--- title: "The Early Retirement Plan B: Move Abroad | Addicted to ROI" description: "Cut your retirement budget dramatically and exclude six figures of earned income from federal tax. The expat math behind retiring abroad, from a family abroad months every year." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/images/logo.png" }, "description": "Live your best life funded by your investments. Real estate, taxes, travel, and business, by Jennifer Beadles.", "founder": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#website", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer", "name": "Jennifer Beadles", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/about/", "jobTitle": "Founder, Addicted to ROI", "description": "Real estate investor and founder of Addicted to ROI. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and teaches everyday investors how to build passive income.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/retire-abroad/" }, "headline": "The Early Retirement Plan B: Move Abroad", "description": "Cut your retirement budget dramatically and exclude six figures of earned income from federal tax. The expat math behind retiring abroad, from a family abroad months every year.", "image": "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1503387762-592deb58ef4e?w=800&q=80", "datePublished": "2026-07-08", "dateModified": "2026-07-08", "author": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "speakable": { "@type": "SpeakableSpecification", "cssSelector": [ ".tldr-answer", "h1" ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Blog", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog?category=lifestyle" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Early Retirement Plan B: Move Abroad", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/retire-abroad/" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much can you exclude from taxes living abroad?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion adjusts annually ($132,900 per person for 2026, over $265K for a married couple), and requires meeting either the physical presence test (at least 330 full days abroad in 12 months) or bona fide residence. It applies to earned income, not passive income." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is healthcare good enough to retire abroad?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "In the common expat destinations, private healthcare is excellent, same-day accessible, and priced at a fraction of US costs. Worldwide health plans excluding US coverage run around $90 per month." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much cheaper is living abroad than the US?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Location dependent, but cutting a US retirement budget by up to half is realistic in much of southern Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, without lowering quality of life. Test it with an extended stay and track real spending before committing." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does rental income qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. The FEIE covers earned income only: salaries and active business income. Rental cash flow and capital gains are taxed normally. That's why the exclusion is most powerful for owners of location-independent businesses who also hold rentals." } } ] } ] --- [![Addicted to ROI](/images/logo.png)](/) [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/) [Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Subscribe [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/)[Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Contents 1. [01 The Cost Side: Your Budget, Roughly Halved ](#the-cost-side-your-budget-roughly-halved) 2. [02 The Tax Side: The FEIE ](#the-tax-side-the-feie) 3. [03 The Insurance Kicker ](#the-insurance-kicker) 4. [04 How to Test It Without Moving ](#how-to-test-it-without-moving) [Home](/)/ [Blog](/blog/)/ [Travel](/pillars/travel/) Lifestyle # The Early Retirement Plan B: Move Abroad Cut your retirement budget dramatically and exclude six figures of earned income from federal tax. The expat math behind retiring abroad, from a family abroad months every year. July 8, 2026 7 min read Contents 1. [01\. The Cost Side: Your Budget, Roughly Halved](#the-cost-side-your-budget-roughly-halved) 2. [02\. The Tax Side: The FEIE](#the-tax-side-the-feie) 3. [03\. The Insurance Kicker](#the-insurance-kicker) 4. [04\. How to Test It Without Moving](#how-to-test-it-without-moving) tl;dr Moving abroad can cut a US retirement budget by up to half in the right country, and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets a married couple exclude over $265,000 of earned income from federal tax in 2026 if they meet the 330-day physical presence test. The exclusion covers earned income like an active business, not rental cash flow or capital gains. You can test the whole idea with an extended stay before committing to anything. If the [retire-early math](/blog/retire-early-math/) says you're five years out, there's a lever that can collapse the timeline to about twelve months: change countries. The United States is the best country in the world to make money. Europe, in my opinion, is the best region in the world to spend it. This isn't armchair theory. Our family has traveled to 40+ countries and spends 3 to 4 months abroad every year, and members of our community have made the full move: Spain, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, all living well on US-based income. Here's the math that makes it work. ## The Cost Side: Your Budget, Roughly Halved It's probably not out of the question to cut 50% off a monthly retirement budget by living in the right country. Housing is the obvious piece, but the quiet line items are where the halving actually happens: healthcare at cash prices ([real bills from our trips here](/blog/healthcare-abroad/)), produce from weekly markets instead of supermarket chains, one car or none, and the disappearance of a dozen American subscription-and-insurance charges you stopped noticing years ago. Families we know who track it carefully report that months abroad routinely cost less than the same months at home, before counting the tax benefits. Quality of life doesn't drop with the budget; in much of the world it rises. That's the part nobody believes until they've stood on a terrace in Kotor, Montenegro doing the mental math on what their US suburb costs. We've been back to Montenegro more than once, and we've seriously considered house shopping there. ## The Tax Side: The FEIE The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets Americans abroad exclude a large chunk of earned income from federal income tax: the figure adjusts annually, and for 2026 it's $132,900 per person, so a married couple can exclude over $265,000 a year. The headline requirement for the physical presence test: at least 330 full days outside the US in a 12-month period. There's also a foreign housing benefit on top of it (the 2026 housing limitation is $39,870). The fine print matters: the exclusion covers earned income (a salary, active business income), not rental cash flow or capital gains, and the 330-day requirement is stricter than it sounds (count your travel days honestly, including the flights). Which means the FEIE pairs beautifully with one specific profile: the location-independent business owner. If you built the [recurring-revenue business](/blog/launch-in-30-days/) that pays you an active income from anywhere, moving abroad can wipe the federal income tax on a quarter million dollars of it while your rentals keep doing their thing back home. If you're living purely on passive income, the win is mostly the cost side, which is still a very large win. Either way, this is CPA territory before it's plane-ticket territory: state taxes, self-employment tax, and entity structure all interact with it. ## The Insurance Kicker When we leave for 4 to 6 months, we cancel our US health plan and carry a worldwide policy for about $90 a month that covers every country except the United States. Full-time expats do the same thing permanently. It says something that the affordable global plan's only exclusion is the country we're from. ## How to Test It Without Moving You don't have to sell the house and commit. Run the experiment as an extended trip first: [a one-month trial run](/blog/mini-retirements-travel-without-quitting-income/), then a full season, with the [house, phones, and logistics handled](/blog/leave-for-3-months/). Track what you actually spend against the same month at home, in a spreadsheet, honestly. Do it in the shoulder season, live like residents rather than tourists (markets, monthly rentals, local SIM), and give one location enough weeks to show you its real rhythm. Several families we know ran that experiment intending to come home, and the spreadsheet talked them out of it. * * * _I'm not a CPA, and this isn't tax advice. The FEIE has strict qualification tests and interacts with state taxes, self-employment tax, and your entity structure. Talk to a professional who works with expats._ Addicted to ROI is education and community, not financial or tax advice. Talk to a qualified professional before making investment or tax decisions. ![Jennifer Beadles](/images/founders.jpg) Jennifer Beadles Real estate entrepreneur with 17 years of hands-on investing experience. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and has helped thousands of investors build passive income through the Addicted to ROI community. Before you close the tab ## Get the next one in your inbox. One email per new article, the day it goes up. No wall, no spam, unsubscribe in a click. [Subscribe, free →](/newsletter/)[Run a deal in the calculator](/tools/deal-analysis-calculator/) Read next [ ![Business Hours vs. Family Hours: Investing With Your Spouse Without Killing the Marriage](/images/about-couple-embrace.jpg) Lifestyle ### Business Hours vs. Family Hours: Investing With Your Spouse Without Killing the Marriage 7 min read → ](/blog/spouse-business-boundaries/)[ ![The Award Flight Playbook: Never Search From Your Home Airport](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1569154941061-e231b4725ef1?w=800&q=80) Lifestyle ### The Award Flight Playbook: Never Search From Your Home Airport 7 min read → ](/blog/award-flights/)[ ![How to Plan Your First Mini-Retirement (Start With One Month)](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1488646953014-85cb44e25828?w=800&q=80) Lifestyle ### How to Plan Your First Mini-Retirement (Start With One Month) 8 min read → ](/blog/first-mini-retirement/) If you like this ## Read these next Hand-picked to go deeper on travel. 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