Is Portugal still a reasonable place to live? What about no. italy? I really want to spend at least one year in Europe after I retire but have to really make my retirement dollar stretch.
Please help me with legitimate responses.
Thank you so much.
2007-09-07 19:35:29 · 4 answers · asked by ? 5 in Travel ➔ Europe (Continental) ➔ Other - Europe
Nowhere in Western Europe is cheap, Italy is particularly expensive since the advent of the euro.
Try Bulgaria it will be ok until they join the euro.
2007-09-07 19:40:28 · answer #1 · answered by Ken B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can spend some extensive time in Italy if you go the agrotourism route. Here's the deal about Italy, and I lived there for 2 years. I made ends meet on $1,500 a month, half of which was rent. Now, I had roomates and I bought food with them, but it did work. It was also 7 years ago.
If you go over there, you can find some good rent, especially for smaller apartments. And you DO NOT NEED A CAR, if you live in a city. You just don't need it. If you go in the country, you will. If you go to a small hill town, you can manage without it, but you also might get lonely and crazy if no one is going with you.
The public transportation is phenomenal. It;s so much better than in the states because everything is so compact and that cuts out your car expense. I really think if you could get into a studio for less than $1,000 a month or a 1 bedroom for less than 1500, and if you ate at home and just enjoyed the slow life in Italy, you could be living large for less than 30,000 a year. Now, you do have to worry about health insurance for travellers and that may be an issue, but if you don't live high on the hog here, then you'll love the simple life of Italy.
Italy... well, you just don't need anything. You're just happy because you are in Italy. You have all day to walk around, write a novel, and take as long as you want to cook your own meals... and that saves lots of money.
2007-09-07 19:54:34 · answer #2 · answered by eliasulmonte 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can live in Europe for a year on about what you would spend in the USA, if you go sensible about it but it will be hard.
Eastern Europe is a better bet than any of the western countries.
The countryside of Czech republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and most of Romania and Albania are relatively cheap, you could live there for less than in the USA at this moment. (There are more countries that qualify too.)
Just make sure you get your visa.
If you want to make your retirement dollars stretch long term, stay in the USA.
Most of Europe is now more expensive than the USA, and the countries that are not yet are getting more expensive by the year (or even the hour.)
So even when you get a good start and exchange your money into the local money, in a few years it will not buy you much.
The exceptions are countries like Belarus that have not joined the European union, and are not likely to do so in the foreseeable future.
If you really want to get value for money, forget Europe, go to a continent that is way behind in the money race.
2007-09-07 20:45:04 · answer #3 · answered by Willeke 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
does not seem a financial concern as much as a Social secure practices one. eu international locations could desire to undertake a Social secure practices plan like the single contained in usa the place an element of one's earnings is desperate aside for his/her retirement fund. That way, he/she gets the money that he/she merits.
2016-10-18 07:27:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋