Sisters Jennifer McGuire And Cat McAfee wanted to retire, but they soon found out they couldn’t afford it.

“We saw that living off our combined Social Security benefits was not going to allow us to have a decent quality of life,” McAfee says. “We still had a mortgage and no savings or investments.”

At the time in 2020, McGuire, 72, was working as a cataloger at an auction house while McAfee, 69, was disabled, so their financial resources were limited.

The mortgage on their four-bedroom home in Beacon, N.Y., was $1,500 a month. McGuire was spending an extra $475 a month commuting to work on Long Island, and they also coughed up $600 a month to heat their poorly insulated home each winter.

They therefore decided to move to a cheaper place, but, like many Americans, realized that their options were limited.

“We realized that we couldn’t afford a decent home in any part of the United States that we would like to live in,” McAfee says.

Although certain parts of the South seemed affordable, the sisters felt it was not a good fit for them culturally and politically.

Then they began looking at living abroad, and ended up across the ocean in Dordogne, France. There, the couple lives comfortably on a combined annual income of $44,000, far less than they would need in most areas of the U.S.

Now they share how they did it, along with the lessons they learned along the way. It’s information they want to share with others who want to follow in their footsteps.

Lesson #1: Cast a wide net on potential areas

Before landing in France, the sisters researched the most popular countries for Americans to retire: Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain and Portugal. But none of them captured their hearts. They even considered buying a $1 fixer-upper they saw for sale in Italy.

“We realized it was going to be a nightmare to renovate,” McAfee says.

Eventually, McGuire remembered the Dordogne, an area she had visited years before.

She had fond memories of the many castles, the spectacular scenery, the rustic stone houses and the polite locals. Situated between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, the area is famous for its Roman ruins, medieval towns and prehistoric cave paintings in the Vézère Valley.

In addition, when these home buyers viewed real estate listings online, they noticed that they could buy a large house there for less money than in many other places.

They learned that convincing a bank to grant mortgages to foreign buyers could be tricky. Fortunately, they had no trouble selling their New York home, which sold for $315,000 just two weeks after it was put on the market — $171,000 more than they paid for it in 2013. This left them with a profit of $97,000 (or 90,000 euros) to buy a home in France without needing outside financing.

Lesson #2: Find a Realtor You Trust

After looking at hundreds of homes online, McGuire came across a beautiful Perigord stone home with a terracotta roof. It had two large bedrooms, a two-story living room, an eat-in kitchen, a utility room, two half bathrooms, a shower and toilet room, a garage and a large garden.

The house was thought to be at least 150 years old. It appeared to be in perfect condition and, even better, it was fully furnished. (To save on shipping costs, the sisters hoped to sell all of their large possessions before they moved.)

The property’s Irish-born agent, Emer KellyLeggett Immobilier, a British real estate company, responded immediately to the sisters’ email.

The house was listed for sale at €89,000, which was close to the maximum of McAffee and McGuire’s budget. In addition, in France the sale price includes a ‘notaire’, a government-appointed lawyer who gets 10%. The sisters also decided to hire a local British surveyor to check the condition of the house.

The cost was about $972, but “it was worth it for our peace of mind,” McAfee says. They wouldn’t be able to visit the house in person because of the pandemic.

After the appraiser found no serious problems, they made an offer of 82,000 euros (about $88,000) plus another 2,500 euros for furnishings.

Offer accepted.

Lesson #3: Study a country’s residency requirements

In 2022, the year the sisters moved abroad, 12,220 other Americans moved to France, according to immigration figures from moving expert Hire-A-Helper. That makes France the third most popular country for American expats, after the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Still, moving abroad comes with a lot of practicalities that the sisters dealt with before they left the US: arranging visas and figuring out how to move their seven cats.

The first stop was to apply for a one-year “Carte de Sejour Temporaire” visa. The sisters had to prove they had enough money to stay in the country without working, which they could do with their social security benefits. The visas must be renewed every year for five years. After that, they can apply for a residence card. They also had to prove they had a place to live and private health insurance.

To facilitate the process, which took about three months, they hired a visa service.

“There was a lot of paperwork to do, but you just have to go through the checklist and be patient,” McGuire said.

They kept their U.S. bank accounts for their Social Security payments, but opened a virtual French bank account while still living in New York. Their broker put them in touch with an English-speaking banker at Credit Agricole, a large French bank.

Still, their patience was tested when opening a foreign bank account. Their banker was often away on vacation or out to dinner, two things that are “sacrosanct” in France, says McGuire, who notes that they often “got up at 4 or 5 in the morning to call people before they went to lunch.”

They have also arranged for the water and electricity for the house to be in their name and for there to be internet and a landline connection.

Although the sisters spoke no more French than they had learned in high school, they nevertheless began weekly French lessons.

Lesson #4: Moving Pets Abroad Is Possible – With Help

Then there was the not-so-insignificant matter of their seven cats. After considering many options, they hired pet moving service The Ark in JFK, which took care of all the paperwork, required vet visits, flights, and contacts with a pet moving company in France. The cost was $10,000, but worth every penny.

“It would have been impossible for us to do all this ourselves,” McGuire says.

When their flight was delayed, the sisters panicked when they realized their fur babies would arrive at the house before them. Luckily, an employee from the liaison company in France found the house key hidden in the garage and was able to take the cats to their new home.

Considering the amount of moving parts in this adventure, McGuire admits they were nervous: “It was terrifying!”

Lesson #5: Prepare for Surprises and Challenges

Fifteen months after the sisters made an offer on their new home, they saw it in person for the first time. To their delight, the house looked exactly like it did in the detailed videos their real estate agent had sent them.

“It definitely felt a lot bigger than I expected,” McGuire said. “There was a lot more than I realized, like cabinets full of tools, hardware, cleaning supplies.”

As for the neighborhood, the residents were hospitable.

“It was wonderfully peaceful,” says McGuire.

Their realtor had even arranged for the water to be connected and for the cable and telephone installers to come by.

“Without an agent like Emer, we would have had a very different experience,” says McGuire.

But a big problem was getting a driver’s license. It took McAfee five months to pass the written portion of the test (in French). If you’re considering moving to France, the two recommend getting a license in a state that has a reciprocal agreement with the country. Many states do, but New York wasn’t one of them.

But overall, the sisters were happy to discover that many things are cheaper in France than in the US.

Healthcare and veterinary care in France, for example, are “ridiculously cheap,” McGuire says. The couple uses private health insurance, which costs them both $600 a month. Even without it, a visit to the doctor costs just 25 euros.

They found that most things are cheaper in France, from houses to haircuts. But groceries are about the same, and gas is more expensive. One thing that is not only cheaper, but better? Wine, of course!

“As long as you drink plenty of fluids and don’t drive, you’ll be fine,” McGuire jokes.

A big move later in life isn’t for everyone; but for the sisters, it was a great match. They both have a bold sense of adventure, a high tolerance for risk, and they can lean on each other.

“We have a lot of confidence in each other’s ideas and we support each other completely,” McGuire says. “That gives you courage that you wouldn’t have if you were trying to do something like that on your own.”

While McAfee has two adult children and no grandchildren, McGuire has neither, and she says that made the decision easier for them.

“I know people who would never move that far from their grandchildren,” McGuire says.

But she warns that an international move isn’t for everyone, especially those who need routine or a sense of control.

“Learning a new language well enough to not get frustrated when you sound like a child is a big challenge for people our age,” McGuire says. “You have to accept a different culture and expect things to be different than what you’re used to.”

After two years, France feels more like home to the sisters. They have no plans to ever return to the U.S. permanently, though they may move elsewhere.

“Where we live is the most beautiful place in the world,” McGuire muses. “It’s clean, green, medieval and sparsely populated. The area is called the Land of a Thousand Castles. We love castles. So where better to live?”