Life / Retire in Poland - Good or Bad Idea? [74]

Thanks for the information. I am glad to hear you are enjoying yourself in Poland. I will be going to Poland for a couple of weeks next month and plan on doing some house searching in the Sopot area. As long as I can find a nice golf course to play pretty regularly I feel I am pretty sold on the idea of taking the leap. I just would like to see the US dollar recover a little bit after our presidential election and then I hope to be able to purchase a home.

Life / Retire in Poland - Good or Bad Idea? [74]

I am from the US and my wife is from Poland. She has a great family and although I can not communicate with most of them as I don't speak Polish and they don't speak English, I always look forward to visiting for a few weeks every year however I realize that retiring there is a lot different from a 3 week visit. I do admit that I do contemplate going ahead and retiring there although I am still only 38 years old. I have been fortunate with my career and would be able to keep a home in the US to be able to come back to but the idea of being able to retire early does sound appealing. I realize I could retire other places with better weather however I almost feel obligated to give Poland a chance since my wife has done amazingly well in the US. Below are some concerns I was hoping someone could comment on to make sure that I make the most informed decision as possible. I realize this would be a very life changing decision however I am not that brave and would probably just try to look at it as an extended vacation since I would still have a home in the US.

- Do Poles like Americans? My wife says yes but outside of her family and friends I have felt some animosity because I am from the US and not a Pole. I understand as I don't speak Polish but in America I feel we go out of our way to make foreigners to feel welcome.

- Would I be safe in Poland? My wife is always making me fearful that someone might rob me and that I should always be extra careful. She is also warning me about Poles who may want to engage me in an altercation. I understand that you have to be careful in these situations wherever I travel however she has got me a little spooked to think that I have to be very alert all the time. I am not sure that is what I would call a relaxed retirement as I don't plan on just staying in the house.

- I have travelled throughout Europe and Asia and have found Poland to probably have the worst customer service. Any signs of this changing?

I have a lot more questions however I was hoping someone could give me their perspective....

Thanks,
Chris