Planning retirement in Germany

The Stuttgart meeting can be found in the events section of the site.
Since you are already living in Germany, you can try to get a permanent residence permit  based on your current, temporary one.
You should also just stay in your current German health insurance, as changing usually isn’t advantageous. Unless you are currently in the private scheme and opted for an expensive plan, itwon’t get any more cost-effective.
Your pension can be transferred to your German bank account simply by international bank transfer.
You can find lots of information about expat life in Germany in this forum’s thousands of ongoing and past discussions. Read as much of it as possible!

What do you mean by living in Germany? On what basis? Some of the things you mention are required for anyone who is here with any kind of status other than a tourist.

I am currently working for the federal government, status of forces agreement. So we will transition to regular expat status.

It does not matter who you are working for now - as Tom wrote above, some of the things you mention are required for anyone who is here with any kind of status other than a tourist (and there is no "expat status" in the law).

beppi wrote:

It does not matter who you are working for now - as Tom wrote above, some of the things you mention are required for anyone who is here with any kind of status other than a tourist (and there is no "expat status" in the law).

If I interpret it right, the status of forces has to do with the military. And US military personnel and their families live in Germany exempted from having a residency permit or following many of the rules. They have health insurance through the military for example.  On the downside, the time they spend stationed in Germany doesn't count towards getting a permanent residency or citizenship. Also, even if they were here for 8 years, their children born here would not be given Germany citizenship.

Oh, if he is in such an exotic special status (which should not even exist in my opinion - but the USA somehow always manages to get special treatment ...), then he should have mentioned it - and cannot expect that any "normal" reader here knows the answers!

beppi wrote:

Oh, if he is in such an exotic special status (which should not even exist in my opinion - but the USA somehow always manages to get special treatment ...), then he should have mentioned it - and cannot expect that any "normal" reader here knows the answers!

I don’t know that the US should even still have a military presence in Germany but as NOTO allies there are of course counter-arguments to that. And there is a definite logic that the military personnel don’t have to be subjected to the same rules. For example, one cannot say that military members or their spouses have to speak the language. If this were the standard then troops would all have to learn a new language every few years. Not like everyone sent to Iraq has to learn Arabic, or Pashtun if sent to Afghanistan. Not that it would be bad if they did speak the local language but it cannot be a requirement. Otherwise, there would suddenly be bureaucratic nightmares of Americans being deployed but Germany rejecting them? And I don’t think such agreements are limited to Americans. German troops advising in other countries probably have similar situations.

And to get good answers it would always be best for people to point out their exact situation. But I can understand one’s hesitation to come out and say that they are associated with the US military, especially in these days of Trump. Yet I think many of the Americans who end up immigrating to Germany are ones who served here and usually got into a relationship with a local and some simply liked it and think to immigrate after leaving the military. Why not?

So the poster’s situation is not really so uncommon. I was never in the military but maybe there are other Americans here that were and would know about the special considerations of making that transition to then living here as a civilian?

NATO Status of Forces Agreements cover the military and any supporting civilian staff; so in the case of the USA, employees (and their families) of the Federal Government who are based with the military in the respective country.    Typically, these guys would be teachers, specialists, people that provide the same facilities as US families would receive back home that is not provided by the uniform branches of the military; I knew such a guy in Berlin who was an undertaker!

As has been previously pointed out, they don't earn any type of credit for later immigrant status - everybody starts at the same place.

Cynic wrote:

NATO Status of Forces Agreements cover the military and any supporting civilian staff; so in the case of the USA, employees (and their families) of the Federal Government who are based with the military in the respective country.    Typically, these guys would be teachers, specialists, people that provide the same facilities as US families would receive back home that is not provided by the uniform branches of the military; I knew such a guy in Berlin who was an undertaker!

As has been previously pointed out, they don't earn any type of credit for later immigrant status - everybody starts at the same place.

Thanks for adding this info. I was not sure if civilians like contractors were also included.

One thing that popped into my mind that the poster might not have thought of is that once they get German residency they need to get a German driver’s license (if they drive). There are full or partial exchange agreements with some US States but not all. If so, it saves a lot of money and trouble to exchange for the German one without having to pay the normally required driving school and exams. One must do this within 3 years of gaining residency or the possibility expires. The German license needs to be acquired within 6 months – or one can actually use the American one up to a year - IF the time they are planning to stay in Germany is not more than 12 months. Thus after this time period they still have some time to exchange their valid US license but cannot use it anymore to legally drive in Germany.

I know an American who has continued to drive on occasion although he has been in Germany for 5 years. He doesn’t own a car but sometimes rents one. Contrary to his reasoning, it is not just the duty of the rental company to see that he has a valid license. If there would be an accident he would be in trouble as well as the rental place for not properly checking his status.

Families of servicemen and Federal employees get a military driving permit that permits them to drive the same class of vehicle as their US State licence.  Those who then chose to leave their employment, or the military and remain in the country at the end of their tour, lose all family-related Federal privileges on that date (including driving and vehicle licencing), so it needs careful planning as things like vehicle insurance in Europe tends to insure the car, not the person and has caused some issues in the past.

The retired military will be entitled to such things as access to the Base Exchange, but not to the Class VI store; in some countries, this could include veterans medical cover if available and not to the detriment of serving members.

Thanks for mentioning this. It is helpful. Yes, our lawyer told us that when we transition into the  Aufenthaltsgenehmigung, we should see if we can get reciprocity for our American drivers liscences. Lots to do!

When I was in the military in Germany many years ago, I was able to get an "international driver's license" because I had a valid US license at the time. When I left the military and lived "on the economy" (with proper residency and work permits) the international license was recognized and I drove with it for 8 years.
I still have the international license which has no expiration date, but don't know whether it is valid today.

KSTinMB wrote:

When I was in the military in Germany many years ago, I was able to get an "international driver's license" because I had a valid US license at the time. When I left the military and lived "on the economy" (with proper residency and work permits) the international license was recognized and I drove with it for 8 years.
I still have the international license which has no expiration date, but don't know whether it is valid today.

You are posting on a year old post, for better coverage, it would be recommended that you start a new post for better coverage.

I hope that helps

KSTinMB: An international drivng licence is NOT a full driving license in its own right. It is better understood as translation of your national one. It always expires when the underlying national one expires or becomes invalid. And I have never heard of an international one without its own expiry date. Are you sure yours conforms to international standards? (If not, e.g. if it's a special arrangement for the armed forces, it may not be recognised by other authorities.)
In any case, once you take up residence in Germany, you must get a German national driving license within 6 month (or switch to public transport altogether, which is very well possible in Germany and advisable at your age).