When I saw an article entitled, “6 Reasons to Retire to France”, I was anxious to read what those were and to compare them with our own experience of moving here 8 years ago. The online newspaper The Local France does a great job of compiling information for anyone making the big move and this story was no different. In fact, it led me to another feature on Yahoo Finance about “13 Countries with Easy Citizenship for Retirement” and I’ll put some of those details at the conclusion of this post. But first, let’s take a look at those reasons to retire here and see if we have any other thoughts.

Visa and residency permits—Apparently for some countries it’s not easy to obtain permission to live there if you don’t already have a job offer or family there to support you. That’s not the case in France (at least it wasn’t for us) where you essentially must show that you can take care of yourself by initially having private health insurance, a place to live, plus an income that meets the gross minimum wage, currently at 1767€ per month. Annually it’s wash-rinse-repeat with those same documents updated (although you can qualify for national health insurance after 3 months here) until you have lived continuously in France for 5 years. Then you can become eligible for a residence card valid for 10 years and, if you wish, apply for citizenship.

Healthcare—Everyone living in France must have health care whether you pay for that privately or join the country’s universal system where you sometimes pay upfront and are then reimbursed a few days later for about 70% of the medical costs. That’s what happens when we visit the doctor whose fee is 26.50€ but at the pharmacy and the hospital we’ve only been charged what those institutions will not receive from the government rather than the full amount. An emergency room visit cost me 15€ although I believe that has now increased to 20€.

Cost of Living—Naturally, where you live can have a big impact on what you spend each month. If you choose Paris, for the price you will have everything on your doorstep, including 2 million neighbors. The countryside will possibly bring you inexpensive housing, solitude, and a requirement for a car since few businesses and other services will likely be nearby. We consistently see monthly budget figures of 2000€ for a couple for folks living outside the capital city. In Carcassonne, population 47,000, where we can walk or take the almost-free city bus anywhere we need to go, we spend about 1350€ by owning our home and not having a car. There’s a Budget tab above on this page.

Benefits and perks for pensioners—Put this under “warm and fuzzy” since the article mentions some of the ways many municipalities honor their senior citizens. We buy an annual rail card that gives us significant discounts on trains within the country and a few that cross the borders. Our unlimited city bus senior pass is 10€ a year. The mayor’s office hands out boxes of chocolates at Christmas, arranges activities such as dances and culinary events, and maintains an Espace Seniors to help older people navigate government paperwork including medical matters mentioned below.

Home Help—Home visits from healthcare staff and aides domiciles who help with cleaning, cooking, and dressing, for example, are commonplace. On our own street we see these folks at least 3 times a day as they assist a couple of neighbors who want to stay in their own homes but need a little help with some daily activities. Government grants exist to make modifications to homes including accessible bathrooms and stair lifts. The Espace Seniors mentioned in the paragraph above would be the place to find out more. Here’s a link to the federal government’s website for all of the senior services available: https://www.pour-les-personnes-agees.gouv.fr/

Community—When you put those 5 factors above together they give you this 6th reason to retire to France that we have certainly found to be true. I’ve mentioned before that although we live in a city, our street feels like a village since the neighbors all know each other, talk together often, and socialize in our homes and elsewhere in town. Our neighbors are French but if we need an injection of English there are local Facebook groups for foreign retirees and in every French class that we’ve ever taken here the one other language that all the students have in common has been English.

So, what would we add? All of the items above understandably address long term issues, but we now can enjoy on a daily basis those items that drew us back here for 30+ years of vacation: 

• Rich cultural experiences—Art, history, and architecture. Museums, villages, cathedrals and ancient ruins.
• Delicious food and wine—Fresh, seasonal ingredients with the emphasis on savoring the meal. Wine regions across the country and a perfect cheese or bread to complement any dish.
• Diverse landscapes—The sunny Mediterranean coast, the Alps, vineyards, Paris!
• Excellent transportation—An efficient train network, making it easy to explore different regions and even travel to other parts of Europe.

Still interested in retiring overseas but not convinced that France is the place? Here are those 13 countries that Yahoo Finance says you should look into. Without trying to sway you, take a look at number 9 😉

13. Mauritius

12. Chile

11. Mexico

10. Ecuador

9. France

8. Nicaragua

7. Panama,

6. Costa Rica

5. The Philippines

4. Portugal

3. Columbia

2. Bulgaria

1. Argentina

Here’s a link to the original article:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-countries-easy-citizenship-retirement-083531939.html

Photo notes: The featured photo across the top is the Saturday market in Carcassonne and in the first paragraph is the Chain Tower in La Rochelle.