France vs Spain.
Two countries' verified rules for an early retiree, side by side. There is no winner here — a lower cost, a wealth tax and an exit tax pull in different directions, and which ones matter is yours to weigh.
At a glance.
Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
| Measure | France | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 110 | 92 |
| A €2,500-a-month life | €2,760/mo | €2,290/mo |
| The ×30 number it implies | €994,000 | €824,000 |
| Housing — to buy | €3,332/m² | €3,739/m² |
| Housing — to rent | €32.0/m² · Paris | €27.1/m² · Madrid |
| Housing vs the EU | +23% | −3% |
| Getting in | ||
| The route in | The 'visiteur' visa | The non-lucrative visa |
| Golden visa | Never had one | Closed |
| Years to a passport | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
| The patterns each carries | ||
| Lower tax if you hold | no | no |
| Yearly tax on holdings | no | yes |
| Taxes unsold gains | no | no |
| Exit tax | yes | yes |
| Deals for new residents | no | no |
| No wealth tax | yes | no |
A “yes” is not a point scored: “no wealth tax” and “exit tax on leaving” pull opposite ways. Read the column against your own plan, not as a score.
The rules that matter, in full.
France
A flat ~31% on gains — and wrappers that reward patience.
A flat tax of roughly 31% on investment gains, social charges included — up from 30% in January 2026. The direction of travel is up, and it moves with budget rounds.
The PEA and assurance-vie both reward you for holding for years, and assurance-vie keeps its lighter social-charge treatment. Know your wrapper before you optimise anything else.
France taxes big portfolios on the way out — broadly, €800,000+ in securities or a 50% company stake — with relief if you keep the assets for years after leaving.
None on financial assets. France's wealth tax (the IFI) covers non-professional real estate only, above €1.3 million — a portfolio of funds sits outside it.
The flat rate just moved. Assume it can move again, every budget.
Spain
Cheap to live — but it taxes having.
Spain taxes wealth every year — the patrimonio — plus a separate state levy on large fortunes. A wealth tax is charged whether your portfolio went up, down or nowhere: in effect a permanent extra withdrawal happening before you've spent a cent, which raises the rate your plan must sustain, and so raises your number.
How hard it bites varies by region, and regional politics move it yearly. The state levy on large fortunes was extended indefinitely.
Spain has an exit tax for big portfolios — broadly €4 million, or a 25%+ company stake worth €1 million or more.
The regional politics are the moving part — what your region charges this year is a fact to re-check, not remember.
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
France verified 8 July 2026 · Spain verified 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Bring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.