Hello Yani,
As a Canadian who left the country for Brazil almost 13 years ago and took an early retirement five years ago at 60 I'd like to make a few observations and comments just to provoke your thinking process; so please don't take offense because none of this is directed to you personally, just at the situation.
First off have you lived in Greece for any prolonged period of time? By that I mean more than 6 months, because that is exactly what it takes to know any place well enough to make an informed decision to move there permanently. You have been born and raised in Canada and despite any perceived problems that you think the country may have, it is paradise compared to most other places in the world today; not just in economic terms, but in terms of every aspect of day-to-day life. We Canadians have been quite spoiled by growing up where EVERYTHING actually works the way it is supposed to, so much so we take ALL of our infrastructure, institutions, systems, etc., for granted. Unfortunately in many other countries they do not and worse still they also tend to have lots of government corruption and bureaucracy. Have you considered any of these factors in thinking about leaving Canada? I can tell you personally I was never prepared for just how much the style of government could change my life. Despite being called a DEMOCRACY there are unfortunately many countries that certainly do not act like one, or don't have a clear understanding what the word means. Had I known this, I certainly would not have jumped at changing my life so radically.
Canada is a country with economic stability and despite it's relatively small population it is a developed, "first world", nation and has been for a good long time. While you might not be making my mistake of moving to a "developing nation" are you prepared to endure the economic crisis in Greece that isn't going to go away anytime soon? You're young yet, unless you are independently wealthy, you're far too young to think about retirement; and if you retire early I can tell you your CPP/QPP alone even in a country where the monthly benefit payment doubles in value due to currency conversions this won't be enough to live on, you're planning on going to a country where it will be less still you'll be losing 1/3 of your buying power right off the bat. If you have a private pension plan you can cash it out, but you may only take (unless the amount has been changed recently) a small amount of this and the rest must be transferred into a locked in RSP of some kind. This could throw all your plans for a comfortable retirement out the window, especially if you're planning on retiring to a country where you will lose on the currency conversion and one that is presently in an extremely unstable economic position and essentially in crisis. Have you really thought about these factors seriously? Unfortunately, through no fault of my own, I lost all of what my private pension plan had bought me here in Brazil; beautiful home, resort destination property to build a new home and income properties on, cars, everything. I married a woman who wiped all that out and then gave me the boot. Now even though I've rebuilt my life, re-married happily and my CPP benefit has virtually doubled because of the currency rates it is nowhere enough to live on by itself. I face the proposition of never being able to retire fully as a result. Are you prepared for something like that or protected against it?
While you're of Greek origins do you speak the language like a native? I can tell you unless you do it is not going to be an easy transition to move there permanently. Even though I had a highly advanced fluency level in Portuguese when I came to Brazil it was extremely difficult to adapt to living with the language 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is something you've got to consider in moving to a country where English (or your mother tongue whatever it may be) is not the official language. The language barrier is the single largest cause of failure to successfully transition from living in one country to another. Consider this seriously if you don't speak Greek as you second "mother tongue" essentially. If you grew up speaking the language along with English or French whichever was spoken by the general population then you should be OK. If not, you'll have some problems adapting, we all do!
Isolation - wow, you're going to be moving from the second largest nation (by landmass) on earth to an island nation that you could fit easily into Lake Ontario with room left over. You're used to being able to pick up and travel at will, you're used to wide open spaces whenever you want them. Are you physically and emotionally prepared for the difference, isolating yourself on an island and worse still one that is so far removed from the rest of your immediate family? While you may have family roots in Greece, which is going to help you immensely, are you prepared to isolate yourself from siblings and their families? Think long and hard about this, because it's going to be one of the most painful aspects of leaving a country that has always been your home.
I can tell you that from my own perspective, if I could go back in time I certainly wouldn't have ever chosen to leave Canada, knowing what I do now, never in a million years and not for any other nation on earth. Unfortunately for me, for both financial and physical reasons I have to resign myself to the true meaning of the old saying, "You can never go home again". If I could, I'd pick up my family and get myself back to Canada in a heartbeat, never to venture outside her boundaries ever again; but unfortunately I can't do that.
I'm not trying to judge you in any way, please don't think that. I do however want you to do your homework, study every aspect of what you're thinking of doing inside and out, backwards and forwards until there is no hidden area whatsoever. Then and only then if you still decide that leaving Canada is truly what is best for you, and that you're doing so for all the RIGHT REASONS, then go for it and God Bless.
Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team
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