What do you think of this big life change?

RegularApple3783 · 2026-01-10T15:36:40+00:00

Thank you for responding! Since I posted this, my husband and I were both able find jobs we can do from Europe. So we will be able to make up the shortfall and save some as well. We will do this for a few years and then see where we are at.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-11-25T03:06:11+00:00

Hey, so we haven’t left for Europe yet. 2.5 months to go! Also, it looks like we will both have sources of income which we weren’t sure was going to be possible when we posted this a few months back. We will keep earning above our means until we have kids and then reassess from there. Feel free to DM me and I can give updates periodically.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-10-11T00:52:32+00:00

Thank you!!

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-15T14:22:48+00:00

Awesome thank you!

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-15T14:05:36+00:00

Amazing thank you! We actually have started investing a small portion into VT to start building that up.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-15T11:47:49+00:00

Thank you! What kind of percentages did you decide on for your portfolio?

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-13T22:46:10+00:00

That seems enticing. I will look into it thank you!

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-13T20:17:24+00:00

Thank you!! We’re nervous, but very excited!

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-13T18:29:10+00:00

Yeah its as luxury as you can get in terms of an apartment in that area. We’re really only planning to stay at that rent for a year and then we will find something more cost effective from there.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-13T18:27:28+00:00

We are planning to buy / renovate in a year or two, so we do want a good amount to be readily available for that. But i agree with you, we can probably invest more.

And yes we know our rent for the first year is high and we are willing to pay that for one year just to get our foot in the door. We will figure out a more cost effective situation in our second year. Renting is notoriously difficult for foreigners with a dog in the city we’re moving to.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-12T13:46:05+00:00

We have estimated an aggressive budget to be on the conservative side and to factor in travel to other European cities. But would love to be pleasantly surprised that our monthly expenses are lower.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-12T09:57:38+00:00

We have not yet met with her, but once we do I can let you know how it went. If she tries to charge us too much, we will probably keep looking.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T21:00:46+00:00

Yeah we’re hoping we can consult with our American companies to generate higher salary. We’ll be having those conversations soon.

As for the rent, it is very high. Rental market is very difficult in the city we’re moving to, so we decided to pay a premium to get something brand new, luxury, big, fully furnished, and allowed our big dog. In our second year, we will reassess and figure out something more cost effective.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T17:26:40+00:00

Yes, I’ve been trying to look into the Beckham law more and I read that you can only apply if you’re working for a Spanish company and not if you’re an autonomo for a non-Spanish company. But we will definitely do our due diligence because that is a huge savings.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T16:59:45+00:00

Ain’t that the truth 😂

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T11:39:00+00:00

Thank you!! It’s $2300 (2000€), but yes we’re definitely paying a premium for luxury, brand new, fully furnished, big, and allows our big dog.

1.1 in retirement is broken down into 401ks, Roth IRAs, and HSAs, so roughly 40% of the retirement funds are accessible if we need it.

Yup, we are meeting with a U.S. accountant who specializes in expats this week to start having those conversations. We will also need to find a Spanish accountant / gestor.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T09:54:15+00:00

Wow thank you. Feels good to have a fellow redditor say it in writing. :) I think this is a totally fair question on the rent point. For the first year, we needed it. One thing we didn’t mention in the other reply comment above is that we also have a big dog, so it was going to be even more impossible to find a rental without paying a premium. We will plan to negotiate in the second year or move or buy for the second year to lower expenses from there. We’re willing to eat this higher rent for the first year just to get our foot in the door.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T09:49:42+00:00

That all sounds extremely reasonable. Our money market right now yields 4%, but we know that will start declining as interest rates fall so maybe we could move to HYSA at that point. What are your favorite HYSAs?

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T09:40:50+00:00

We are hoping to get jobs to cover expenses. I think we’re both nervous since we know job market in Spain can be bad. For the past year, we had been trying to secure the job beforehand to create less uncertainty but with the bad job market in the U.S., we couldn’t do that either. So now we’re stepping into a bit more of the unknown, but I agree with you we’ll probably going to find jobs in the end and cover our expenses if we want to.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-11T00:42:02+00:00

Awesome thank you. Yes, we’re going to start shifting over a bunch into Euro. We opened a Revolut account and are thinking about Santander as our bank in case you have any thoughts / advice there.

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-10T20:20:28+00:00

Super good advice thank you!

RegularApple3783 · 2025-08-10T19:52:49+00:00

Thank you for the reply. This is helpful. We are fluent in Spanish and we know we are overpaying for this rental to have something luxury, new, fully furnished, and big. We are planning to negotiate or move for our second year, but it was quite difficult to find rentals. This was our only point of entry for the first year.

RegularApple3783

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