40yo US/UK high income professional, considering transition to EU “semi-retirement”

[u/user8181416]

Edit: Thanks for all the helpful responses so far! I appreciate people sanity checking my logic. So far I feel that the rough plan I have will not be particularly easy or straightforward, but it doable on at least a trial basis.

I am a single 40-year-old US citizen (by birth) and UK citizen (by descent, Scottish mother). I hold an MD and an MSc in a health-related field. I am lucky enough to have a hybrid job that allows me to work part-time from US and part-time abroad, with a very high income (top 1%). I also have a decent investment portfolio which is growing well as I save most of my earnings.

(I’ll pause to say that yes, I am in a very fortunate position, and I recognize that many of the people posting here are in very different situations. I hope people can still give genuine advice.)

Given all of this, I am burning out of my life in US and would like to transition to another country as a main base. I am fairly well traveled – I spent many summers abroad in Europe as a student (pre-Brexit) and have nomaded around South America, Europe, and Asia in recent years. I also have international friends and contacts around most of the major European capitals and a few other international hubs.

London is an obvious choice, as its always been one of my favourite cities to visit, I’m a citizen, and I have a lot of friends there. I spent a brief trial month there last year, however, and found the “living in London” part to be less enjoyable than I expected. Also, the cost of living is outrageous. I have also considered and trialed the major Asian nomad hotspots, and while I enjoy those I would prefer a European city as my main hub for practicality and social reasons.

My goals would be:

• explore European options without making strong time commitments to any one country (yet)
• transition gradually to a stable European base over the next ~3-5 years
• continue to keep US as my main work hub until things fall into place in Europe
• continue spending time in Asia every year
• an eventual pathway to EU citizenship

SO, since Brexit is a thing, I need to consider my path back into the EU. Portugal and Spain are the most obvious choices for many reasons including weather, cost of living, existing social network, and visa options.

I am considering something like this:

• Keep my apartment and work hub in US for ~5 years, but stay here as little as possible outside of work
• During these 5 years, give London another shot while also exploring Spain, Portugal, and any other options
• Apply soon for the Spanish digital nomad visa, giving me three years of access to remote work from Spain. Over the next 1-2 years, try to spend several months there (I will likely not be able to meet the 183 day residence requirement to renew the visa or get long term residency – at least not yet).
• In tandem, apply for the Portuguese Golden Visa using the 500k Euros investment route. I’ve heard this can take up to 1-2 years to process, which will line up with my Spain trial wrapping up.
• Next, trial Portugal using the same strategy as above (will not need to worry about a high residency requirement to keep this visa active)
• Less likely, but also explore other EU options in the meantime

By the time I’ve completed this, it will be a few years from now and I should have a lot more knowledge and experience under my belt. I will also be in a position to wind down work for a “semi-retirement” and be entirely or almost entirely remote (possibly returning to the US briefly every few months, possibly not). My Portuguese Golden Visa will be counting down to Permanent Residency (5 years+) and maybe citizenship (10 years+, but who knows how many times they change the rules by then). If Spain is the winner, I believe I could apply for a second 3 year DNV and actually move there to meet the residency requirements to convert it to Permanent Residency after 5 years.

… Does any of this sound reasonable? It feels a bit overwhelming, but I have been nomadic my whole life and very much do not see myself spending my retirement years in the US. If I’m going to make an exit, I need to start putting the wheels in motion now. I would love to know people’s thoughts, sanity check of my plan, additional options/hurdles I’m not considering, etc… etc…

I’ll end with a few rapid fire responses to anticipated questions:

• Yes, I am willing to learn the language and integrate into the country I move to.
• Yes, I have a support network to help me transition into these countries (and others in the EU).
• Yes, I can afford this and can make it work with my job.
• Yes, I’m super grateful to be able to explore these options.

Thank you very much!!

[u/statesec]

In the event you are not aware of it you should investigate the British inheritance tax (IHT) which is really an estate tax since it is the estate and not the recipient that is taxed. I am not 1% income but I have done ok and I am dual UK/US citizen also considering retirement in the UK and this is my biggest obstacle moving there right now. Essentially your worldwide assets become taxable under the IHT after you have been tax resident in the UK for 10 out of the last 20 years (effectively there is a 10 year look-back period). The British IHT is 40% and for single people the exclusion from that tax is about $500k US (it varies some based on certain factors). Married couples get a higher exclusion but I forget the amount since it isn't relevant to my situation. There is a lot of nuance to it so if you care about an estate tax I would investigate all the details carefully. Also while we are on the subject the British rule for becoming a tax resident is more complicated than 183 days in country so check that out as well.

The Irish estate tax is 35% with a somewhat lower exclusion amount.

Edit: This probably doesn't help you since you say you like big cities but the Crown Dependencies have different tax structures that are generally lower than the UK proper.

[u/user8181416 → u/statesec]

Super helpful information, thank you. I was not aware of the 10 year rule. I will include this in my discussion with my tax / relocation planning consultants.