Impact of currency collapse

[sergio]

How difficult can it be to get a visa to live in Portugal or Spain when you have a middle class income and are not working there, just bringing money in? I doubt you have to be rich.

 

[TWB103]

Even as a citizen of another EU country you can't just rock up and live in Spain without showing you have the financial means to support yourself (and your dependents). It seems they've tightened things up perhaps not unreasonably . However for some reason non EU citizens have to have double the income/pension and need to invest a significant sum in property, business etc.

 

[Johnny]

Even as a citizen of another EU country you can't just rock up and live in Spain without showing you have the financial means to support yourself (and your dependents). It seems they've tightened things up perhaps not unreasonably . However for some reason non EU citizens have to have double the income/pension and need to invest a significant sum in property, business etc.

Yes, getting a long term or retirement visa in Spain is no walk in the park. Same for Italy or France, though I think Spain is the toughest.

 

[PoorSoul]

Spain offers permanent residency if you purchase a house. Portgual too. I believe it will be half a million euro minimum.

 

[camberiu]

Malaysia is the best option right now, in terms of retirement spot for expats. It is cheap, safe, great food and weather. Infrastructure that puts Argentina to shame...The only downside I can think of? Alcohol is expensive due to taxes (it is a secular Muslim majority country). I don't drink, so not an issue for me.

 

[Stantucker]

Here's my retired person's perspective: My wife and I retired in the States two years ago and moved here. We love it! I had been coming here for twenty years and we had owned an apartment since 2012, so we knew the ropes pretty well, but, of course, there is always more to learn when you actually move to a place and need things like private health care coverage and a residency visa, things we didn't need before. While learning to take care of those kinds of things is always frustrating to some degree, regardless of where you are, we found doing them here relatively easy. We really like our doctors; we feel like we get excellent care, even better than in the States in some areas. We also love all the cultural activities that the city has to offer. I don't think any other city in the world offers as much as BA culturally. The problem for me often is choosing between so many different good options. We love the food! As already stated here, having dollars makes life somewhat cheaper than in the States, and with all the devaluation over the last few months, it has gotten even cheaper. For cable and internet (cable offerings better than in the States and internet as good) we paid $75 US last month; before we were paying $100 US here. I pay currently $175 US for health insurance (I'm 57) and my wife pays $198 US (she's 63). I have heard, though, that if you are past 65 and have not been in the program for at least ten years, the premiums are quite a bit higher. But for someone with dollars, I still don't think he/she would find those fees that high. And we do not have health insurance with the top provider, so there is even better and more expensive coverage than we have. To address some of the concerns expressed in this thread, we live in Recoleta, which is a pretty safe barrio. We have never had a problem, even though I must admit that I am always kind of cautious, especially when I am out late at night and/or in a neighborhood that is not known to be as safe (having gone to the theater there, for example). While I would not want to try to work here, given the constant protests and blocked streets, we have had no problem, or few problems I should say, getting to where we need to go, even with all the protests. We don't have a car (and don't feel like we need one), so we don't get stuck in all that mess. That brings to mind another plus: public transportation. It's very good for where we live and for where we need to go. My wife's social security check get deposited here directly (in pesos, though). With that and paying for lots of things with our American credit cards and bringing back cold, hard cash with us, we don't have a problem getting access to our money or dollars. The only thing that gives me pause, as others have expressed, is the worsening economic situation and possible social unrest in the coming months. Earlier this year we flirted with the idea of moving to Spain, but only because we don't like the inheritance laws here: roughly half of your estate goes to family, regardless of what you may have expressed in a will here or in the States. Ironically, Spain is the place that they have tried to pull a passport scam on us and I almost had my passport and all my money stolen. Statistically, though, in terms of violent crime, I think it's the safest country in Europe. It would also be nice to be so much closer to the rest of Europe. We are staying put because we think there is a way around the forced inheritance and because as I said before, we love it here. Argentines make great friends: they are open, passionate, highly social and just a lot of fun to be with. They can also be very loyal.

 

[nikad]

Here's my retired person's perspective: My wife and I retired in the States two years ago and moved here. We love it! I had been coming here for twenty years and we had owned an apartment since 2012, so we knew the ropes pretty well, but, of course, there is always more to learn when you actually move to a place and need things like private health care coverage and a residency visa, things we didn't need before. While learning to take care of those kinds of things is always frustrating to some degree, regardless of where you are, we found doing them here relatively easy. We really like our doctors; we feel like we get excellent care, even better than in the States in some areas. We also love all the cultural activities that the city has to offer. I don't think any other city in the world offers as much as BA culturally. The problem for me often is choosing between so many different good options. We love the food! As already stated here, having dollars makes life somewhat cheaper than in the States, and with all the devaluation over the last few months, it has gotten even cheaper. For cable and internet (cable offerings better than in the States and internet as good) we paid $75 US last month; before we were paying $100 US here. I pay currently $175 US for health insurance (I'm 57) and my wife pays $198 US (she's 63). I have heard, though, that if you are past 65 and have not been in the program for at least ten years, the premiums are quite a bit higher. But for someone with dollars, I still don't think he/she would find those fees that high. And we do not have health insurance with the top provider, so there is even better and more expensive coverage than we have. To address some of the concerns expressed in this thread, we live in Recoleta, which is a pretty safe barrio. We have never had a problem, even though I must admit that I am always kind of cautious, especially when I am out late at night and/or in a neighborhood that is not known to be as safe (having gone to the theater there, for example). While I would not want to try to work here, given the constant protests and blocked streets, we have had no problem, or few problems I should say, getting to where we need to go, even with all the protests. We don't have a car (and don't feel like we need one), so we don't get stuck in all that mess. That brings to mind another plus: public transportation. It's very good for where we live and for where we need to go. My wife's social security check get deposited here directly (in pesos, though). With that and paying for lots of things with our American credit cards and bringing back cold, hard cash with us, we don't have a problem getting access to our money or dollars. The only thing that gives me pause, as others have expressed, is the worsening economic situation and possible social unrest in the coming months. Earlier this year we flirted with the idea of moving to Spain, but only because we don't like the inheritance laws here: roughly half of your estate goes to family, regardless of what you may have expressed in a will here or in the States. Ironically, Spain is the place that they have tried to pull a passport scam on us and I almost had my passport and all my money stolen. Statistically, though, in terms of violent crime, I think it's the safest country in Europe. It would also be nice to be so much closer to the rest of Europe. We are staying put because we think there is a way around the forced inheritance and because as I said before, we love it here. Argentines make great friends: they are open, passionate, highly social and just a lot of fun to be with. They can also be very loyal.

Being in your early 60s you are still young in my opinion! Considering a lot of people live 85-90 years on average. When I think about choosing a place to retire to I simply cannot imagine myself in this crazy place in my 80s

 

[Stantucker]

Being in your early 60s you are still young in my opinion! Considering a lot of people live 85-90 years on average. When I think about choosing a place to retire to I simply cannot imagine myself in this crazy place in my 80s

Nikad, the great thing about being here in your 80s or 90s is that the price of unskilked home health care is much cheaper than in the States. Of course, I would not want to be that advanced in age and not have private health coverage here.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

My grandma is 90’ and we moved her to San Luis because of its good public health infrastructure and low costs for retirement.
I suggest you do some research about it.
Housing also is very unexpensible.
No crime.

 

[sergio]

Yes, getting a long term or retirement visa in Spain is no walk in the park. Same for Italy or France, though I think Spain is the toughest.

I suspect you are making it look harder than it is. I realize that British citizens are EU members and therefore living in Spain is easy. Many Brits of modest means live full or part time in Spain and they often own modest homes. It is not so easy for a US citizen however I should think that someone with a respectable retirement income who wants only to live in Spain and spend there money there will be able to jump through the hoops. I can tell you that getting permanent residence in Argentina is not necessarily easy. Spain and Portugal may not be simple but is getting a visa for a retirree really so hard as to make it not worthwhile - and is it so easy to get one for Argentina?