Living in France

[Hedjwitch]

My mother died two weeks ago and I am giving a lot of thought to my life. I will get a small inheritance in due course which means I can pay off my mortgage( flat in northern area so probs worth about 90K on the market,maybe bit more).
I am 60 and dont want to work until I'm 67. I would like to retire at 63,if i can save enough to live on until my state pension kicks in. I have a small private pension and a few grand in savings.

I want to retire to France, Normandy in particular. I have holidayed there many many times,self catering or living with French friends and families. I speak fairly good French and have a network of French friends who will help me. I dont need to worry about schools or childcare costs.

I am not going into this with rose tinted glasses. What are the downsides and pitfalls of relocating to France? I have an Irish passport so an EU member but husband is English. Any good fora I can join?

No idea about the fora, expatsforum.com? But anyway, I know nothing about the U.K. pension. Do you still get it if you move abroad, and are you intending becoming a citizen - if so, is the answer still the same? How much is a small private pension and a few thousand, exactly, when compared to your life expectancy and the French COL? You might be ok, but if your husband is a U.K. citizen and passport holder what are the long stay visa requirements for him, and can you afford them? And is he entitled to healthcare under any long stay visa, if so how much/how long? If he had a health care issue would he have to potentially return to the U.K. if it wasn’t covered under the terms of his visa? If so, how would that work for you (time frame for permanent resident so that he could still be eligible for U.K. healthcare and would there be somewhere in the U.K. for him to stay?). Those would be my starting points.
Sorry for your loss OP 💐

Try LIFT or MSF Expat Facebook forums. Wealth of experienced, kindly advice. Good luck!

https://www.expatica.com/fr/moving/relocation/moving-to-france-checklist-109102/

Good luck to you. I think I’d focus n the healthcare side. Once you settle there what would happen if you were to need care… maybe in 20 years time? Love France and maybe doing the same n a few years time.

PS. I'm in France - dm me if you like

Thanks all. Lots to think about and really helpful.