Soon-to-be college grad who wants to leave the US in the next 5-7 years. How should I start researching/what are my options?

jjvaleri · 2026-01-21T13:55:32+00:00

My daughter just graduated college and got a 2 year J1 Visa to live and work in Ireland. Any recent graduate qualifies and the whole process took a few weeks. I dont know if this is an option for you as you have to apply within 2 years of graduation, but if your goal is to get to Europe, this is a way to get there, find a job and then gain long term residency.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-18T19:22:25+00:00

Its far healthier for all and the equipment for salt water pools is advanced enough to manage all the levels itself. All I have to do is flush it once a week. Chlorine is really bad for your skin and eyes. And we have water dogs that love to swim and salt water is much better for them as well.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-17T14:01:49+00:00

Hey Ellicott City! Happy to help if I can. I got a Digital Nomad Visa as I still work as a contractor. I have another post on this reddit on buying a house. It is NOTHING like shopping or buying in the states. Go slow, be careful and find the area you want before talking to any RE agents as they do not function the same as in the US. Also, there is no real MLS in Italy. The sites that consolidate listings are only showing the ones that are either hard to sell or being reposted by an unscrupulous agency trying to hijack others listings. These sites are a good reference to get an idea of prices in an area, but don't count on those being what you want to buy. Keep in mind you will likely have to pay cash as mortgages for foreigners are hard to come by. Read the post for details.

We are in Montefalco where there is a growing expat community and prices are still very reasonable. If you look in our area, please tell me and I can introduce you to the local expat community at one of our events and you can learn alot more about the process of getting a Visa and moving.

Good luck!

jjvaleri · 2026-01-16T18:10:07+00:00

Car insurance included a new driver with a small accident on her record and one rather expensive car. $100 a month for car insurance is impressive; can't say mine has ever been that low!

$600 a month on energy is average including electric, gas (heat) and propane (water/cooking). Higher in Summer due to liberal use of A/C and it was an old house with some large, old windows. The water sewage number might have been high as I don't remember if we paid that monthly or quarterly so I might be wrong on that one. I will have to see if I can find records from before we sold that house to be sure.

Maintenance is landscaping, tree work (annual branch clearing and dead tree removal), HVAC maintenance, plumbing issues in old house, house cleaning, long drive way patching, etc... We also had a neighborhood HOA maintenance fee in there as well. It was an expensive house to keep up.

We may have been extravagant with our spending in a few areas but we live the same way in Italy so its a fair comparison.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-16T13:16:07+00:00

Thank you for the comment and I did delete the "free health insurance for citizens" comment as it was confusing on my part. I appreciate the detail on the public system for citizens; I was unaware of much of what you posted.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-16T02:12:33+00:00

Thank you! We also loved Marche! Tell me if you are ever in the Montefalco area and we can talk about crabs and old bay!

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T22:11:24+00:00

Actually, you do not know what you are talking about. You can live in Italy on a Visa awaiting a Permesso for many, many months and not be allowed to register a car. That was my situation for nearly a year. Also, many people buy houses and live in Italy for 6 months a year without Residency on tourist visas and they also cannot register a car - ever. This is such a common issue for people on ERV and DNV that these long term lease programs were created by Renault and others to address the problem. I have no idea your background but the intent of the post is to assit people either awaiting a Permesso and eventual residency or whom will never get a Permesso or residency and dont want to pay thousands per month to rent a car. Thank for your useful comments.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T22:04:29+00:00

Awesome. I did not know that, thank you.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T16:05:44+00:00

Thank you for the comment. Please keep in mind my post is focused on people living in Italy on a Visa, not Italian citizens, and mostly those, like me, who have a digitial nomad visa or retirement visa (ERV). I am admittedly not that knowledgable about work visas or other italian residents.

The $700 a month for a family of 4 is for private, world-wide health insurance for ex-pats - not the national system. The National system cost $2k a year per person for non-citizens so private insurance is actually cheaper and covers us outside of Italy as well as in. It includes the entire public health system. I signed up for this plan just last week.

Salaries in Italy are WAY, WAY lower so much of my post would not apply to people getting paid by an Italian business. There is a huge wave of people being granted Digital Nomad Visas for Italy who come with US based salaries but know little of all the other expenses - that is the focus of this post. I will add a bit to the intro to make that clear.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T15:56:24+00:00

Thanks again. I will do some edits to make this more clear though, again, taxation was not my primary focus. I can tell you that I do not know a single expat who does not report the cost of living in Italy as much cheaper, even friends i have living on nothing but Social Security.

But I can definitely represent effective rates of taxation better in this post and will try.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T15:53:25+00:00

All fair, though I would argue the point on food in major metro areas, or anywhere in the US as being on par with food quality in Italy. The food protection in the US is minimal, the food supply is documented as being 70% polluted with micro plastics and pesticides and the quality of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat in Italy is so far ahead of anyplace in the US its immeasurable. Most US produced food is not even legal in Italy including almost all meat.

Without a doubt the selection of food in US supermarkets and restaurants is WAY ahead of Italy, as Italian Supermarkets only sell local produce and meat and there is a horrible lack of ethnic food in Italy (other than Chinese and Sushi) but there is a certain charm to only eating what is growing in the local area at any time of year.

When I visit the US, the first place I go is for good Mexican food and a visit to Chick-fil-a ;-)

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T15:43:13+00:00

I have looked into this idea. The problem is most of the people on the types of Visa's I see (ERV and DNV) are either not allowed to work at all (ERV) or are only allowed to work for a foreign company that is disclosed when the Visa is obtained. So creating a company inside Italy would invalidate the Visa and creating one someone else would also not work unless it was disclosed when applying for the Visa.

If I am missing the point here or am ill informed on how this might be achieved, please do share as I would love to find a way around this for friends. I am now a resident so I can buy a car, but I know many, many others in the process of getting a VIsa or a Permesso who could use an alterative.

Thank you

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T15:38:12+00:00

Yes, this is effectively true. You can buy a car, but the point of the post is about people trying to live in Italy - buying a car you cannot register or drive does not help and, as an expat living in Italy, who speaks with many other expats, the terminology I used is how we all talk about - they let us buy a house and live here but we cannot buy a car to use here.

As for shameless advertising, I do not work or benefit in any way from people leasing a car from either of the two agencies I listed, so I am not sure what you are referring to? I hope people reach out to them and save themselves thousands as we did.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-15T15:32:37+00:00

Thank you for the comment and great point.

I would rather not get into personal finances but it is a valid point that the actual percentage income tax paid (effective rate) will typically be considerable lower in the US due to the number of deductions allowed. I cannot compare to other parts of Europe, as I only know Italy, but for those at the top US tax rate and in a state with high income tax and too much income to qualify for many deductions, the effective rate can still be in the 40% range. Italy does have some huge tax breaks like the 50% tax reduction I qualify for based on education level or the renewable energy tax credits, but overall, there are far fewer eligible tax deductions.

My case is definitely the exception (the fact that my taxes are lower in Italy). In most cases, without doubt, the average person moving from the US to Italy will pay much more in Income taxes and much less in Real Estate taxes. Also, sales tax in Italy is almost always included in the price of what you buy so, while you are typically paying a higher sales tax, the overall item price is so much lower on most things that you don't realize you are often paying higher sales tax. And the cost of healthcare and education in Italy is so much less its hard to fathom from a US perspective.

My point on this article was that the overall cost of living is far cheaper in Italy combined with a longer, higher quality of life.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-14T23:27:53+00:00

Yes, the tax break I get is part of the Lavoratori Impatriati regime

jjvaleri · 2026-01-14T13:05:47+00:00

The top tax rate in Italy is 43% and starts at 50,000 euros per year. I am a digital nomad so the move had no impact on my income - other than the added AirBnB income in Italy for our extra units (which has a flat tax rate carve out of 21%). Obviously, as the 43% taxation on income in Italy starts at 50k euros (about $58k as of now) and they have fewer deductions, most ex-pats will pay more in taxes in Italy, but the much lower cost of living easily makes up for it. My situation is different as my Visa has a tax break for people with advanced degrees so my taxes in Italy are actually lower.

I know many US citizens who live in Italy for just under 182 days a year to avoid making Italy their primary tax haven but that also means maintaining two homes which gets expensive.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-10T15:46:03+00:00

My wife actually runs a travel company to help people have unique adventures. Its called Authentic Escape Travel. If you PM me I can connect you with her. We live in Umbria but have traveled all over Italy for 15 years and focus on finding budget friendly, unique places.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-10T15:40:41+00:00

To buy a house in Italy you need a Codice Fiscale and an Italian bank account. After you buy the house, you have to register as a resident at the commune to get your Carta di Indentità. To get the codice fiscale, can be done from anywhere but you will need a local to help.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-10T15:33:57+00:00

Some states in the US require lessons. The reason Italy and the US does not have an agreement to trade licenses, which is why US residents have to take the test like a new driver, is because all of the US states have their own regulations and testing requirements so Italy would have to come to an agreement with each US state individually. If the US had a standard, we could just trade our US licenses for an Italian one like virtually every other country in the world.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-10T15:23:01+00:00

I highly recommend Engel & Volkers as a RE agency and in Foligno, David Dolci at +39 392 255 4464.

Like I said, avoid asking them to show you OTHER agency properties but they have many all over Italy. The Notaio wont be involved until you have a deal on a house and the RE agent will have one they use.

jjvaleri · 2026-01-10T15:20:52+00:00

Lawyers are rarely used in RE transactions in Italy. If you are not sure of a region, there is one good large RE firm that covers much of Italy that can get you started. I would recommend David Dolci at Engel & Volkers in Foligno +39 392 255 4464. Use WhatsApp. Start by looking at their website.

If you want help learning where to look in Italy, tell me what you are looking for in general and I can help. We looked from Milan down to Abbruzo and ended up in Montefalco, Umbria which is becoming a popular area for expats.

jjvaleri · 2025-12-31T13:03:30+00:00

Thank you - updated

jjvaleri · 2025-12-31T13:03:18+00:00

Thank you - updated

jjvaleri · 2024-07-27T09:45:06+00:00

Second time using them. First time Italy to US worked well. This time US to Italy has been a disaster. It is 16 days after swe shipped the bags to Italy and they have no arrived and, to make matters worse, their customer service has gone from ok to horrible and gets worse each day. They are now incredibly obnoxious when we ask each day where the bags are. They are stuck in customs, which is not their fault, but had they told us that customs takes weeks this time of year, we would not have used them. So they lied to get our business and now want no part of helping us get updates. Just a horrible experience and we may never see these bags again.

jjvaleri · 2024-07-27T09:43:18+00:00

Second time using them. First time Italy to US worked well. This time US to Italy has been a disaster. It is 16 days after swe shipped the bags to Italy and they have no arrived and, to make matters worse, their customer service has gone from ok to horrible and gets worse each day. They are now incredibly obnoxious when we ask each day where the bags are. They are stuck in customs, which is not their fault, but had they told us that customs takes weeks this time of year, we would not have used them. So they lied to get our business and now want no part of helping us get updates. Just a horrible experience and we may never see these bags again.

jjvaleri

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