Hello:I am going to retire in two years

Surely it depends on what type of life style you want?

20/25.000 euro yearly  , for person ..

You sound like a resourceful person, so grow your own vegetables, live Italian style and you could half Ugo’s amount  Saying that, Tuscany, on your own and seeing out your life here - you also sound a little mad!

I lived in Tuscany for 10 years and Northern Italy for 5.  It is difficult to budget for the new and unexpected taxes the government is always pushing on the people.  If you plan on living the rural life as I did, you must calculate gas and driving and high insurance. I believe 25K a year is a bit slim.  I would consider cost of living just as it is here and you should not have too many surprises.Be prepared for lots of red tape. You can buy a house there, but as far as permanent residency?  You are still considered a foreigner and 6 months is your limit no matter what you own over there. Maybe there are special retirement rules and laws I do not know about. Research all the rules and changes you will need to make the change so you are prepared.   

Should be a "like" button

Hi,yes 1500€ per month.

expenses for monthRenting ( 80 sqm ) in Perugia - 500 euro - in a little city  400 euro  -electicity + gas  ( midium in the year) + phone line (voice + internet) + water (two peoples ) = 315if you have a little car , in a little city , for about 500 km month 180 euroif you do not have a car , and use public services ( only in the city !! )  20eating ( two peoples - at home ) 120 monthif you go to restaurant ( 40 for people ) - pizzeria -  ( 15 for people ) .if you go to cine or teatre , about 10 euro for people (tiket only )So -- this is Umbrian retired standard  living - With healt from theyr Italian pensionInstead if you have a Elective residence - you has to charge a Full risk Healt insurance - that for TWO seniors (  60 years ) have a cost about  1500 for year = 125 month Then 1500  month DO NOT ARE ENOUGT ...   

Well the OP said for one person, living in Tuscany, villa preferred, rural and was prepared to even use a scooter. So I read likely to not be looking at high end rental rates in the city (more expensive). We do not have rent, but looking at this Casa.it site, go with €350/month rent. I know the rest of our figures for two people living here rurally in Abruzzo. Okay we do visit the UK (where it is much dearer by the way) 3-4 times a year, so these figures are lower than would be. For shopping i.e. supermarket, petrol and vino etc. we actually spend circa 300/month. For utility bills and car (tax, insurance etc) it’s about 170/month. Even allowing for other incidentals like travel we would live on a totally different scale to Ugo even at double the amount – we consider we live well by the way and do whatever we want.I’m also kind of saying you need to look at more detail and apply it to how you live. So for rent look at the site above and others to get an idea of the cost, ask the likes of Ugo and/or Modicasa (estate agents) what you should add to that cost (if anything). Have a look at online supermarkets here to see what your costs would be. Clothes shops and furniture shops for how they compare. Not too sure of any clothes shops on-line, but this a well-known low (ish) cost furniture shop and this a large supermarket we have used. I should add that we shop locally and taking everything into account found it much cheaper to do so. Don’t get me wrong, some things here we found a lot more expensive such as car insurance and , electrical goods.

in Italy, people live "small", because the spaces are small - So if you take a big American van and put you in the ancient neighborhoods of Rome, it is likely that you will need to cut the van into small pieces :) - But American living has also plagued our lives, and aimeh, in cinemas, more than Fellini's beautiful films, the reigning thing is the smell of chips, fried in oils that have never seen a Olve oil mill - I hope you can find the Italian of yesterday .. as well as that of today

Hello Deborah!  I am new to this magazine AND just starting to research living in Italy!  Did you do it??!!  Elizabeth

Oh, my goodness!  It’s the best thing I’ve ever done!  I actually bought a place north of Lucca last November.  The taxes are nothing, the people are amazing, the food is very inexpensive to eat very healthy and organic - most of my neighbors grow their own food and share like I’m a relative.  I would start with getting an a italian SIM card (mine costs €13/month), don’t worry so much about the language - you will learn much better once you get there.  I plan on heading over once i am retired in a few years.  You are more than welcomed to stay (rent for a very small amount) at my place but you will definitely need a car.  Try autoeurope.com or Kemwel.com. I will be shipping mine over in a few months but i still need to work on the legalities of keeping it there long term.  My villa website is (but don’t book through there, just contact me directly): https://abnb.me/MLviUomCkYGood luck, have a blast and feel free to ask for help.  

NOTE  Terydoer , to buy a car in Italy , need Residence :(

Yes, but I am shipping my Fiat over.  If you have owned the car for more than one year, you don’t have to pay the VAT tax then.  My auto insurance will insure the car the entire time it is there, I just now need to figure out how to register it.  I am in the process of becoming a resident, which requires proof of “good” medical insurance which I do not have but it is not required to ship my car there.  Also, since my grandparents were both born there, i somehow qualify for dual residency bu that list is very long - working on it.  

Hi Terrydoerif the car was produced in an American factory, for use in america - you have to ask for the certificate of conformity to the italian standards - if instead the car was produced in europe, you have to ask for the COC - in both cases - I'd be curious to know if you will be able to register the car in Italy, within the next 6 months - I have a customer with a Mercedes produced in America, which has been waiting for 4 months, documents from America - Mercedes Italy has budgeted 11 weeks - then it will be necessary to find a motorisation office that accepts to submit the car to the check and subsequent revision - It is my firm conviction that all these bureaucratic problems, are nothing but protectionism - There is an ACI page that explains the whole procedure .. however, the ACI offices in Rome - Perugia - Florence - Naples and Milan - have told me that they have no staff able to follow this procedure and that the time can exceed 18 months. http://www.aci.it/i-servizi/guide-utili/guida-pratiche-auto/importare-un-veicolo.html  Multi-risk Health Insurance for Elective Residence - (ie without pension or work contracts)3. PRIVATE INSURANCEThe private insurance does not give the right to the registration to the SSN but covers the expenses for health care if, translated into Italian, it has the following requirements:- is valid in Italy;- provides for full coverage of health risks;- has an annual duration with an indication of the commencement and expiry;- indicates any family members covered and the degree of relationship;- indicates the methods and formalities to be followed for the request for reimbursementIMPORTANT NOTE> some municipalities ask that it be translated and sworn in Italian, not only the insurance text - but all the insurance legislation itself (normally over 250 pages, I can imagine the costs - for the sworn translation a fixed fee is required of 80 euros + a revenue stamp of 16 euros, every 4 pages) 

Hi Ugo,wow!  What great information!  Thank you so very much.  I was told that bringing an American car into Italy would be an easy process because our emission standards are more stringent.  I will definitely look into that.  Nice work!  Thanks again.