This is so very good and well articulated and thought out! Very helpful and I felt more calm after reading it. We are hoping/dreaming of moving from the US to Europe, ideally targeting France. We have a young daughter so we are taking that into consideration. We did take the first step of reaching out to an immigration lawyer and set up a consult to learn more about our visa options! So I’m proud of us for making that first step! Thank you for writing this! 😊
My cousin and sister LOVE living in France and I’ve considered it myself 🥰
I’m thrilled to hear the article was helpful and you found it well articulated and thought out, I spend so much time on my articles and LOVE to hear this kind of feedback 🤗
Thank you!! And I wish you all the best with your upcoming move!!!!
Woo hoo! Another Marin girl! I’m a native of Inverness, though now I live in deepest, darkest, dampest La Honda (San Mateo county). I’ve wanted to live in France for the last 20 years. I even speak the language! I know my adult daughter (42 y.o.) would be supportive. But I’m married to a guy I still love, and he won’t move. Another issue is I have MS, and I’m on a REALLY effective med for it. I’m 67, and in many other countries, effective meds are discontinued by about age 65. Hell, at this point, I’d go without meds to be there! One day I’ll take the leap.
Wow, I was just researching France, it's so doable, especially if you speak the language! My cousin and sister live there.
Have you checked on your meds there? I ask because I hear over and over again from people who either couldn't get their specific medication in another country but found a better and less expensive alternative or found out they could get it.
I also hear a lot from women who want to move but their spouse doesn't. I don't know how to solve this one. I spent half of my life not moving abroad because the person I was married to didn't want to. I'm not saying I regret it but had I to do it over again I would have made a difference choice. However it wasn't a healthy marriage, so there's that.
I understand sacrifice, especially for the ones that are most important in our lives.
Maybe/hopefully he will change his mind someday. Or maybe there's a compromise where you can spend 3 months a year in France?
great and informative article! the part about adult kids was helpful for me to read, as this is my main pain point, even though i've made the decision to go.
Another insightful post. Fear of the unknown or risk of failure is such a barrier to so many things but we only have one short life so as you say in your post we have to live our own life (and on our own terms).
Thank you very much. I want to move yesterday. But my husband has dementia. I don't know if I should dislodge him from his "familiar" surroundings, to a new everything.
I wrote a bit about this recently and really saw us in your post—it hit close to home (literally and figuratively). When we moved abroad, both my husband and I had our moms back in the U.S. and let’s just say they were not handing out gold stars for our decision.
Still, I’ve always believed my mom raised me to fly (even if she didn’t mean this far), and I reminded my husband: we can’t put our lives on hold for them because let’s be honest, they wouldn’t do it for us.
It’s complicated, yes, but sometimes it’s just a matter of one longer flight… and they already had to fly to see us anyway.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been researching moving abroad, mostly to Portugal, for a few years now. Both of my kids live in New Zealand due to dual citizenship through my ex-husband. But I love Europe and it’s far easier to gain residency than even with a parent visa in NZ. I seriously considered the Portugal move a couple of years ago when my youngest was a senior in high school (her Idea). I even met with a couple of Portuguese immigration attorneys who specialize in helping Americans. I have a partial teaching pension that more than covered the monthly minimum for the Portuguese D7 (passive income) visa but did not have the money in savings to out 15,000 Euros into a Portuguese bank and money to pay for a year of a rental home upfront prior to applying for the visa. I was told by multiple experts there was no way around those two requirements now even if your pension or other passive income far exceeds the minimums (was Portugal’s minimum wage when I looked into it then). I don’t know if they’ve changed anything about that recently. At the time, the newer D8 visa that’s good for digital nomads had a higher income minimum (but reasonable still) but still wanted to 15k in savings and the year housing agreement secured. Do you know if any of that has changed?
I would say that right now, using your Chase Sapphire Preferred may not be the best option because you're paying in USD and losing out massively versus paying in euros. The points earned don't outweigh the exchange rate loss.
SafetyWing doesn't insure older folk. I use MGEN in Portugal and IMG for travel.
Hi Ian, thank you for your comment! For me I purchase my plane tickets in USD, because I fly back-and-forth to the United States every year. It saves me over $1000 each trip, so for me it’s absolutely worth it.
For in country insurance I currently have Medis but will be switching to Mgen. However, that does not help with Travel. So yes, I use safety wing currently traveling inside of Europe and I use IMG traveling back to the US. I had not heard of an age cap on safety wing, so I will check, thank you for bringing this to my attention.
This is so very good and well articulated and thought out! Very helpful and I felt more calm after reading it. We are hoping/dreaming of moving from the US to Europe, ideally targeting France. We have a young daughter so we are taking that into consideration. We did take the first step of reaching out to an immigration lawyer and set up a consult to learn more about our visa options! So I’m proud of us for making that first step! Thank you for writing this! 😊
Hi Lindsey!!! Oh how exciting!!!!!
My cousin and sister LOVE living in France and I’ve considered it myself 🥰
I’m thrilled to hear the article was helpful and you found it well articulated and thought out, I spend so much time on my articles and LOVE to hear this kind of feedback 🤗
Thank you!! And I wish you all the best with your upcoming move!!!!
Woo hoo! Another Marin girl! I’m a native of Inverness, though now I live in deepest, darkest, dampest La Honda (San Mateo county). I’ve wanted to live in France for the last 20 years. I even speak the language! I know my adult daughter (42 y.o.) would be supportive. But I’m married to a guy I still love, and he won’t move. Another issue is I have MS, and I’m on a REALLY effective med for it. I’m 67, and in many other countries, effective meds are discontinued by about age 65. Hell, at this point, I’d go without meds to be there! One day I’ll take the leap.
Hi Lisa!!! Thank you so much for your comment!!!
I love Inverness!! 🥰
Wow, I was just researching France, it's so doable, especially if you speak the language! My cousin and sister live there.
Have you checked on your meds there? I ask because I hear over and over again from people who either couldn't get their specific medication in another country but found a better and less expensive alternative or found out they could get it.
I also hear a lot from women who want to move but their spouse doesn't. I don't know how to solve this one. I spent half of my life not moving abroad because the person I was married to didn't want to. I'm not saying I regret it but had I to do it over again I would have made a difference choice. However it wasn't a healthy marriage, so there's that.
I understand sacrifice, especially for the ones that are most important in our lives.
Maybe/hopefully he will change his mind someday. Or maybe there's a compromise where you can spend 3 months a year in France?
HUGS!!!
great and informative article! the part about adult kids was helpful for me to read, as this is my main pain point, even though i've made the decision to go.
Hi, I'm glad it helped! I was in the middle of writing this when we all met on the call yesterday so I was definitely thinking of you! 🥰 🤗
aw well it certainly resonated so that makes sense! :)
Another insightful post. Fear of the unknown or risk of failure is such a barrier to so many things but we only have one short life so as you say in your post we have to live our own life (and on our own terms).
Thank you so much Lauren!!!!! And YES YES YES!
Thank you very much. I want to move yesterday. But my husband has dementia. I don't know if I should dislodge him from his "familiar" surroundings, to a new everything.
Ohhh I'm SO SORRY to hear that!!! Yes, that makes sense. It may cause more confusion and fear 😫
What about people who have a less than savory past from silly mistakes? Very difficult for them to move abroad.
Is money on this list bc girl, I’m broke. How do I sneak into Canada and thrive on $5?
I wrote a bit about this recently and really saw us in your post—it hit close to home (literally and figuratively). When we moved abroad, both my husband and I had our moms back in the U.S. and let’s just say they were not handing out gold stars for our decision.
Still, I’ve always believed my mom raised me to fly (even if she didn’t mean this far), and I reminded my husband: we can’t put our lives on hold for them because let’s be honest, they wouldn’t do it for us.
It’s complicated, yes, but sometimes it’s just a matter of one longer flight… and they already had to fly to see us anyway.
Thanks for sharing this…beautifully said.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been researching moving abroad, mostly to Portugal, for a few years now. Both of my kids live in New Zealand due to dual citizenship through my ex-husband. But I love Europe and it’s far easier to gain residency than even with a parent visa in NZ. I seriously considered the Portugal move a couple of years ago when my youngest was a senior in high school (her Idea). I even met with a couple of Portuguese immigration attorneys who specialize in helping Americans. I have a partial teaching pension that more than covered the monthly minimum for the Portuguese D7 (passive income) visa but did not have the money in savings to out 15,000 Euros into a Portuguese bank and money to pay for a year of a rental home upfront prior to applying for the visa. I was told by multiple experts there was no way around those two requirements now even if your pension or other passive income far exceeds the minimums (was Portugal’s minimum wage when I looked into it then). I don’t know if they’ve changed anything about that recently. At the time, the newer D8 visa that’s good for digital nomads had a higher income minimum (but reasonable still) but still wanted to 15k in savings and the year housing agreement secured. Do you know if any of that has changed?
I would say that right now, using your Chase Sapphire Preferred may not be the best option because you're paying in USD and losing out massively versus paying in euros. The points earned don't outweigh the exchange rate loss.
SafetyWing doesn't insure older folk. I use MGEN in Portugal and IMG for travel.
Hi Ian, thank you for your comment! For me I purchase my plane tickets in USD, because I fly back-and-forth to the United States every year. It saves me over $1000 each trip, so for me it’s absolutely worth it.
For in country insurance I currently have Medis but will be switching to Mgen. However, that does not help with Travel. So yes, I use safety wing currently traveling inside of Europe and I use IMG traveling back to the US. I had not heard of an age cap on safety wing, so I will check, thank you for bringing this to my attention.