Hello everyone, I have not been on here for a while. Hope I am.not asking too difficult a question but just wondering if anyone knows what the rockbottom joint income needs to be in order to live in France (obviously aware would need to move before Dec this year. Still heartbroken over Brexit. We have a little house in the Vendee, no mortgage, had it for 18yrs…our dream was to move when I got to 65, I am.60 this year,so all plans scuppered as I still need to work. My husband is 68. If we came over it would be living in a shoestring so really hoping to hear a figure, is there one? Thanks in advance
1500 per month as a minimum I would have thought.
Covered here and there on the forum already.
Do you mean from the legal, or practical, perspective.
Hmmm…ok Thanks, was hoping is less!!
Hi Sally… wander through these threads, you might get some ideas. Not everyone has the same financial need, but one must have enough…
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Are you thinking about the carte de séjour, is this what you’re looking for?
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2651
Click on Retraité/Inactif, and then click on the relevant age group and you will see the income required for a couple. For a couple over 65 it gives a figure of 1 402,22€ a month. If you own your own house they may be flexible.
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Pre-brexit the financial threshold for applying for an EU carte de séjour if you are over 65 and live as a couple you must bring in €1,347.88 a month. Some allowance given if you own your own home free and clear.
I don’t know if this will change now.
I’m cheaper than Anna!
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From a strictly legal point of view the current limits for EU citizens are 559,74 € per month for an individual and 839,62 € for a couple under 65 with no children. For over 65’s it is 903,20 € for a single person and 1 402,22 € for a couple (ref)
If you move this year those figures are a reasonable guide but if you leave it until next year they are likely to be higher - the amount needed currently stands at 1 219 € for an individual “inactif” who is not an EU citizen and not retired (ref).
I came up with a much more modest figure a while ago but I am inclined to suspect that Tim’s 1500€ a month probably is the absolute minimum in practice to have any chance of a decent quality of life, arguably with rent/mortgage if applicable on top of that.
The threads that Stella links have much discussion on the matter.
France, I’m afraid, is quite an expensive place to live.
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You could look at it in another way, how much would it cost you to live in the UK under the same circumstances as the cost of living difference between here and there is not huge?
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Per Anna’s and my link it has gone up a bit.
Hi , Thanks…well, if we went quickly, I would be just 60, not over 65, but hubby is. Yep, house is owned, minimum bills, vegetarian, hardly drinking, small pleasures kind of people! Great friends there french and english. Some savings maybe they would be kind to us. When my state pension kicks in in 6 yrs it would be a much better picture …but now. Feels like carpet been pulled out…
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Sally, I “so” feel for you.
I’m a WASPI woman too, should be well retired by now but of course I’m not.
When you say you still need to work, does that mean you’re still working full time in the UK? If so, and if you would have problems meeting the income threshold on just OH’s pension, there may still be a way forward as a last resort if you want it enough. Let’s see if other forum members think this would work?
You send your hubbie over to live in the Vendée (can you survive without him, would you want to scratch his eyes out ??!!) and you visit when you can. You call your house in Vendée the family home and declare your joint income on your French tax return. Hopefully that would easily put you above the threshold as a household. Hubbie should then be OK for his CdS. Then I think (but check this) you as his spouse would be able to join him later on.
You wouldn’t pay income tax twice on your salary, but I think you woud probably have to pay social charges so there would be a cost. But if the dream is important to you, it might be worth it.
Hopefully it won’t come to that in any case.
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Hi Anna, thats all really interesting and creative, Thankyou!! Hmmm, well financially its a goer, yes I work fulltime, can get a reduced nhs pension at 60 but was hoping not to do that, long story!
I could keep him over there as ‘the gardener’!
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I’m a WASPI, so still waiting…sigh.
OH did come over before me, but because of staying with my elderly mother rather than working (I took early retirement). And it wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience. When I was here I wanted to be there and vice versa, so I don’t really recommend it unless you live somewhere amazingly convenient for channel hopping.
Practically can you declare your income here if you are not resident? We had to do separate tax returns that year.
Ah. Maybe not.
Found this
https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/international-particulier/questions/mon-conjoint-est-letranger-comment-vais-je-declarer-nos-revenus
Rats.
Thanks for ideas though! Who knows what will pan out…life is what is happening whilst planning for the future etc etc!
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Hi Guys, not posted for a while working my butt off to try to retire but does not look like it too soon. Just one question I have in relation to residing in france and taxes etc. My wife and I own a house in limouge have done for a little while now and continue to renovate as many brits do, but it was our intention to split our living 6 months in france and 6 in uk or other permutations. Will this mean that we would have to pay taxes etc in france, albeit we do not live there permanently.
Terry
Hi Terry… just a thought… what nationalities do you hold ?? Just thinking about the length of time you might be allowed to stay in France in any one period… or are you meaning 6 months split into 2 x 3 months… over the year?
I’m presuming that you’re British. It’s possible that after Brexit life will actually become more straightforward for British citizens who want to spend more than three months at a time in their French holiday homes even if they end up having to buy a visa to do so. You need to search some of the threads on residency and check that your time out of the U.K. doesn’t affect your residency status. As long as that doesn’t happen you will be able to continue to be a U.K. resident and pay your taxes there.