Cost of Living

[Dave@MossleyRegards Dave]

Hi,

I know this question is like " how long is a piece of string"  but here goes.

I've got an indexed linked pension income of £1,100 per month ( Local Government tax paid in UK ) with a small nestegg and my old age pension kicking in, in a few years, with no mortgage or rent, new car and no debt of any kind what sort of standard of living can I expect to have in France.

Hopefully we are going to keep chickens and have a veg patch so its not the high life we are after !

Will I have to subsidise my pension from my savings ?

Regards Dave 

[Val_2]

Day to day living is not as cheap as it was a few years back here in France. Everything has increased,some things by leaps and bounds especially health insurances, petrol/diesel, bottled gas and electricity to name but a few. Water charges have increased to take on the great amount of new drainage and treatment plants being installed and the list goes on and on. Saying that, I know retired people who live on a lot less than the figure you have mentioned and they seem to manage but are always worried in the back of their minds in case something very large should crop up that they will have to pay out for without the help of bank loans etc. HOWEVER and this happened back in 95 & 96, if your pension comes via the UK banks first into a french account, it is subject to currency fluctuation and back then the franc dropped right down to 6 per £1 from up near 10 very rapidly and many people were trapped with a lot less income but the same bills to pay. You would have to pay out for part of your health care that is not covered by the UK/French CPAM and once your E106 has expired and your E121 has not been issued and the older you get,the more it costs.Bills have to be paid here usually within two weeks from receipt especially the utilities and the electric and telephone are charged two-monthly. If you decide to live out in the sticks you should consider your future regarding transport and neighbours,too many foreigners fall in love with isolation but ignore the problem of getting their shopping one day when they cannot drive anymore and when there is no bus route and no neighbours if there is an accident etc. Another trap that older people fall into is the attraction to keep going back to visit their families as they do get homesick and the cost of that increases all the time making a very large dent in the finances. At the end of the day,it is entirely your decision and a very large step to take without making a fair bit of investigation first.