Hi Guys! Chris here from Super Savvy Travelers. Hey! Look! No mask! Woo hoo! feels good!
It's nice to see you guys again. You can see my whole face which is really kind of nice. I missed talking to you.
Anyway, one of the questions I get a lot is
How much do I need to retire in italy?
And obviously Italy is a big place, there are expensive cities,
there are less expensive little areas,
And it really depends a lot on where you are.
And it also depends on what you consider your minimal standard of living,
what do you want to do? How do you see your retirement?
So there are a lot of factors that go into it however,
I have compiled down a few things that can help you stretch your retirement dollar.
First of all let's go over the requirements of residency.
In order to become a resident and thus retire in Italy with your Elective Residence visa and then your Permission To Stay visa,
Those are the two things that you need, you have to have a
minimum of 31,000 Euros or the whatever currency equivalent in passive income
that is expected to continue. That's for an individual, for a couple you need 38,000 Euros per year
If you have dependent children, it is 20% (per child)on top of that.
So that is  the first thing to start thinking with.
And what do they consider "passive income"?
Passive income is something that doesn't result from any more work you are going to do, basically.
It is things like pension payments, 401K's IRAs, annuities or whatever you have that is expected to continue pretty much indefinitely.
Rental income can be counted, certain forms of spousal support perhaps but this is something that too really need to check with your attorney.
to make sure that you fulfill the requirements but that is a. basic understanding so you can move forward with those ideas.
All right so if you have that, you go "Well, that's not very much, I wonder if I can live on that."
And the answer is yes you  totally can.
Again, it depends on where you live. If you get an apartment in Florence you might pay a couple hundred thousand,
for an apartment that you might buy in the South of Italy for 40-60K.
There is a big difference in property values and property prices
so that is something you want to look at too. Whether you are going to Pay a mortgage or rent
that could be a huge part of the equation as to what you are going to pay on your retirement and how you are going to live.
That said, here are some really great tips I have for you.
The first one is, if you really want to save money, try living without a car.
And you can do that if you get a place that is pretty close to the train lines and also close to the shops and
and restaurants and things like that.
Now in our area, Scalea and Praia A Mare are two really beautiful little towns
that you can live in and everything is within walking distance.
The train stations are right down town, you can walk there,
All the shops, al the restaurants, the beach, everything is right there. If you do that  you really don't have to have a car
because you just hop the train, off you go, anywhere in Italy and probably anywhere in Europe on the train.
So that is my first thing because the gas in Italy, the Petrol for those who are English,
in Italy is very expensive. They sell it by the liter. It is actually more expensive than we have in California
which is already crazy expensive so that is a cost and you add on top of that car payment, insurance, registration,
all that other stuff, you can cut all that out if you just choose to live in a place where you can walk everywhere.
and if you are willing to walk everywhere.
That is my biggest thing, The second thing is visit the local markets for your needfuls.
If you need fruits and vegetables, cheeses, things like that
household goods, I got some rugs there that were crazy beautiful and really inexpensive.
And in Scalea there is a huge Monday market and we love it, we look forward to it.
because they have these 1 Euro tables where you can buy rings and things, we have so much fun there!
It is just like a little carnival, very festive atmosphere,
I have gotten clothing that was actually quite nice,
I've gotten shoes, or course,
I have gotten cheeses, they have some of the best cheeses ever at some of the little markets.
And what else have I gotten? Rugs, towels, sheets, everything. You can find everything there, little coffee pots,
Whatever you need they have it at the Monday market.
Now, in addition they have the daily fruit and vegetable market
which is a really nice thing, I is like a little farmer's market, flowers,
You can buy nuts, freshly made olives,  things like that.
They have all those things there and they are very inexpensive
because it is just really farm to table
Now, in addition to that all along the streets in Summer, the farmers come and park their trucks.
So you might have a truck full of Tropea onions
which are those amazing red onions that are so good
and you can get them for next to nothing
They have potatoes. I have bought potatoes off the potato truck before.
Sometimes they have trucks with various different things.
One of our favorite things to do is to catch the fish guy
He comes right below our house in his little car and he has a little loud speaker
"Pesche, pesche, pesche fresco" it is just so fun.
And Pete wants to sprint down and grab whatever he has, we got this big
filetto which is a filet of some kind of fish pulled directly from the Mediterranean
for ten Euros which, for a kilo of fish
I don't know if you have ever seen a kilo of fish, it's a lot of fish think it was about 4 meals for us.
But amazing, super fresh, super good
So, the local markets, don't neglect those, they are very, very cool.
The other tip I have, if you love going to restaurants, and who doesn't, really?
is go there for lunch instead of for dinner
And two reasons for that, number one, they have lunch specials many times.
I've seen, in Scalea there was a restaurant where for ten Euros you got a big pasta dish
BIG pasta dish,
And a meat dish (BIG meat dish) and a glass of wine or a bottle of water
for ten Euros.
It's ridiculous and it's so much food you can't even eat it all
So lunches tend to be a lot less expensive than dinners.
Another thing is I can never wait until eight, nine o'clock to eat dinner.
I'm STARVING!
Six o'clock comes around and I gotta eat!
So many times in Italy I just eat at home because we have dinner really, really early
When we do go out for dinner, Pete and I are always the first ones there,
Except for all the other hungry Americans that are in the restaurant
and it's really quite funny because we are the Early Birds
So that is a reason to do the lunches instead of the dinners.
It's really nice.
Now another trick is the public beaches, when you  go down to
Southern Italy, Calabria, anywhere along the beaches,
They have the umbrellas, they are so pretty, they are all set up in line and they look just like Summer
They are wonderful but they cost
I think the middle of Summer we paid about fourteen Euros for an umbrella in the middle of the day
Now, if you want the umbrella and  the shower and everything else that goes along with it,
go toward the late afternoon, four, five o'clock.
First of all you won't get so sun burned, it is still warm you can still swim
But, usually they discount the umbrellas. I got an umbrella for eight Euros
That was a great deal because it was almost half price.
That is one thing, the public beaches are another option
Now if you bring your own umbrella, bring your own towels and everything else
you can visit the public beaches for free.
Now I like a shower because I don't like to be all salty but
You can bring a giant water bottle and dump it on yourself
You can even do that.
So the public beaches are another way to save a few bucks here and there.
All right and my final tip is to trade with the locals.
not necessarily barter trade but buy things from the locals in your village.
There are so many artists in Santa Domenica Talao
and they create some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Our builder is amazing, our architect is amazing, we have got people
who make lace, they make sweaters, a beautiful lady makes beautiful sweaters and shawls
She said if I bring my own yarn, like if I pick out my own yarn, she will make me a shawl
I am so happy about that. I will do that next time I get there.
Or even home made pastas
All the ladies in our village make home made pastas
I'm kind of all thumbs at that because I am not much of a pasta maker,
so I can buy it from them and it is awesome!
So those are my tips and I am sure there are more, there are probably a lot more that I could give you
but this will kind of get you started
and also if you are looking at retiring, look at where you are going to be. Look at the costs of mostly properties
and things like that
If you need to be rent and mortgage free, definitely look at some of the outlying areas,
Don't look, Rome, Venice, Florence, those are very expensive cities
You can find some things just a little outside of certain cities and villages
Down in Calabria we have beautiful properties for next to nothing,
you can really find something that you are going to love.
So I hope this helps you and I will do more videos now that I can do it without my mask
it's way more fun!
So I'll talk to you guys later and definitely write me and let me know how things are going.
Ok, Bye you guys!
