How your US retirement income is actually taxed here.
Straight from the same profile Glidepath's engine taxes against - not a marketing summary of it.
Models the Art. 5B pensioner regime (Law 4714/2020): a flat 7% on all foreign-source income - pension, gains, dividends, rental, and US Social Security - for 15 years. Having a foreign pension is only the entry ticket; the 7% then applies to everything, not just the pension.
Requires a qualifying foreign pension and not being Greek-resident 5 of the prior 6 years.
Paid as an annual lump sum by end of July; non-payment ends the regime and reverts to ordinary worldwide taxation.
What could change this.
The Art. 5B foreign-pensioner regime applies the 7% flat rate for a maximum of 15 tax years. After it lapses you revert to the standard Greek scale (9–44%) plus 15% on gains on your worldwide income - a steep increase if you are still drawing late in retirement.
When: Year 16 after you move (15-year cap)
Compliance traps that catch US retirees here.
Local investment wrappers that look ordinary to a local resident can be a US tax trap for a US citizen - these are the ones specific to Greece.
7% regime sweeps US Social Security and all foreign income into Greek tax
Art. 5B applies the 7% rate to ALL foreign-source income, including US Social Security, IRA/401(k), dividends, gains and rental - not just pensions. As a US citizen you also remain taxable on this income in the US, so you pay Greek 7% plus US tax and rely on the foreign tax credit. The 7% is due in a single instalment by end of July.
1950 income-tax treaty is obsolete; SS runs through the separate totalization agreement
The income-tax treaty (signed 1950, 1953 protocol) has NO Social Security article and no modern pension framework. SS coordination runs through the separate US-Greece Totalization Agreement (1993/1994), which governs coverage/credits but does NOT exempt US Social Security from Greek income tax. Most double-tax relief comes via the US foreign tax credit, not the income treaty.
Greek/EU investment-linked life-insurance and private-pension wrappers are likely PFIC traps
Greek and EU-domiciled investment-linked savings and 'asfáleia zoÃs' life products are typically built on non-US UCITS funds - PFICs for US persons (Form 8621, punitive Section 1291). Most Greek private pension/insurance plans do NOT qualify as treaty-recognized foreign pension funds. Keep retirement assets in US-domiciled accounts.
US state ties can collide with the 183-day residence rule
The 5B regime requires genuine Greek tax residence and deregistration from your prior residence. US citizens who keep a US state domicile (CA, NY, etc.) may still face US state income tax on the same income, with no foreign tax credit at the state level, on top of the Greek 7% and US federal tax.
Healthcare as a retiree.
FIP-visa retirees must hold comprehensive private health insurance valid in Greece (mandatory for the permit) and do NOT automatically join the public EFKA/ESY system, which normally requires employment or contributions. International/expat private policies are the practical norm; private treatment is relatively inexpensive by EU standards.
Local comprehensive policies run ~€60–250/mo per person; a 55-year-old pays ~€120–180/mo on a local plan, while international cover starts near €250/mo and rises steeply after 60 (many insurers decline first-time cover after 65). ~$4,800/yr per person is a realistic mid-range for an older US retiree on an international plan; younger retirees pay less.
Models the non-EU FIP private-insurance path on a local-plan quote at ~60; international plans run ~290 EUR/mo at 60, and a couple in their late 60s realistically spends 5,000-10,000 EUR/yr all-in (gr.md 2.5).
The retirement visa route.
FIP visa (≥ €3,500/mo passive income)
What could this actually cost you?
A fast, illustrative estimate for Greece - no login, nothing stored. Every country page carries its own, tuned to that country's tax treatment.
Your monthly spending power in Greece (7% pensioner) on about $1M
A lean lifestyle in Greece (7% pensioner)
Day to day, that looks like a small apartment in a lower-cost town, transit or one older economy car, cooking at home with the odd cheap meal out. For health, the public health system, with out-of-pocket costs a real worry.
As a US citizen, you keep filing US taxes wherever you live.
Greece (7% pensioner): 7% flat on foreign income (15 yrs)
This is a fast estimate, not the full simulation, and not financial advice. It only flags the tax question. The full plan works out what you'd actually owe on each side of the border. It also models real balances, every account type, and healthcare, year by year.
The terms you'll actually run into.
- Article 5B regime (7%)
- Greek alternative regime (Law 4714/2020): foreign tax residents with a qualifying foreign pension pay a flat 7% on ALL foreign-source income (pension, dividends, interest, gains, rental) for up to 15 years, paid in one annual instalment by end of July.
- FIP visa (Financially Independent Persons)
- Greece’s long-stay/retirement permit for non-EU nationals on passive income: under Law 5038/2023 it requires ~€3,500/month for a single applicant (+20% spouse, +15% per child) plus private health insurance; 3 years, renewable.
- EFKA / e-EFKA
- Greece’s unified social-security fund, which underpins access to the public ESY health system; FIP-visa retirees without Greek contributions do not auto-enroll and must show private insurance.
- ESY
- Greece’s National Health System of public hospitals and clinics, free or low-cost at point of use for those covered via EFKA.
- AFM
- A Greek tax number, required to enter the 5B regime; you must become Greek tax-resident, not have been so for 5 of the prior 6 years, and apply by 31 March.
Nothing on this page is invented.
Confidence: verified. Last verified June 1, 2026. Every figure above comes from one of the sources below - the same profile the paid engine uses to actually compute your projection.
See the full country-by-country build sheet on the coverage page.