Q & AMoving/Living/WorkingRetire in France Moving from Spain

Question:

We are interested in finding out about retirement in France. My husband works for the US Navy Base at Rota, Spain. We are both U.S. citizens. He is eligible to retire from the U.S. government in 16 months. I am not currently working and do not know if I will want to work in France. He is 65 and I am 51. We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance through the government and will still have that plan when we retire. I am a non-insulin dependent diabetic and I have a stent in place in my heart. We are interested in either renting or buying.

Answer:

Here are a few things you need to think about, will your health insurance be good in France? I have heard that some types of insurance (Medicare?) are not good outside of the states. Obviously Blue Cross/Blue Shield works outside the states but is that because you’re on a US Navy Base? Also make sure the process of getting reimbursed is not going to be too difficult in France. I fine health care to be excellent in France, reasonably priced and accessible. Next, finding a place to rent for an expat can be very hard in France, I don’t know about buying - yet, most French landlords demand lots of paper work, proof of income that is three to four times the rent, rent receipts (called quittance de loyer in French) tax returns and some even go as far to demand college diplomas.
Also what about language? How is your French? Will this be a problem; will it isolate you from your surroundings?
Whenever people ask me about moving to France I stress the negatives, I do this as a result of personal experiences. Twice I have moved to France and both times it turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Living in another culture can be very tricky at times. The references you are use to just are not there.
Your living in Spain should help you but were you thinking of living somewhere with a large expat community? Of course that can help but it can also make you home sick as it reminds you of what you have left.

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