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We're planning to bounce around Europe after age 60, settling down again in the U.S. by age 70.
The plan is:
- Sell all real estate
- Get rid of almost all possessions. I've grudgingly realized that we'll need a small climate controlled storage unit to store artwork.
- Rent Air bnbs in the U.K., Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal, etc, moving whenever we hit the 90 day Schengen limit. Or feel like making a change.
- Carry minimal luggage
- Budget = $5k/month
One huge benefit of this plan is that purchasing an international health insurance policy is far less expensive than buying private insurance in the U.S.
You really need to like that lifestyle of moving every 3 months to new places, especially in your 60s. I've been to Europe and love it, but would never consider moving around as much as that. I would feel homeless and lost no matter how nice the facilities are. That lifestyle has zero appeal to me. To each their own.
Last edited by marino760; 10-25-2019 at 08:25 AM..
We're planning to bounce around Europe after age 60, settling down again in the U.S. by age 70.
The plan is:
- Sell all real estate
- Get rid of almost all possessions. I've grudgingly realized that we'll need a small climate controlled storage unit to store artwork.
- Rent Air bnbs in the U.K., Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal, etc, moving whenever we hit the 90 day Schengen limit. Or feel like making a change.
- Carry minimal luggage
- Budget = $5k/month
One huge benefit of this plan is that purchasing an international health insurance policy is far less expensive than buying private insurance in the U.S.
It's a good plan, except for for couple of things:
- The budget seems low
- Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal are all Schengen countries. So, the 90 day limit applies to the total across these countries. That said, it is easily remedied by moving to a non-Shengen location to break that up.
It's a good plan, except for for couple of things:
- The budget seems low
- Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal are all Schengen countries. So, the 90 day limit applies to the total across these countries. That said, it is easily remedied by moving to a non-Shengen location to break that up.
My understanding of the visa requirements is that after 90 days in Schengen, one has to LEAVE Schengen for another 90 days before returning again to Schengen.
You can't just hop over to Turkey or Morocco for a few days, to restart the 90-day Schengen clock again.
My understanding of the visa requirements is that after 90 days in Schengen, one has to LEAVE Schengen for another 90 days before returning again to Schengen.
You can't just hop over to Turkey or Morocco for a few days, to restart the 90-day Schengen clock again.
Is my interpretation correct?
Correct. Max total of 90 days out of 180 days. It used to not be strictly enforced if one were coming in and out (as I might have exceeded that in the past) but that is not something to plan on. The systems and enforcement has likely become stricter, given the latest political winds.
My understanding of the visa requirements is that after 90 days in Schengen, one has to LEAVE Schengen for another 90 days before returning again to Schengen.
You can't just hop over to Turkey or Morocco for a few days, to restart the 90-day Schengen clock again.
Is my interpretation correct?
Just an fyi: both the UK & Ireland aren't Schengen as well if that would fit into plans.
I totally had planned for a similar notion of heading overseas to expat for an extended indefinite period in my 60's (I have dual US/Euro citizenship): not too many "things" to get rid of & a good idea of a region I wanted to explore/settle in, etc.,... however my mother turned 93yo this weekend & is still hanging in pretty well despite the battles of age so here I still am. Earliest I see myself able to follow through on my old plans now is around my 70yo give or take a year.
I have no illusions about how easy it would be to uproot entirely at that age let alone learn a new language & build new solid friendships. I'm relatively healthy so far but there are a couple of things I need to watch & they certainly aren't going to improve with time. Health issues could derail extensive travel plans in the senior years.
So now I find myself reassessing & considering expat "colonies" where English is understood, or 55+ areas here or abroad or perhaps just being a snowbird abroad for 6 months, though at some point that too would get old as I got old. So we plan but have to adapt to circumstances.
I got around the 90 day Schengen limit by getting a non-employment residence permit in Germany (Aufenthaltstitel). It is valid for 2 years. I arrived on a tourist visa and rented a furnished apartment in Leipzig on a month to month basis. I got a certificate of renter occupancy from the landlord that I took to the city office to register as a resident. I got expat health insurance coverage and had letters to prove my monthly private pension and investment income. I took those documents to the foreigner's office in Leipzig along with the residence permit application, and in a 10 minute appointment got approved for the residence permit. Of course, all of this business was conducted in German so it would likely not be easy for someone without language skills. It was surprisingly easy, and cost me a fee of 100 Euro.
I recently returned to Tucson after a little under 6 months in Germany. I will avoid falling into their tax system by keeping my residence time in Germany under 6 months per year. The only tax I paid was public radio and TV tax, about 17 Euro per month. I'll spend the next 6 months here in Tucson and decide if I want to head back to Germany in around May when it warms up again.
I don't like the idea of expat colonies - in the nearly 6 months I was in Leipzig, I did not speak hardly any English. Aside from Berlin, there are not large numbers of expat English speaking residents in the eastern part of Germany. My choice for a place to rent on my next long term stay will be the small city of Jena, in Thueringen, about an hour south of Leipzig by train.
It's a good plan, except for for couple of things:
- The budget seems low
Budget might be okay if they offset the expensive countries with cheaper ones. Portugal can easily be done on less than $5k/month for two people, lots of Eastern European countries like Poland/Lithuania/Romania can be comfortably done closer to $3k/month, etc. which balances out your gigs in places like UK, France, and Italy.
recycled - You were likely required to file tax returns with the German Finanzamt (along with IRS). An intention to stay in Germany longer than 6 months OR a residence or abode in Germany (often interpreted aggressively) obligate you to file a German tax return. And, that you were not employed or earning any other income in Germany is immaterial - your entire income is subject to tax if you are deemed a resident.
Please bear that in mind when you return. I note it here to make sure that others contemplating living abroad research the tax filing requirements and implications ahead of time.
Does anyone know of anyone being caught overstaying a Schengen visa? A busy immigration officer at a crowded airport would be unlike to scrutinize every passport's recent stamps and match them to calculate the lengths of each stay, and half the stamps in my passport are barely legible anyway.
If I had a strong incentive to live abroad, I would assume a problem only if I were visibly suspect for some reason, Especially with a strong passsport like USA..
That is a faulty reasoning. The immigration officer does not need to do any math. He/she just scans your passport and computer does the rest - including flagging. And, no - computer is blind to the your perceived strength of the passport. And, that’s for 90 days stay in 180. So, if you had a strong incentive (idea?) to live in the Shegen country, you would be well advised to follow a proper legal route - and the requirements go beyond the visa limits. There are taxes, health insurance, local registration - things you do not need to worry about as a tourist but do it you wanted to live there.
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