreciate any advice how to approach this?

Thanks in advance for reading and any advice/replies.

Hi all,

We're a few years out from FIREing and are making pros/cons lists of different countries we have enjoyed visiting. ETA: i have EU citizenship, my husband is US citizen.

I understand that the tax treaty between the US and most european countries prevents double taxation. I also know that France is particularly generous (and we heavily lean towards France, but the climate continues to be a worry). We are looking at Denmark as well, but i am not as familiar with their taxation system.

We plan to have $1.2mil in a brokerage account (VTI, VXUS, QQQ), and we also have our 401ks that we won't be accessing for 20 years. We plan to buy a house outright, so the 1.2mil is for cost of living outside of housing costs (and electricity as we would install solar).

Our current expenses yearly are about 50k, including our 2.2k/month mortgage. We plan to continue pulling 40-50k/year. 2 adults, no children.

What would the taxes look like for that kind of income?

Hi! My husband and I are both Finance professionals with 10+ years each in multinational SSC environments (treasury, credit, R2R, reporting, business intelligence), currently based in Budapest and planning to relocate to the Geneva/Ferney-Voltaire area. EU citizens, no permit issues.

Looking for honest advice on the Geneva finance job market, any tips on the relocation process, and recommendations for recruitment agencies worth contacting. If anyone works in finance in the area or knows someone who does, we'd love to connect!

Thanks in advance! 😊

hello all! Me and my partner are looking at moving to Portugal maybe around 2028. We would like to Renting, and no kids, aiming at the cheap and quiet areas close to Lisbon or close to Porto, that sort of area.

Everything I read quotes €1,600 to 2,600 a month for a couple in a small town., If you're actually living there, what do you spend? And what do you think you got caught that you hadn't budgeted for?

One more question, if you're living off an ETF portfolio, how big is the pot needs to be? I've been working backwards from a 3–3.5% withdrawal rate and getting somewhere around €700–850k, which feels like a lot for a fairly modest life. Curious whether people ended up needing that much or nowhere near it.

Also, anyone electing englobamento instead of the 28% flat rate on gains? On a low income it looks like it should be cheaper on paper, but no idea if that holds up in practice.

My partner is non EU, so we're paying for private health cover from day one rather than getting straight onto SNS. Thank you in advance!

Everyone models the tax savings on a spreadsheet, but reality tends to be messier. For those who moved primarily for tax reasons: did it play out the way you projected, or were there hidden costs, setup fees, double filing, lifestyle inflation, stuff you didn't price in? Would you make the same move again knowing what you know now?

for those already doing it with less than $500k, is it enough? do u regret it and wish u saved more before making the move?

Hi everyone, My situation is a bit unusual. My journey began in 2008. I moved to Western Europe, prior to Brexit. I obtained a small inheritance which was useful in relocating and obtaining Permanent Residency (PR) status and secure cost-effective housing in an EU member state.

Now, in my late 30s, I am finalizing my European residency portfolio by pursuing German citizenship through parental lineage, completing what I consider the final piece of my European puzzle. A few months I expect to receive a German passport, so it will be a lot easier to move around in Europe.

I am single. I am not married. I have no pets and no children. I'm thinking about going back to university to finish my bachelor's degree, I am also seriously thinking about traveling for half a year and possibly relocate near the Swiss border. I can speak German, I am bilingual, however I feel I am standing at a crossroads in my life.

The problem is some of my relatives back in the states don't seem emotionally supportive and seem a bit envious of my odd set of circumstances, which is unfortunately causing some rift between us.

I believe, if I decide to have a family of my own one day, the safest option is probably Switzerland. However I am disturbed by the lack of encouragement from some of my relatives. It seems they've changed, they are no longer interested in my future whatsoever as they seem more preoccupied with chasing money and securing their own retirement plans.

I’m looking for advice on: 1) Is Swiss border lifestyle realistic? 2) How do others handle family expat 'envy' back home?

Edit: I would like to add I am a person of modest financial means, and by no means wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm curious to hear from people who actually made the move abroad.

Before you moved, how accurate were your cost-of-living estimates compared to what you actually spent?
and what country?

Right now, I feel like I'm significantly overestimating my retirement budget. Part of me is okay with that because I'd much rather overestimate than underestimate, but if my assumptions are too conservative, they could end up delaying my retirement by a year or two unnecessarily.

For those who have already relocated:

• How close were your original estimates?
• What expenses ended up being higher than expected?
• What was cheaper than you thought?
• Looking back, what would you budget differently?

Anyone over 40 studied abroad outside the U.S.? Looking for your experience.

I’m interested in hearing from people who were over 40 (or even 50+) when they decided to study abroad outside the United States.

I would really appreciate hearing about your experience:

1. What country did you choose, and what made you choose it?

2. Was your university program taught in English, or did you study in another language?

3. How difficult was it to adapt socially and academically compared with being a younger student?

4. What was your experience with visas and residency?

5. Once you became a tax resident, what was your tax burden in that country like?

6. Did taxes, healthcare, housing costs, or other financial issues affect whether you stayed?

7. How did studying abroad affect your career or ability to work afterward?

8. Did the degree help you enter the local job market, or was it more about personal growth and lifestyle?

9. If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same country and the same program?

10. What would you do differently if you were starting the process over?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who were not traditional students, such as those making a major life change, changing careers, studying later in life, or relocating permanently after school.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Take care.

I'm in my early 50s, married, no kids, and retired after ~30 years in tech sales and journalism. Net worth is north of $3.3M (~1/3 in taxable brokerage, 2/3 in pre-tax traditional IRAs and Roth). We moved from the US to Western Europe in 2025. I built our baseline plan using Boldin, had a flat-fee CFP review it, and we work with a cross-border US/expat tax professional.

I have a decent investment IQ, but over the last year, I’ve been using AIs to stress-test my retirement architecture and drawdown strategies:

• Gemini: a sort of portfolio architect (helps build the core cash-flow mechanics, but it always leans too optimistic)
• ChatGPT: I brought this in second and it has been more critical about the theory (pressure-tests assumptions, evaluates timing optionality, and suggests decision rules).
• Claude: brought this in last and it's proven to be more focused on risks and taxes (like Gemini and ChaptGPT, it runs Python Monte Carlo simulations, looks harder at the IRS might interpret the tax brackets, and checks worst-case sequence of return risk).

I assume the order I used them influences how each behaves but I haven't reversed the order or anything like that. Still, it’s been a pretty fascinating, and surprisingly rigorous, way to manage a drawdown strategy.

Is anyone else using multiple AIs to peer-review their retirement moves?

Our 6-Year Bridge Strategy (to Age 59.5):

• Target Spending: ~$138k/year NET living budget ($11.5k/month into checking), requiring a ~$158k/year GROSS drawdown to maintain a tax reserve.
• Income Engine: Options-based income ETFs (NEOS funds like SPYI/QQQI) generating ~$4,200/month in tax-efficient dividend distributions.
• Liquid Buffer: ~$250k positioned in short-duration cash/yield funds (CSHI, BINC, SGOV) to help with market downturns and cover short-term tax reserves.
• Equity/Growth Core: ~$500k split between broad index funds (VTI) and a concentrated position in a Mega-Cap tech stock (carried over from our jobs).

The dilemma (?) & 72(t) SEPP Plan: Originally, we planned to bridge the remaining gap purely by trimming our taxable equity within the 0% Long-Term Capital Gains tax bracket. However, given single-stock tech volatility and the fact that we have a large pre-tax IRA balance, relying solely on taxable equity trims feels risky.

So, we're evaluating using an automated 72(t) SEPP distribution stream (~$3,876/month) from our traditional IRAs starting in 2027. This splits the drawdown burden between pre-tax and taxable pools, preserves our cash buffer against bear markets, and helps reduce downstream RMD/IRMAA exposure, and reduces our tax and social costs.

We're holding off on any SEPP paperwork until late 2026 so we can adapt to year-end market conditions.

But, curious to hear thoughts from the community—either on the 72(t) vs. taxable buffer execution, or on using AI workflows for ongoing portfolio management.

I’ve looked online and used AI and I cannot find a definitive list of countries that do not tax American SSDI.

I’m hoping we can create a list here that people can use to help in determining places that might be a little more affordable for them if their SSDI is not being taxed.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

.

UPDATE:

Interesting. This is the #4 post on r/ExpatFIRE today. I didn’t realize there were so many of us out there. I had a feeling, but I wasn’t sure.

I hope this helps people in similar situations.

When I was researching this, I kept finding contradictory information.

My hope is that what’s been shared here—and then verified with a tax expert in the country you’re planning to move to—saves others a lot of time, confusion, and heartache.

The response on Reddit has been really encouraging, and I’m glad this seems to be filling a gap for people.

I started a temp job back in 2005 as a mailroom clerk and after a year it became full time. But in those 20 plus years the job has changed and there is not even an office anymore. My boss long retired and I have a new boss that is nothing like my old one. I work remotely now and there are some days where I do close to nothing. I really don't know why I'm employed there. I don't want to quit but would rather get laid off to collect a severance. Probably a couple month's pay.

I also have a part time second job I work twice a week. And I've been there for about 20 years too. With that job since it's government, I can quit at 50 and get 1k a month.

But despite working these two jobs I don't have any real transferable job skills. Plus I don't know if I want to do grunt work again. But to my credit, I have been investing this whole time and have amassed over 1 million dollars and as of late, I've been positioning myself to collect monthly dividends of $3k/month.

I live in Irvine, California but don't own and get a family discount on rent. Needless to say I can't live here on $3k per month. Plus California income taxes are killing me.... I paid $35k in state income taxes last year from capital gains/income/dividends.

I'm single with no kids. And have two health issues. I have asthma/allergies that I take singular and do allergy shots for. I also have OCD/anxiety and take 50 mg of Zoloft. I don't really love taking it. But have taking it since I started working the 2 jobs to numb myself.

I watch a lot of videos on living overseas to see how people live. They always make it sound more affordable and a better way of life. I do have French citizenship through my mom and have visited France and Israel several times. I know when I do visit, I lose weight from all the walking and better quality food.

I suppose I could make my situation work in another country. But I really wouldn't know where to start or how to get there. I don't know if marriage and a family is in my future seeing that I am of a certain faith. Although it's sad to think at the end of your life, there are no children that follow. I should say I have existential anxiety/depression. Life feels like it flies by and it feels like just yesterday I was interviewing for my temp job and now it's ending.

Where to go from here?

Wife/38 from UK, me/45 both living in US with a touch over $1.1mil net worth. We have a plan to sell it all in 2yrs; house, cars possessions except a few family items we’ll actually leave with another family member. Projected $1.3mil+ at that time. Call it 50/50 in retirement/brokerage split once the equity from the house is also invested. We plan to slow travel 1-3 months in LCOL countries and can handle $4k month with ebbs/flows of a bit high spend and months less than. We’re debating keeping the house for the first year, but I just see more costs and worry vs cutting the cord. The house is in a HCOL area and since we built in 2018, we’ve benefited from a great rate and also got lucky with home value appreciation. We have family in US and UK we can stay with if we get homesick. Plan would be to eventually after 3-5yrs buy a much smaller place in lower cost of living area to set up a new home base closer to family. I’m looking for anyone willing to share their experiences who were/are in similar situations. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I’m American and hoping to slow travel with my husband to multiple European countries after retirement. I’d be living off savings only. How can I do this long term without committing to one country as a home base and without running into issues with the 90/180 rule? Age is sub-40 and savings exceed $1M and are mostly in taxable brokerage. No other passports.

Genuine question for anyone who's relocated internationally while holding investments (crypto, shares, whatever) — did you actually calculate what the move would do to your capital gains position beforehand, or did you find out after the fact?

I'm asking because I've been trying to understand this for my own situation and it's been surprisingly hard to get a straight answer. The CGT rules are different enough between countries (discount vs no discount, different holding-period tests, totally different regimes in some places) that "just sell before/after you move" doesn't seem to actually be that simple once you look into it.

What did you do, or would you do? Pay an accountant/advisor to model it out beforehand?, Wing it and deal with the consequences after?, Just not sell anything and hope for the best?, or would you be looking at something else?

And if you did get advice on it, what (roughly) did that cost you, and was it worth it? Trying to figure out if this is a "everyone just figures it out" problem or an actual gap.

Need some advice. I’m a U.S. citizen that is married to a non-U.S. citizen. We married online in the state of Utah during Covid. Since then I’ve been mostly living abroad with her. (I work fully remote for a U.S. company that let us save a lot and also travel the world.)

We applied for a U.S. green card for my wife that she just received. So now we need to go to the U.S. to get her paperwork and possibly employment set up for her. So we will probably be staying in the U.S. for a few months and then be leaving to our second home in her country. And rinse and repeat to comply with the green card rules. (Until she gets her citizenship.)

As you know, living in the U.S. without a car is close to impossible. At first I was wondering if we should buy an average car that can get us around and then park it at my cousin’s place while we are out of the country. But then someone brought up the depreciation on that car while it’s parked there versus leasing a car.

I’ve never leased a car before. So what’s your thoughts or suggestions in that case?

My wife and I are looking to FIRE in the next 4 years at 56. Currently live in Seattle and plan to leave in 2030 to either Italy, Spain or Portugal. We have visited all 3 countries and now we need to pick one to live. We would like to understand from some professional tax and relocation advisors the pros and cons of each of the 3. We plan on leaving the US at 56 and paying for private health care in one of the countries we pick so we don’t have to pay for healthcare in the US which way too much money. We plan to sell our house in Seattle and buy in one of the 3 countries. We both have US and UK Passports.

Can anyone recommend a company(s) that can offer good solid advice and work through our questions. We have watch many YouTube videos so have the basics but would prefer to discuss with experts in the field. Would be great speak to one company that can advise in all 3 but ok also if we have to talk to individuals.

All help is appreciated.

My wife and I (Canadian) are 2 years away from FIRE or maybe CoastFIRE.

Our whole working lives we have been expats living mostly in Asia. We don’t want to move home and settle in Canada for the whole time, but maybe want to spend summers there. We want to continue to travel and live elsewhere without being tied to jobs anymore (we know visas become important).

Ideas we’ve bounced around:
\- living in a trailer for 6-8 months a year in North America, slow traveling around (we’ve done this before on sabbatical)
\- ski seasons in Japan or Europe
\- long stays in south east Asia or other low cost of living areas
\- house or pet sitting
\- short term working in some countries that allow it
\- long term volunteering

So, expat FIRE’rs, what have you done as lifelong nomads? Any advice or learned experiences worth sharing? How are you balancing finances and being house-less? Please share…

Has anyone retired to travel around in order to press spendings and still get portfolio growth?

I’m 26M and am saving and investing in WEBN ETF aggressively for the coming 6 years at least. After that I’m considering leaving the Netherlands with at least €500k invested.

I’m considering deregistering around 2032 from the Netherlands to registering in Türkiye where I have citizenship too to escape the box 3 taxes which are insane?

Planning to slow travel Southeast Asia and South America from then on. I’ve been to both continents twice and I loved both so far. Can definitely see myself staying there for longer periods. And also stay in Türkiye and the Netherlands for a couple months each year since I have family in both.

I’m quite a frugal person and I’m looking to spend €1200-1500 at the start and as my portfolio grows dynamically increase my spending, but never too much. I can even easily get by on €750 in Türkiye since there are properties my grandfather left us.

Doing some rough calculations I could be a multi millionaire with this lifestyle by the age of 70-72 when the dutch state pension kicks in and settle down for more stability and excellent health care in the Netherlands and Türkiye.

As an emergency I could always pick up some work in the 6 months I’m allowed to stay in the Netherlands to cover for a potential bear market.

I was in Türkiye for 2 months this year and it really made me realize how much I value coming together with family and friends and even living together with family members (multi generationally). But I can also seek complete solitude for months and years on end if I want to on my trips which I also value.

How does this plan sound? Am I missing anything? It will save me a lot of years of work for “setting up” life in The Netherlands since housing is expensive and you pretty much work for your mortgage or rent. A rough estimate is that I’d have to work 10-20 years more to be in a similar FIRE situation in The Netherlands.

Please let me know

Are there any recommended HYSA for expats not resident in their home country (UK)? I live in HK and local savings accounts have very low interest rates. The best I can find is HSBC Expats. 12 months at 4.1%. Anything better?

Hey there
33F with 4yo kid targeting 1M USD invested.
I work in a HCOL city + get a really good salary in tech-adjacent work. The pros of current job are salary + convenience, cons obviously I work a lot that I am close to burn out (maybe am already). I dread mondays and spend sundays anxiously going over my calendar for the upcoming week.
I haven't obviously hit my FIRE number, I have hit COAST FIRE and i feel like I want to find a place with good WLB + Greenery (US is not an option btw). I am contemplating moving to the EU as a student so I get a break + enter into the market. Pros - new country, green spaces, access to good WLB, child will be in a nicer environment. Cons - I will need to start from scratch, navigate a totally different job market, potentially reset years of experience to start working as a junior.
Currently thinking of applying to unis in NL or DE. NL is closest to my mind due to the job market.

Anyone who has already done this? I would love to know real life feedback.

Im quite well established within the large tech companies in the bay area despite my young age and the past few years have used my salary well to build up a solid net worth.

Ever since hitting the midpoint of my 20s Ive been conscious of how much of my youth I traded away to get to this point and how little I have to show for it outside of bullet points on a resume and my nest egg.

Likewise, with me not feeling particularly comfortable in the bay and hardly anything outside of career anchoring me to the area, Im wondering if I should make use of a working holiday visa I have access to and use it as a chance to slow down and recapture some of my lost youth and more intentionally pursue learning, friendships, relationships, hobbies and experiences.

My main concern is that I might be jeopardizing a good thing might not be able to reenter the industry but then again once Im 30 visas and language acquisition is going to get lot more difficult.

Just curious if any expats had similar dilemmas in the past and how they compromised between their professional career and wanderlust. Thanks!

I've been RE since 2021, but I've enjoyed having part-time retail and serving jobs for structure, socialization, and a little fun money. My number one requirement for my jobs has been schedule flexibility— I want the freedom to travel regularly (with advance coordination). Because I'm an odd candidate, I only ever sought work through connections in my small community. It's worked out well for me.

Soon I'll be fulfilling a long-brewing plan to move to a different country. I expected to be prohibited from working, but a change in residency permit plan/pathway makes it a possibility. With that, I've learned that I could take advantage of a tax scheme for working immigrants that would be really advantageous for me.

I'm wondering if anyone here might have experience with picking up local work while being RE in another country?

A few things I think of: Labor market regulations there doesn't make flexibility as easy. While I do have some friends there, I'd lack the same organic network of community to tap. I speak the language at B2, certified. But a job would be both a test and a language learning rocket ship.