Savings to live off

@allantaylor68

Message me.

    @allantaylor68
Message me.
   

    -@allenredfearn7

Why?

@SimCityAT

Just wondered if you had anything in mind as in area your looking for. I live in lozen, veliko tarnovo region and know of 3 houses for sale, we'll within your budget.

Let me know if the area is of interest.

Al

@allantaylor68

Sounds great, but you will be restricted to 90 days stay every 180 days, unless you get the appropriate Visa, feel free to look around the forum you will see much about it.

@allantaylor68

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your potential move abroad!

There's good news and bad news, I think. The good is that you can definitely find decent village houses for under 40k GBP, but likely needing some level of renovation and furnishing so you need to budget a chunk for that. I think the minimum wage here is just under 500 euros per month. Having nearly 1,000 euros per month is obviously far better (especially with no mortgage/rent), but it would tend to be at the frugal/simple end of the lifestyle spectrum.

The bad news is that Bulgaria doesn't have a residence visa based on savings. Or it does, but at MUCH higher level (300k euros for your property, plus some money to live on). When your pensions start it should be straightforward, but before then it might be problematic... although you can buy a property as a non-resident and visit regularly (up to 90 days in 180 days).

For residence based on savings (and not working) it is easier in Portugal (D7) and Spain (No Lucrativa Visa). Spain's NLV needs only 30k euros in savings... but property costs more and the cost of living is higher. And some of our non-EU neighbours (Serbia and Turkey) allow residence based on property purchase (either with with no or small minimum price). Turkey gets extra brownie points as it has beautiful beaches and a cost of living lower even than Bulgaria.

Unfortunately, overall, I'm not sure this will be very encouraging feedback. You probably need to work more and/or save more before moving, and budget pretty carefully if you want 10 years of idleness. :-) Do you have skills which could generate some kind of remote/online income? This could help too. I reckon it might be wise to also include other countries in your list of possible destinations.

Unfortunately, Al, it's what Gwyn says.

We own a Bulgarian house and want to move ASAP.  Our financial numbers are very similar to yours, with the addition of some remotely earned income (enough to live a decent but frugal life in Bulgaria, but not the UK)  I can continue to earn no matter where I live. Buuuuuut, I am having to dream up more and more convoluted schemes that might enable us to move there sooner than 2027, when I can start claiming my OAP and apply for a retirement visa. Because unless one has a LOT of money, just having enough money to support ourselves isn't enough. Over 300,000 EUR for residency by property investment, over 500,000 EUR for residency by investment.

But it's not all negative! There are some possibilities for you. If either of you are doing or already officially retired from a job where you can take early retirement and claim a company pension that is at least equivalent to the Bulgarian minimum wage, you qualify for a retirement visa. It's pension based not age based, and private pensions qualify. Or if you own yourselves or know someone who owns a UK company in good standing (submitted tax returns for at least the past two years with a decent turnover), Trade Representative Overseas could still be an option, though the requirements for that are tightening up quite a bit. The final and worst case scenario is spending 90 days per 180 at the Bulgarian house and the other 90 days per 180 either back in the UK or some other non-EU country like Serbia or Turkey, possibly even owning two houses for the time until official retirement lets you apply for a D visa and residency. Though one thing to think of there is that for someone 12 years from pensionable age, those goalposts might move. It seems  possible people of your age may find the UK retirement age becomes 70, not 67.

So it's not impossible to get Bulgarian residency, but it's become far more challenging over the past years, both due to Brexit and to tightened requirements as Bulgaria try to get full Schengen. Be wary of advice (Gwyn, JimJ, and other wise members of this forum excepted!) from those already living in Bulgaria, unless they made the move recently. Unfortunately Facebook groups, YouTube vids, estate agents trying to sell you a house, and people who moved under previous immigration rules, can make it sound far simpler than it currently is.

good advice from Jane. You do need to prove an income and need health insurance in your circumstances. The amount you have for a property is ok depending where you want to live. We live close to the Turkish border in Elhovo district and are selling a house there fully renovated and furnished for that price. Some districts you will need more money for a house that does not need quite a bit of money spending on it. You will have to take your time when making this decision because it is a big one