Last update: October 10, 2026

THIS WEB SITE COMPILES INFORMATION FROM ACROSS THE INTERNET AND BOOKS ABOUT THE BEST (and worst) PLACES TO MOVE TO.

American in Spain complains about the level of "bad" customer service in Europe, and sparks a "furious debate online"

Story at Yahoo

How AI is hitting the world of translators – Czechia Expats

Expat Sarah Pardi, 35, moved to Paris in 2023 "it's not always the faery tale I imagined" – Laviezine

I moved to Paris with my husband in 2023. I’m no longer with the company that moved me here, but the city has become home. I’m not sure if they would love me saying this, but Paris is like the New York City of France..."

The legal roadmap for relocating to Greece after living abroad

Story at National Herald

The best places to retire are no longer necessarily in Europe – MSN Euronews

Best places to retire to for healthcare and lifestyle

Story at MSN Investopedia

Greece, Switzerland, Portugal? Where Americans are moving

Story at CNN News

ADVERTISEMENT: You will see Amazon links on this web site because I am an Amazon affiliate. If you buy something from them they might throw me a few coins.

Expatriate worker waivers in Saudi Arabia results in industrial sector jumped 54% – SPA.gov

Where to go if you're a Brit and moving abroad

September 2026: Story at MSN UK Daily Mail

Copenhagen? Dublin? Greece? Spain?

Spetses, Greece

Retiring into the Caribbean – AOL

A quick look at The Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda

Eight years expat on Madeira and the impact of inflation rising very fast – MSN Video Report [Map of Madeira, Portugal]

How Da Nang and Hoi An in Vietnam are changing as expats move into the cities – MSN Broke the Habit

I moved to Greece four years ago: what are the downsides of "Mediterranean living"?

Story at MSN Business Insider

Starting over at age 62 in Greece – Business Insider

Downsizing did me good, as I'd suspected. I had never been one to chase designer bags or anything like that, but I developed an appreciation of the simpler things. I swam in the ocean every morning, then sat on my balcony surrounded by lemon trees, drinking an espresso. Those moments were precious to me. One of my favorite activities is checking out the farmers market around the corner. Food is fresh here and reasonably priced. A little over two pounds of tomatoes costs less than $2...."

Which countries have the best visas for American visitors?

Story at MSN The Week

Healthcare costs for expats – where it is "best" – Travel and Leisure

Short article that really only covers Spain and France, with a "top ten" list added.

For expats, where the doors are "open" and where they are closing

Story at Yahoo News

Retire to Greece on $2800 a month?

Article at AOL

This AOL article isn't another vague "dream retirement" puff piece but a harder-edged reality check on whether going to Greece is doable.

$2800 a month is the "magic number," but only with a financial structure around that monthly money that meets the requirements set by the Greek government. The article states you'll need a $425,000 portfolio to be accepted for an expat visa, but there's no such Greek government rule. Instead this is a kind of financial shorthand that brings together social security earnings, pension or 401K, investments and tax situation. There are specific rules made by the Greek government that break down in a way that is simpler than what the $425K figure implies.

Retirement to Greece

Greece was once thought of as a "cheap" destination for retirement. The debt crisis that threatened the Greek economy in 2009-2018 turned the landscape into a buyer's choice for real estate. It also cast large questions over the future. Fears and threats from some political quarters of Greece that the way forward was to exit the EU entirely, mint new Drachmas and drop the common euro currency, scared more than a few. Despite an expected follow up to such a plan of massive deflation and bankruptcy on hundreds of billions of debt, this was cast as better than the pain of austerity. Capital-flight rules were made that meant people already in the country couldn't get their funds out of Greek banks. Unemployment rose and subsidy programs multiplied. A massive "brain drain" was launched as young Greeks went elsewhere to find jobs and a future. For awhile, political leadership fought with the EU and fought among themselves, and tensions about what might happen in a week, a month, or a year was a severe psychological burden. International news regularly carried "prediction" stories imaging the worst possible outcomes.

But, a startling renovation of the Greek economy happened from years of a hard EU-managed "austerity." There was a rush within new Greek leadership for modernization in a land where some regional bureaucracies were still using record keeping that was as old as The Ottoman Empire. Greek bonds had dropped to "junk" status during the crisis, but careful managing of debt and the deliberate decisions to pay off IMF and EU emergency loans early made headlines. The economy improved and unemployment shifted downward. Tools to fight tax evasion improved. The international credit agencies began regularly ticking upward Greece's credit worthiness rating. Tourism, already a major lifeline for cash, grew (and grew) to record levels, moving money into every level of the economy.

The downside was success inevitably drew the attention of large and small foreign investors that pushed housing costs upward month-by-month and created a housing shortage in key areas.

The old Greece and the new Greece

The result is Greece now has a much higher standard for expats wanting legal residence. The old "dysfunctional Greece" of endless paperwork and slow execution on legal matters as simple as real estate transfers is being erased with a "digital Greece" rising like a Phoenix. Despite all of the fear and predictions of an economic Armageddon, nothing like such a scenario ever materialized. Political parties and personalities rose and waned, and a more or less tidy political stability weathered all of the internal and external pressure to slide into chaos.

The "new Greece" isn't that different from the old one, but a lot of late 20th century barnacles have been scraped away leaving the country in a clock-like movement going forward into the 21st century. Innovations to make the country more effective for the citizens, and safer, seem to always be on the agenda from the different ministries that compose the Greek government. An effort to be less opaque has helped to build trust and a belief that the conditions of the future and decisions from leadership are predictable. The typical political party accusations still fly back and forth, but much of the crisis-era tension has faded in favor of newer problems.

As a retirement destination or even as a "digital nomad" hang-out, being an expat in Greece isn't as simple as just enough money to live on each month. Requirements for health insurance are straight forward, as is passing a criminal background check. But for citizenship there are significant hurdles (unless one goes the expensive "Golden Visa" route). Expats intending citizenship need real knowledge of Greek cultural history and real language skills. Selecting Greece as a permanent home is an investment of time and money apart from the necessary funding to live month-to-month.

Retirement Reality

The reality in 2026 is that besides the impact of international inflation which has driven up costs everywhere, foreign investment took Greek real estate on a steady upward rise, especially around the capital of Athens or on the most popular islands. Greece has some 6,000 islands, but of the 227 listed as "habitable," certain ones are over-run with tourism each year (such that there are now quota limits) and have become very expensive places to live in. Santorini and Mykonos are obvious popular examples, but there are others amid the Mediterranean sea that are in the process of being developed as major luxury destinations, something that is gradually excluding the typical expat (and average Greek, a phenomenon that is a pebble in the shoe as Greece walks forward, a pebble that is getting bigger).

Greece's "Riviera" area below Athens was once particularly dense with "average" expats (a large American community, for example). With luxury development it remains an expat magnet, but now with a much higher cost threshold for entry.

This isn't all cold-water splashed in the face of a would-be expat dreaming of a peaceul and happy retirement in a beautiful area with great food, sunshine and mild winters. Compared with most other European locations, Greece is still rated cheaper than France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, even Italy and Spain. Cost of living is genuinely lower than, say, mainland America or UK. But international reality is reflected in the Greek reality, which is to say, everything is getting more expensive.

A NYC couple buy a $13K home in Italy – MSN India Times

AMAZON: The Expert Expat: Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad

Laughter with Comic Books and Cartoons comicatomic

Belief-Code, Body Code and T3 Therapy? See sacred-connection.com

Virginia USA based Elder Care for bill payment, case management, prescriptions, tax records or support for caregivers - AllStar Care Solutions