Best online resources for planning to retire overseas?

Welcome! 

I'm a planner, too.   

I started researching and planning our move to Spain in 2013 with a 2021-2022 target to move.  I knew our goal was Spain because I had studied at the University of Madrid and have wanted to return since leaving (I spent a few months convincing my husband that was *his* goal, too LOL).

Since, for us, it wasn't a matter of where, we stuck to google street view to narrow down which city we most felt attracted to.  Once that was determined, it was easy to search for informational sites based on the city name(s) we most preferred.

I would suggest you may want to start with the global view of Spain and Portugal on Google Streetview and start narrowing down from there.  We looked at many, many cities in our target region (Andalusia) and found the one that touched our hearts immediately.

You may want to consider that process to start, then look at resources more specific to whatever country/province/city/village touches your heart.

Best of luck to you!

Hello,
I am very excited for you!  You must be really excited now that your move is just around the corner!ais when I move to Europe (Spain, Portugal, Croatia), rent at least the first year.  Then if I want to move around, I will have that flexibility.  I am not planning to move anything but the clothes on my back. 

There are a lot of things to consider, so I am glad I have 12 years to plan!  ha ha.  One big one is how to 'move' to a state that has no state tax.  I have decided I can't escape Federal tax abroad, but I think I can avoid state tax! 

I also subscribed to International Living magazine, and this also gives me access online to all their previous monthly magazines.

good luck.

Hey, Johnny.
good luck with your move.
hope it all works out well for you.
Best regards
Seán

With regards to tax:  You may be able to avoid state taxes, but you'll pay US tax.  You will also pay Spanish tax.  There is a tax treaty between US and Spain (it's a long complicated document) but the way it works for me (US citizen living in Spain) is
-  I pay US taxes
-  My Spanish tax deducts the amount of my US tax
-  Net result is that my total tax bill between the two countries is pretty much the same as what I would pay in Spain, if I had no US tax burden
- That Spanish tax burden is about 2x the US tax amount.
- That still, overall, ends up costing me less because my medical insurance here is so much less than it would be in the US that it makes up for that.

With regards to travel:
You will find it is very easy to do short day to weekend trips within Spain, even to Portugal and see lots of interesting things.
You'll find it's easy to do week long trips to other countries in Europe, which would probably not be very cost effective if you are coming from the US due to the lower travel cost.

It's a different experience and while not everything is perfect, it's pretty good

Are you working in Spain, or are you retired from USA?

I guess I am now a little concerned about possibly retiring to Spain because it sounds like Spain's tax is double USA tax?  You said " That Spanish tax burden is about 2x the US tax amount."  Is that for a working person or retired?

I figured I can avoid state tax because I plan to move to a state with no state tax prior to my departure to Europe.  But I can't avoid Uncle Sam.  But I don't want my retirement income to go all to taxes. 

I have several years before I flee the homeland, but I have flexibility in where I land in Europe.  Right now my focus is Spain, Portugal, and Croatia.   If Portugal or Croatia would be a significant tax savings, I would be fine landing in one of those countries, since those countries have beaches just like Spain! 

Thanks, and i hope you are enjoying Spain!