I'd hoped to retire to France, the climate and cuisine have always appealed to me, but the cost of living and tax - system have now ruled this out. Friends who have lived there 10 years regularly travel over the border to Spain for routine shopping as costs are so much lower for even basics like meat and bread, and the tax and spend policies of successive governments have destroyed many small businesses which relied on the tourist industry.
To their credit they have fantastic healthcare compared to the UK. It is devoid of the huge "management" structure of the UK, and consultants are well-paid, but not at the massively disproportional levels seen in the UK.
The state of the housing market is a fair reflection of the economy in most countries, understandable as peoples basic needs are shelter and food, and France abounds in vacant properties which local and foreign investors have abandoned, re-furbishment costs being too high, and capital gains tax at a level which outsiders find unacceptable.
People need to be left in charge of their own spending. Taxing them does not create jobs or wealth for anyone, and does not stimulate a desire to invest by anyone, local or otherwise.
I think the great European Experiment is rapidly drawing to what has always been it's inevitable conclusion!
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French Government On Brink Of Collapse
I'd hoped to retire to France, the climate and cuisine have always appealed to me, but the cost of living and tax - system have now ruled this out. Friends who have lived there 10 years regularly travel over the border to Spain for routine shopping as costs are so much lower for even basics like meat and bread, and the tax and spend policies of successive governments have destroyed many small businesses which relied on the tourist industry.
To their credit they have fantastic healthcare compared to the UK. It is devoid of the huge "management" structure of the UK, and consultants are well-paid, but not at the massively disproportional levels seen in the UK.
The state of the housing market is a fair reflection of the economy in most countries, understandable as peoples basic needs are shelter and food, and France abounds in vacant properties which local and foreign investors have abandoned, re-furbishment costs being too high, and capital gains tax at a level which outsiders find unacceptable.
People need to be left in charge of their own spending. Taxing them does not create jobs or wealth for anyone, and does not stimulate a desire to invest by anyone, local or otherwise.
I think the great European Experiment is rapidly drawing to what has always been it's inevitable conclusion!