mcdwg

Wow thank you so much for giving me a reality check, it certainly is not just about packing and moving.  By the way I am 35 years old, my wife 32 and my child is just a newborn now.  I retire from the military in five years and we are looking to move overseas, France is my wife's choice since she has visited once before and her best friend lives there, she was born in Los Angeles and has a middle eastern background from Egypt so it would close to visit family there, I have a Hispanic background so I was looking into Latin America, so we will see what happens in the next five years.  It seems like there is a lot of red tape for Americans trying to settle down in Europe. Again thank you very much for all your replies, I will sure relay all this info to my wife.  

I will be retiring from the US Military in five years.  My wife and I have been thinking about moving to France, my wife visited her best friend in Limoges and she absolutely loved it.  We both love traveling and have been doing for the past few years because of the military.  We think France would be a good place to start a new life since my wife already has a friend there and we like the slower pace of life compared to the US, at least that is our impression and from what my wife experienced while visiting.  We will be going to France in 2012 to get a feel of the place, looking forward to it. I have a few questions, maybe someone can give me some guidance. - I will probably get a retiring pension of about $2000 more or less per month, how much is it needed to live in France in a monthly basis for a couple with one child, one car, decent accommodations. - What kind of jobs are good to get in France, I am about to get my business degree, with emphasis on accounting and my wife has a human relations degree, do we have to get retrained there, how's the job market looking? - My wife told me that Limoges is a very small city south of Paris, we are thinking on moving there to be close to her friend, is that a good idea for newcomers or a city like Paris would be better? Thank you in advance for any help