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.
Resident-non-dom remittance basis: US-source income/gains taxed by Ireland only if remitted - modeled here as deferred (≈ exempt) on the planning assumption you segregate clean capital.
BUT treaty Art. 18(1)(b) (carved out of the saving clause) taxes US Social Security ONLY in Ireland - exempt in the US. Modeled at Irish income tax (20% to ~€44k, then 40%); no USC or PRSI on foreign state pensions.
Remittance is read broadly: spending remitted funds or repaying Irish debt both count, while clean pre-residence capital is not a remittance. Roth: exempt in practice (TCA s.200), but Revenue has issued no binding ruling - confirm with an advisor.
What could change this.
Irish Revenue recognizes qualifying periodic Roth distributions as tax-free in practice, but there is no binding ruling and Roth lump sums may be treated differently. A self-directed ARF/PRSA may be a foreign grantor trust (Forms 3520/3520-A) holding PFICs. Treat favorable Roth/pension treatment as unconfirmed.
When: No binding ruling; position-dependent
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 Ireland.
Irish unit-linked funds and life-assurance bonds are PFICs
Irish-domiciled unit trusts, ETFs and 'gross roll-up' unit-linked life-assurance investment bonds (the default products sold by Irish banks/insurers) are classic PFICs requiring Form 8621. Irish advisers to US citizens explicitly recommend AGAINST them. Stay in US-domiciled brokerage holdings; do not let an Irish bank steer you into a 'savings' or 'investment' bond.
Irish exit tax vs. US PFIC double bind
Ireland taxes Irish-domiciled funds and life-assurance bonds under a deemed-disposal "exit tax" that triggers every 8 years - the rate was 41% but was reduced to 38% from 1 January 2026 (Budget 2026). There is no clean coordination with US PFIC mark-to-market/excess-distribution rules, so a US person can face the worst of both systems - another reason to avoid Irish-domiciled funds and bonds entirely.
ARF / PRSA may be a foreign grantor trust
A self-directed Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) or PRSA is not clearly covered by the treaty pension articles and can be treated by the IRS as a foreign grantor trust (Forms 3520/3520-A) holding PFICs internally. Treaty pension relief is uncertain for these self-directed vehicles - get advice before funding one.
Remittance triggers are broad - watch US-card spending
Remitting includes spending remitted funds in Ireland, using foreign income to repay an Irish loan, or importing assets bought with foreign income. Paying Irish living costs with a US credit card settled from an income-bearing account can be a remittance. Segregate 'clean capital' (pre-residence savings) from post-arrival income, or the remittance shield collapses.
Roth IRA treatment is favorable but not formally ruled
In practice Irish Revenue recognizes qualifying periodic US Roth distributions as tax-free, and treaty Art. 18 generally exempts them. But Roth lump sums can fall under Ireland’s separate retirement lump-sum rules, and there is no binding public ruling - do not model all Roth withdrawals as guaranteed Irish-tax-free.
Healthcare as a retiree.
Stamp 0 retirees are not entitled to the public system (the GMS/medical card requires "ordinary residence" plus, under 70, a means test, and Stamp 0 grants no access to publicly funded services). Comprehensive private health insurance is mandatory for the visa and is the de facto coverage: a full private hospital plan (VHI Plan D level or higher) from VHI, Laya or Irish Life Health.
For a retiree over 65 a full-cover plan typically runs €2,000–3,500+ per person per year (the average over-65 VHI premium was ~€2,815 in 2025) and rises with age; ~$3,000/person is a reasonable mid-point. After 70, ordinarily-resident persons can qualify for a free GP Visit Card, but Stamp 0 holders should not rely on any public entitlement.
Models the affluent-retiree norm: public entitlements plus a mid-tier private policy at the HIA market average (assumes the LCR loading was avoided by buying within 9 months of arrival). Recent premium inflation ran ~10%/yr (2025).
The retirement visa route.
Stamp 0 (Persons of Independent Means): needs verifiable income of at least €50,000 per person (€100,000 per couple) from stable sources like pensions or savings, not speculative ones. You also show access to an emergency lump sum roughly the price of a house, and hold comprehensive private hospital insurance (for example VHI Plan D). It is granted one year at a time and renewable, but never counts toward long-term residency or citizenship.
What could this actually cost you?
A fast, illustrative estimate for Ireland - no login, nothing stored. Every country page carries its own, tuned to that country's tax treatment.
Your monthly spending power in Ireland (non-dom) on about $1M
A lean lifestyle in Ireland (non-dom)
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.
Ireland (non-dom): Resident non-domiciled - remittance basis
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.
- Remittance basis
- For Irish residents who are not Irish-domiciled, foreign-source income and gains are taxed by Ireland only to the extent they are brought into (remitted to) Ireland; un-remitted foreign income escapes Irish tax.
- Domicile (vs. residence)
- A common-law concept of your permanent home country; a US retiree is Irish-resident but US-domiciled, which is what unlocks the remittance basis - residence alone is not enough.
- Stamp 0
- Ireland’s long-stay permission for retirees / persons of independent means; granted one year at a time, renewable, and confers no entitlement to State benefits, publicly funded services, or a path to long-term residency.
- USC and PRSI
- Universal Social Charge and Pay Related Social Insurance - Irish income levies; US Social Security is exempt from both, but is still subject to ordinary Irish income tax (the treaty assigns it to Ireland).
- GMS / Medical Card
- Ireland’s public General Medical Services scheme; eligibility requires being "ordinarily resident" and (under 70) passing a means test, so Stamp 0 retirees are effectively excluded and rely on private insurance.
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.