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Your dream is to retire to the USA? We explain what you need to know about spending your senior years in the United States.
Take the chance of living in the USA and apply for the official US Green Card Lottery!
Retire to the USA: where to live?
Escaping the cold and rainy winters back home, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the American way of life – there are many good reasons to retire to the USA. And a lot of American cities are known for offering excellent conditions for senior citizens.
The best places for retirement in 2022
Warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine are the top criteria for many retirees when choosing a new place to call home. That's why a large number of pensioners are drawn to the Southern part of the United States, which is also known as the "Sun Belt.”
Especially the states of Florida, Arizona, and Texas are very popular regions for retirement in the USA. However, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the states in the Northeast and Midwest are also becoming increasingly popular. According to the US business magazine Forbes, the 10 best places to retire in 2022 are:
- Sarasota, Florida
- Naples, Florida
- Daytona Beach, Florida
- Melbourne, Florida
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Tampa, Florida
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Port St. Lucie, Florida
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Pensacola, Florida
Residence in the USA: what retirees should consider
No matter what region of the United States you're attracted to, make sure you're well-informed about your new home of choice beforehand. When deciding where to retire in the USA, consider the following aspects in particular:
- Climate
- Cost of living
- Real estate prices
- Infrastructure (bike routes, connection to the highway, railroad, etc.)
- Leisure facilities (parks, restaurants, entertainment, etc.)
- Medical care
- Air quality
- Crime rate
- Taxes
Florida: a paradise for retirees
Florida has long had the reputation of being a retiree's paradise. Although real estate prices have risen sharply in recent years, the Sunshine State is still THE place of choice for seniors.
Not only for many US citizens but also for tens of thousands of immigrants, is Florida the first choice for retirement in the USA. As a result, the Sunshine State has the highest average age among all US states, now standing at about 41 years old.
Have you ever wondered why Florida, in particular, is such a popular place for retirement in the USA? Here are five good reasons:
Fantastic weather
You can leave your winter clothes at home without worrying because the Sunshine State is entirely located in the tropical and subtropical climate zones. With over 2,000 km of coastline, 360 days of sunshine per year, and day temperatures that climb to 20 °C even in the coldest month, life is truly enjoyable in sunny Florida!
Suitable for seniors
Many places in Florida have developed an infrastructure that is perfectly adapted to the needs of retirees. There are also proper retirement communities, where you can live together with other seniors with similar interests in apartment complexes or even shared apartments.
Active lifestyle
A variety of clubs, fitness, and recreational activities ensure that you will quickly make new friends in Florida. The coasts, lakes, rivers, and swamps of the Sunshine State offer great opportunities for fishing or boating. In addition, Florida is the golfing Mecca of the USA par excellence: over 1,200 golf courses welcome you to work on your handicap in a relaxed atmosphere.
A lot to discover
The Everglades, Dry Tortugas National Park, the Florida Keys, Disney World in Orlando, the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, or the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola – Florida is full of exciting places that you can take plenty of time to explore during your retirement in the USA.
Low taxes
Living in Florida is also a blessing for retirees in terms of finances because there are very few taxes to pay to the state. For example, there is no income tax, no inheritance tax, and no taxes on pensions and social security benefits.
Residence permit for retirement in the USA
The most important requirement for immigrating to the USA is a valid residence permit. There is no retiree visa for the United States and owning real estate is not a path to permanent residency either. Nevertheless, there are several options to obtain a permanent or temporary right to stay in the USA.
US Green Card: permanent residency
If you have the Green Card, also known as the Permanent Resident Card, you have almost all the rights of a US citizen. The Green Card is the best choice for retirement in the United States because it guarantees a permanent right of residence and thus allows you to live carefree in America.
There are several ways to obtain a US Green Card. For example, a family reunion, a workplace, or an investment in a US company can help you obtain a Green Card. However, the application procedures are usually very lengthy and involve a lot of red tape. If you plan to spend retirement in the USA, you must already start the effort to obtain a Green Card several years before retirement age.
However, there is another way to obtain a Green Card: by participating in the Green Card Lottery. The annual US government lottery awards 55,000 Permanent Resident Cards to people from all over the world. The application process is relatively straightforward and has few eligibility requirements. Since it is a lottery, the chances of winning are the same for every participant.
Retire to the USA with a visa
Since there is no special visa category for retirement in the USA, seniors usually apply for a visitor visa (B-visa). The latter is valid for a period of ten years and entitles the holder to remain in the United States for up to six months at a time.
In general, it is possible to obtain a one-time extension of the B-visa. However, after this extension has expired, you should leave the USA for some time, preferably for several months. Attention: If you return to America just a few days after leaving, there is a risk that the US border officials will see an abuse of the visitor visa and refuse you entry.
The visitor visa is the perfect residence permit for anyone who wants to "spend the winter" in the sunny South of the USA and at the same time keep a summer residence in their home country. However, only the Green Card gives you a permanent right to stay in America.
Tip for short stays
If you only want to stay in the USA for 90 days at a time and if you are a citizen of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program, you can apply for visa-free entry with ESTA. Compared to the US visa, the application is considerably less complicated, faster, and cheaper.
If you want to start a new life in the USA, there are first some organizational hurdles to overcome. In addition to a residence permit, you should take care of the following points:
Although the United States does not have an official language, a solid knowledge of English is generally a great advantage when (partially) moving to the USA. It is the native language of around 82 % of US citizens and is used by almost all Americans as a conversational language in everyday life.
Nevertheless, there are also oases in the USA where you will get by just fine even without speaking English. You will find these, for example, in Florida or Texas, where there are larger communities of German descent. In the South of the USA, you will also encounter a large Spanish-speaking population.
Choosing the right health insurance is an important point on the to-do list of pensioners who want to spend their retirement in the USA. The cost of medication, doctor appointments, and hospitalization in America is significantly higher than in other industrialized nations. Therefore, before you enter the country, make sure you have sufficient health insurance coverage to avoid surprises in the form of high medical bills.
EU citizens are not covered by their European public health insurance during a stay in the USA. The American health care system does include the public Medicare program, but this only provides coverage for US citizens and Green Card holders 65 years of age and older.
Of course, there is a wide variety of private health insurance plans available in the United States. Since private providers vary considerably in their range of services, it is important to compare all services and prices thoroughly. For example, you often need to purchase supplementary insurance to receive dental services. If you want to protect yourself against the financial burdens of needing long-term care for many years, you will need additional long-term care insurance.
It is also possible to take out international health insurance for seniors from your home country before you retire to the USA. As a rule, these insurance policies have a fixed term (usually one year, maximum of five years) and must be renewed thereafter.
Yes, you are generally obliged to pay taxes in the USA even during your retirement. However, the decisive factor here is the duration of your stay. If you remain in the USA less than 183 days in a year, you are taxable in your home country and do not have to pay taxes in the USA.
However, if you are in the United States for 183 days or more, you are a resident and must pay taxes. In this case, you must follow the rules set forth in the respective double taxation treaty between the USA and your home country.
Double taxation treaties are agreements between two nations. They protect against the risk of double taxation when the same income is taxable in two countries.
You can have your monthly pension transferred to a US bank account or an account in your home country. However, a transfer to a US bank account generates additional costs (transfer fees, currency conversion fees), which have to be paid by the account holder.
The additional fees can be up to five percent of the transfer amount. We, therefore, recommend using special transfer services (e.g., Wise, Paypal, WesternUnion). This way, you can move your pension payments to your American bank account with significantly lower fees.
