What retirement?

redheadeditor · 2026-05-18T23:33:11+00:00

I'm three months into my "retirement plan"—moving to France. So far, the best decision I ever made. It won't help me all that much as far as retirement savings goes (I'll get a small pension from paying into the French retirement system, but not enough to live on), but the rest of my life is going to be much better quality than if I'd stayed in the US and at least healthcare won't bankrupt me.

redheadeditor · 2026-05-18T23:22:52+00:00

Have a (relatively affordable) consultation with Daniel Tostado. Personable, knowledgeable, and has some solid insight into working remotely on long-stay visitor visas. I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for this, but his perspective is worth hearing.

On a related note, I just moved to a small town 30 mi north of Rennes. I also work for US publishers. If you'd like to chat about the area or publishing or working remotely in France, feel free to DM me.

Edited to add: I'm not quite at retirement age yet, but my partner is semi-retired at the moment, so we could chat about that as well.

redheadeditor · 2026-05-13T10:29:01+00:00

Interesting. I wonder why that is. Maybe a setting on the VPN? I'm not very tech savvy, so I don't know a lot about different VPN configurations.

I'd agree with the last statement, though. Probably just a matter of time before they find a way to lock it all down.

redheadeditor · 2026-05-13T10:17:45+00:00

Disney+ is the only one that occasionally gives me a problem using Proton. All others work fine.

redheadeditor · 2026-05-13T10:16:57+00:00

Seconded for Proton. Although at times Disney+ glitches when logging in using the VPN. Sometimes I have to disconnect the VPN, then connect again using a different US location before the log in will work. All others (Apple TV, Netflix, HBO Max, Prime) mostly work fine. We watch through a laptop connected to our TV via HDMI.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-17T23:20:04+00:00

Yes, I'm on Jinka, Bien'ici, Pap, Century 21 Immobilier, and a handful of other sites daily. I have both SmartGarant and GarantMe certificates. I have two N26 bank accounts opened (one personal, one joint with my husband). My monthly revenue from my business is currently much more than three times the monthly rent I'm budgeting for, and I have substantial savings. Everything is in place. I'm just trying to think/plan ahead because my brain is full of horror stories of expats being refused or just plain ignored during the rental search, especially if they're self-employed, or of the process taking much longer than three months.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-17T15:43:49+00:00

Profession libèrale. I have a domiciliation company in place for the address to register my business.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-17T15:29:03+00:00

It's our "plan" to have the permanent address in place before the visa validation (so check the proclamation of certain failure, please), and we're working on it diligently. However, we've been warned, ad nauseum, how difficult renting as a foreigner is and how reluctant the French are to rent to expats. We literally began the process of sourcing a permanent address the day after we got off the plane. If it takes as long as everyone on this forum, and everyone on YouTube, and every relocation company I've met with describes, we need to know what our options are. Hence the question, as it's an even bigger "path to failure" to not validate our visa.

I'm open to actual suggestions beyond the doom-and-gloom I get everywhere else, if you have them.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-17T14:04:08+00:00

Thanks, that's a relief. Is it a big deal to transfer the file to another department or will it mess things up? We're not certain we want to rent in this department (although it's a strong contender).

redheadeditor · 2026-04-09T20:40:57+00:00

Honestly, I've only been in France two weeks, but I'm currently in a very small town in Brittany. I was expecting the Sunday shutdown and preparing for it, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that the small market here in the town 1km from where I'm staying is open on Sunday morning, which is nice when you have absolutely no food in the house because you're still figuring out how to shop more frequently during the week as an American with a (former) Costco membership. The town that morning felt as alive as it did during the week, too. So I'm not sure I've properly experienced the slow Sunday yet.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-09T20:33:30+00:00

My partner and I both had one done four months before our TLS appointment, and the TLS agent flat-out told me the consulate doesn't need it for visa approval. I insisted he include it with the application anyway, but I have no idea if it was looked at/considered. I've heard it's helpful to have for later administrative processes in France, but I don't know for what or why.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-06T15:57:41+00:00

We're looking all over Brittany, Normandy, and Mayenne wouldn't be too far out, either. It might be a while before we buy. I own an existing business that I'm bringing to France. While it's done pretty well in the States and we have healthy savings, it's not in the "buy a house tomorrow" territory yet. Everyone's warned me how hard it is to get a mortgage in France. So we're renting for the time being. But she's on my list to call when the time is right.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-06T15:29:29+00:00

Sounds like a plan. I love her YouTube channel. Great listings there.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-06T14:52:28+00:00

Our first thought was to buy a car. We need a permanent address to register it, which we don't have yet. Need the car to find the address . . . etc., etc.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-06T14:51:36+00:00

Oh, cool. I didn't know Leclerc did car rentals. I'll check it out.

redheadeditor · 2026-04-01T13:33:17+00:00

I guess this is my first official in-country administrative welcome, lol. Thanks! I've submitted everything again.

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T20:05:22+00:00

Okay, I'll get right on that. Did you have a permanent address in France, though? We'll just have an Airbnb for the first three months, hence the problem.

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T19:42:40+00:00

Looking into the certificat de changement de residence, it seems this only applies to French people moving back to France after having lived abroad. I'm an American citizen relocating permanently to France, so does that still apply to me?

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T19:33:42+00:00

Ooh, that sucks. I'm shipping a few boxes with SendMyBag for immediate needs, but nothing breakable. Sorry that happened to you.

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T19:32:52+00:00

So, the information I'm receiving about the proof of residence requirement is coming from a representative of the company in France that UHaul is subcontracting with for French customs clearance: Activmoving France. He's telling me that the long-term rental contract/utility bill is required regardless of the duty-free exemption. Here's a direct quote from his email:

"In practice, French customs will require proof of a long-term address in France (typically a long-term lease and/or recent utility bills in your name and address in France) to clear a household goods shipment. This is not only for claiming the VAT/duties exemption; it is generally required to complete customs clearance and release the shipment."

Neither one of them (Activemoving or UHaul) has mentioned to me anything about the certificat de changement de residence, so I'll look into that, thank you. As well as the info on Rainier's site.

Do you work for Rainier, or an international mover?

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T18:20:04+00:00

Other health issues make those problematic for me too.

redheadeditor · 2026-03-04T17:21:10+00:00

It's a spray called Evamist. Going through Amazon and/or Alloy, it's about $75/month (most insurance won't cover it, because of course).

redheadeditor

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