To leave UK due to weather and cost of living

You are quite young so I’d recommend teaching England abroad. Rent out your UK property with an agency for less hassle and do a TEFL course together somewhere you’d like to live and find teaching work. TEFL teaching is far less demanding than other types of teaching and in some countries such as Vietnam or China can be very lucrative. There are also VISA programs for language teaching assistants in some EU countries that I’d look into.

YANBU to have had enough and want something different but, realistically, where could you move? Do you have multiple citizenships? If not, as others have said, moving anywhere in Europe is going to be difficult. You'll need a relevant visa and private health insurance. Your visa would need to cover you for however long that particular country's rules state in regards to then applying for some form of permanent residency.

Are you both still working? If so, do you work for international companies that offer secondment or transfer opportunities? That would be the route I would investigate, if you only have British citizenship and you don't have enough cash and proof of ongoing income to meet the entry criteria for many other countries.

I did this. I was sick of the weather and moved to Western Australia,it was the best thing I ever did. I was in my 40s too. So ignore the naysayers, do your research, and see what is possible. You might find it's not feasible, but you might find a way. You only get one life, why spend it in the pissing rain if you don't have to!

This sounds more realistic

Bye OP, all the best.

Some people really struggle with winter and long for a life in the sun, but in reality it can be lonely, expensive, bureaucratic. My inlaws moved to France and were really proud about their 'large house' in a rural area where they were going to do B&B or gites.

They moaned about everything. The large house had so many problems and getting the French trades out was not easy for them. And the bureaucracy was insane - they had a mayor who slowly made decisions. Language was a massive barrier and family did not visit enough and this was in the days of Ryanair £1 to fly out.

Weather was nice, but my god did they moan about everything else including THEY MISSED THE RAIN!!

They were back home twenty months later and we dont talk about it now 😂

I would want to go somewhere with better weather, within an hour or so of the coast, but also not too difficult to get back to the UK to see adult children.

Let's hope you've got deep pockets then because you think its expensive here, just wait till you see how much it will cost to get that dream house in the land of the sun.

@Jc2001

www.aplaceinthesun.com/articles/2022/05/how-long-can-i-stay-in-spain-if-i-own-a-property

Of course people can move and live in EU countries, it's happens all the time. It's just there is no automatic right.

@VickyEadieofThigh I agree we experienced that even though on paper a country has a lower COL this doesn't always translate to expats COL in this country being as low.

OP will have to research!

It’s easier with no kids though. Thats what we are hoping for this time round!

We did it for 4 years - packed our jobs in, rented our house out and moved to a property we already owned in Greece.

This was pre-Brexit, however - but I will stress that we still needed to pay for private health insurance over there (state pensioners were entitled to use the Greek healthcare system, we were not). It will cost several thousand a year. We also had to pay tax on our UK income - for the house rental - in the UK.

Obviously, we were not paying NI in the UK for those years so that was 4 years off our state pensions. We were able to make these up when we returned.

We lived on savings plus income from renting out our house and when we sold the Greek property, had made a decent profit, which put back the savings - that wouldn't happen now, I don't think.

What I will say are the downsides - apart from those already mentioned- are the ferocious heat for months, which effectively keeps you inside running the air con! If you don't speak the language really well, navigating systems (even with private healthcare - which we DID need and use - using it successfully was hard) can be quite stressful. Just paying your taxes in Greece is very complicated and we were advised to have an accountant.

Social services, etc in different EU countries and what they will do for you as you become elderly different widely.

You need to have quite a bit of money coming in regularly to live in most EU countries these days and/or own a property above a specific value. Each country has different residence rules - France, for example, will only let you apply for residence for up to 5 years at a time.

Loads of Americans lived near us when we lived abroad. Most of them needed visas. It’s not impossible and the visa process has always been there for them.

Obviously brexit means you have no automatic right to live there but it's not impossible.

Thanks to Brexit you no longer have a right to live in an EU country - you can apply but there's no guarantee that you'll get permission. And you would need to take out health insurance.

Let's hope the weather improves, for all of us!

Yep dont blame you

We are going to do it however, we have lived abroad before. It’s not easy. If neither of you have pensions it’s even harder but not impossible.

We are in our fifties and have retired early with PS pensions. This covers us for meeting the basic income threshold of many countries. If you do not have this you need the equivalent in savings.

How much money do you think you will have to move and set up your business?

We burned through money when we lived abroad but we were not good with money at the time and tbh we are still not the best. What saved us was keeping a house in the UK and we will definitely do this again albeit a modest house but a back up if needed.

I would budget at least 40% contingency fund once you have identified a country and made a plan.

You need to think about the practicalities.

• can you legally move to another country (for example do you have an EU passport?)
• have you thought about what it would mean for your healthcare provision as you grow older?
• the weather is affected by climate change everywhere you go and warmer countries will be really hot in the summer
• do you speak another language? how will you cope with the bureaucracy if you don't?
• you will be away from your family and friends.

If you have the money you could aim to spend a couple of months abroad every year in a warm location and maybe invest in a holiday home once you find somewhere you really like so you can have the best of both worlds and it would not be such a drastic move.

That would be my choice if I could afford it.

"Hey, how do you fancy giving us your Spanish villa from October to February and living in my house in constant rain and cold, and paying £££ extra on food for the privilege?"

Thanks for the tip!

OP, I say do what you feel will make you happy, tomorrow isn't guaranteed to anyone.

That said, I'm part Spanish and if you are thinking of moving somewhere there just be aware that they are fed up of English migrants coming there, so aim for areas with a high population of established Brits living there.

You won't need to speak Spanish, those areas mean you don't have to.

I really want to do this too. I'm younger with children at school. I'm entitled to an EU passport but haven't bothered applying as my DH has one, and I was only going to bother if it meant my kids could get one too, but I don't think they can without a lot of hassle. I would like to move to Portugal, and have been trying to learn it on duolingo but it's difficult. My DS wants to go to University in Spain. We have pensions and I'd like to do some kind of remote work, but haven't thought what yet. We both have elderly parents so can't go for a few years for that reason.

For 5 years

Portugal may be 500k

www.longtermrentalsinfrance.com/living-in-france/moving-to-france/income-requirements-for-french-residency.html#:~:text=Normally%2C%20individuals%20who%20do%20not,1%2C400%20per%20month%20(net).

@LumiB you could look into home exchanges. That would be a lot cheaper than renting for 3 months per year