Retiring in Poland

I am thinking of retiring in Poland.
I was born in Poland, I speak Polish and have a Pesel number.
Is this a good or bad idea and why?
I appreciate your input.

It's a good idea if you have have anything more than the lousy Polish pension.

Bad idea from the tax point of view, you will be charged Polish rates of tax, which are oppressive. There is also the issue of political uncertainty, you have no idea what the current government will do - you maybe judged a foreign parasite and be targeted for taxation.

Don't move to Poland for a few years, wait to see what happens.

" you will be charged Polish rates of tax, which are oppressive"

Bit of a shame I will probably have to leave Poland when I retire if the rules stay the same . Poland should do the same as Portugal to attract pensioners.

But I will make the most of my time here, maybe things will change in the next ten years.

Of pension?


They can't do any worse the the last government can they?

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Yup,I semi retired in my very early 40s.Life if planed right with right guidence almost anything can be achieved.I am sure knowing Dirk he is doing the same .puting your time in at an early age sure does save you lot of work later in life and dollar almost takes you 4 or more times further in Poland then in the USA.

Its true. Its a lot easier to accomplish too moving from us to poland. Not that its impossible in the us but its much more difficult due to taxes and cost of living.

Dolno, you don't get the pension if you haven't paid in. If you are abroad, you can choose to pay in so you can get a pension. Otherwise it's limited (and on a pro-rate basis) according to the years you actually did pay in.

Then there is free healthcare

Bus pass, tv licence

Housing benefit to pay the rent

Pension credit.

So if you only have a few years of paying into the system, you can return to the UK and screw the bejesus out of the UK taxpayers and benefits system.

Are you also planning a return to the UK when you retire?

Free healthcare in Poland too, TV licence and bus pass - wow, that's not much, and housing benefit doesn't let you live in comfort.

Living on starvation benefits certainly doesn't let you "screw the bejesus out of the UK taxpayers and benefits system."

Buss pass indeed!


No, though we might do part of the year there. Poland is home now. Fortunately I've kept up with UK NI, for what that's worth.

I am considering retiring in Poland but I'm wondering, how much USD should I have to retire comfortably? I have not paid anything into any of the Polish systems so I would be on my own, paying for all out of packet.

As far as taxes, everyone has to pay them. The question is, would I have to pay more if I'm not a Polish citizen?

How much would it be to rent a 1 bedroom apartment? How much to buy a house?

Thanks for your help!

Depends on your lifestyle. If you plan to live in a cheap condo or blok or rent a small unit and dont splurge you could easily make do with even as little as 6k zs a month. There's many poles that survive on less some even with kids.

Cheapest townhomes I've seen in wroclaw went for 400k zs.

I'm in a similar situation as you. I've been putting away money so I can have an early retirement in Poland and just live off some investments. If you own a home and still have 8k zs a bit over 2k usd to spend each month you'll live very well.

With winter being 8 months of the year? Where's the joy in that for an old boy?

Depends on what you like. Personally I prefer winter and cold. When I lived in Florida I loved the constant heat, at first but then it got old pretty quick. Youre running from air conditioner to air conditioner especially if you have to wear nice clothes to work. Plus weather is just part of the equation. I'm sure the Congo and CAR are nice and warm yesr round yet I doubt few westerners would want to retire there.

Imo the best countries to retire are the banana republic's and other countries where you can basically buy citizenship and form a corporation where you pay basically no corporate tax and an extremely low income tax. I believe malta still offers such a scheme for anyone that wishes will spend 400k on citizenship

Yeah, me too. Hate the Costas:) :)

The people who pay 400k citizenship are not interested in actually living in Malta (a lovely place, but not high roller territory)

All depends where in Poland.To buy can start anywhere from 2000 or less Pln a sq metre to 30k pln a sq m.
Renting to experiment living in Poland is a good idea.Lately return on properties in Poland is almost the same as in US,so I think Poland is in a property bubble.In normal commercial places in warsaw they freaking asking 20kpln or more per sq m

@mafketis

No they do it primarily for the tax benefits, some for the eu residency.

@MoOli
Yeah properties are getting pricier. However I don't think it's a bubble yet. Wages in Poland have been going up, many ukranians came to live and work, plus you have quite a few poles from UK and yo a lesser extent USA going back along with an increasing amount of western Europeans looking for a place to retire especially from France more and more. I think that the cost of living along with many French seniors feeling unsafe on their own streets has prompted that

Dirk man 61/2% return for a freaking rinky dink restaurant commercial properties with 5 or 3 yr lease(which is crap in Poland)?I have a walgreens with that yield in US with 19 yrs left on lease and they are A grade tenants.In Poland they copying US and pricing properties with returns ONLY.Plus they raised taxes almost double with no benefits from this year,If $ wasn't that high Id be bringing back instead of reinvesting.

Ha ha ha, what a bullshit , banana republic are totally unsafe. Corruption, crime rate will make your life a lottery.
Poland is 10x safer than any wester country except Dennmark, Switzerland and maybe Finland.
Look at foreign gang wars in france, germany, spain. Result of totally idiotic lack of immigration control. They do not come to integrate, they come to force their own rules.

If you don't like them, you will be accused of being racist and islamophobe.
Poland is a heaven if you have good job which is is not so difficult to get today.

Bahamas, Cayman islands, Panama and even British virgin islands are all safe places with low crime.

Personally yes id still chose Poland over those.


You forgot collect benefits for the rest of their lives and their soccer team of kids lives too.

Thank God Poland avoided this mess... It was a close call though

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I have been to Poland many times.
Comparing different countries is always difficult.
There are positives and negatives of both The UK and Poland.
At present,I prefer The UK.
But I am considering retiring to Poland.

That's what I naively thought, too. Ain't gonna happen. You will miss the familiar places, friends, and your family. Poland, to somebody who didn't make a lifelong emotional investment there, is just ugly buildings, graffiti, Krakow, and Gdansk. That's it.

If you are planning to run away from something in the UK, that's another matter.

Yes mate, all good here. Been back in the UK for what 8 years now, was tough at first readjusting and everything. Getting back into normal UK working life, children at school and all that business.

What are you up to? How's life treating you? Still in Poland?

Hey Rich,there are things, as you well know, that are getting worse in The UK.
Yeah, I may well be thinking of running away from those things....

What kind of property and where?

I would buy a detached house, as close as possible to a town centre.
Tarnow appeals.

Change can be hard, though great that you've settled.

Still living in Poland (I took 18 months off work due to some heavy stuff), but working in stints in West Africa at a university. 2 years now and a great job (though hard place). Wondering what to do next.

Ohh man thats sounds absolutely terrible.

Miloslaw, Poland is **** for retirees. Ask your family.
No respect for old people AT ALL.
Sorry to shout. But absolutely useless. The weather sucks too for old people.