Retiring to Sofia

Welcome to the forum. 

For living costs try www.numbeo.com   Also read other posts here on the forum.
Take the time to read the Bulgaria Guide located under "Discover" at the top of this page.

Hi & good morning from Sofia at the H2O Hostel,  take a look to the homepage of  Bulgarian Properties,  they have a lot of cheap offers,  rent and  buy  , I even have made a reservation for ground because the cigars are 4-5 times higher price than Germany,  so I will make tabac and next year are cheaper ones available and I will sell them even by internet 😊😍❤❤

Hi another idea, Chechen OLX.BG for rent and other things  , it's a page where people try to sell everything,  I bought a cheap laptop and a scanner /printer,  so you ONLY have to learn Bulgarian language or use a translator program to know in which field you have to type your wish.  . . 😊😍❤👂

Hi johnSlavi,

and yes, you can live comfortably with 2300 USD per month. The present living costs of a bulgarian family, consisting of 4 members are calculated at about 2600 BGN. Your budget will be approximately 4000 BGN.

Thank you Stumpy

Thank you Wieselfink

Thank you Kristiann

Hi,  do YOU have any connection to Bulgaria  ? Because big am a Grey and  the ' system ' aka Police  and Justice  and adcocat seems to be  very  very  LAZY  , MON MERDE  !
at Karnobat  at the  railway station  over night  my bicycle EAS stolen,  the local police  man noticed the Vivacom number  and my passport and  until now NOTHING.  next at VARNA I went  to the police inside the railway station and ONLY ONE WOMAN understands English and told me,  YES we will inform  you.  Two weeks  - NOTHING  . and in Burgas  in the pedestrian  street  at the public point of charging the battery or the smartphones  , my battery pack easily stolen,  police called,  no English  , no visit card,  told me,  go to station  5 and make  a registration  , a man made the translator.  Even in Varna  inside the railway station  steeling under the Webcam and once more NOTHING.  . . .

SO NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE VIEW OF GERMANS IN GERMANY IS BAD  IF THEY ARE ASKED  - whatdo you think about Bulgaria  . . .

Bye

I think it depends a lot on what your idea of "comfortably" is! :-) Which is probably affected by your current frame of reference: where you now live in the USA, and how ritzy/upscale your life there is.

However, like others, my first instinct is "yes", or at least certainly "more comfortable" than on the same money in USA.

For a less impressionistic view, we can look at a cost of living index (I used numbeo) which indicates that USA is 72.47 and Bulgaria is 38.39. Hence your money goes almost TWICE as far here.

Next, we can look at average wage (UNECE figures) which shows a monthly wage of $4,893 in the USA. Your income of $2,300 is less than half of this. Whereas, in Bulgaria, the average wage figure is only $627... and your income would be almost 4 times higher.

The combined effect is that you would move from a country where your income is substantially below average, with high living costs... to one where your income is FAR above average, with half the living costs. That sounds like a pretty great deal to me! :-)

From a property perspective, it should be noted that you also have a home already paid for, while many Bulgarians would need to pay rent from the above wage figure. And, most likely, as a bonus, you have a much nicer home in Sofia than you would get in your USA home town for the same money. In addition, there are still very inexpensive apartments in ski resorts (eg Bansko) and beach towns (eg Sunny Beach) here in Bulgaria, so having a holiday home (or two) is very affordable here, while out of reach for many in the USA.

Also, while the price index reflects overall expenses, some costs I would argue are disproportionately low in Bulgaria, which would benefit you even further. In particular, I think you'll find that the "carrying costs" of property (property taxes, water, electricity, home insurance, HOA/service charge) are SUBSTANTIALLY lower for your Bulgarian home than for a comparable USA property. (A few years ago I had a small house in the UK, and I was paying roughly $130 per month for EACH of water, gas, electricity, and council tax, the UK's property tax substitute. My apartment here comes in at under $100 in total.) Similarly, I think you'll be VERY pleasantly surprised by how inexpensive private health insurance (or indeed any insurance, such as for a property or a car) coverage is in Bulgaria compared with the USA.

Tax situation is always complicated for Americans because of the USA's insistence on taxing you on your worldwide income regardless of your place of residence. However, it should be noted that Bulgaria has a 10% flat rate tax, which also compares favorably with the USA.

Speaking entirely personally, I lived in Boston and San Francisco for a number of years, and while they were wonderful places to live, I would consider them to be massively expensive. However, if you're working (especially in tech, as I was) salaries are also pretty high. They become much more challenging if you're unemployed or retired.

Here, I live on a similar income  to you (rental apartment + USA dividends + small pension + bit of Airbnb when Covid-19 not closing travel down). I feel that I live very well (admittedly in a pretty low key kinda way). Certainly I live WAYYYYYY better than I could live in most (all?) of USA on this income.

I teach here, and my pay is a paltry 6 euros an hour! But even this compares well with Bulgarian average hourly wage. And, because I'm so comfortable on my passive income, I don't have to work; instead, I can do it just because I enjoy it.

We've been here in Bulgaria for just over two years, and we now have a small city apartment (Plovdiv instead of Sofia), a country house in the Balkan Mountains (which we're renovating), and a ski studio in Bansko. I enjoy the change of scene / pace. I think the combined cost of all three properties would not be enough for even a small condo in Boston! (Or even, at current prices, a large new apartment in Sofia.)

Hi and good morning from they H2O hostel,  I am waiting for speedy which will deliver ink for a inkjet printer that I bought at OLX. BG,  both cartdriges are empty and so I need ink for printing,  the german embassy makes bla bla bla bla and told me - yes we have spoken with the advocate in DE  , he will send money - BUT not  how  much  and  at which time  , so I have to go personal to the embassy and ask them what a Bullshit they are doing.  Next I have to visit  BRC - Bulgarian Railway company,  and ask them WHY they do not answer to email band if the want to reopen the nice little restaurant in Varna,  they have to give me a contract  ! Last I will make  a social community  and I hope the justice will understand English and tell  me  the process,  the ID-card will be no problem  because having a paper from the hostel  . . . So a lot to do and waiting every  day  😰

Also, it's not just about cost.

I know that for Americans seeking a sunny, low-cost retirement destination, Latin America (in part due to geographic convenience) is very popular. I spent several years there (including Argentina, Chile, and Panama which is always highly ranked). In comparison, I find Bulgaria safer and hassle-free, without the "let's screw over a gringo" mentality which is so prevalent there. While Bulgaria is corrupt and bureaucratic by EU standards, it's MILES better than Panama!

Of course you can have a great life with 2300 €

From where are you moving?