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.
EU-27 = 100 · 2025. Living in Ireland runs about 36% pricier than the EU average.
Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level — country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
A €2,500 a month reference life runs about €3,410 a month here — roughly €40,920 a year, and a ×30 number near €1,228,000.
The reference life the calculators use, scaled by the index above — the same whole-economy figure, a guide not a quote.
Where in Europe
Oceanic — mild, damp and green year-round, rarely extreme.
in Dublin — about €2,220/mo for 70 m²
a roof here, against the EU-27 average
In Ireland, buy prices are up 97% since 2015 (+7.5% last year); rents up 74% since 2015.
Deloitte's Property Index doesn't price this country, so there's no per-m² tag here — the comparative level and the trend above are the official read.
Read these as the shape, not the price. Housing is the most divergent cost in Europe, and a national average buries the thing that actually decides it — the city, the street, new-build against old. Treat it as a ballpark, then price the real place. Not property or mortgage advice.
Level vs the EU: Eurostat comparative price level for housing (prc_ppp_ind, EU-27 = 100, 2024). Trend: Eurostat house price index and actual-rentals index (2015 = 100, 2025).
The rules that matter for an exit.
Ireland taxes ETFs under its own exit-tax regime — 38% as of 2026 — and 'deemed disposal' taxes your accumulated gains every eight years even if you haven't sold a thing.
Irish-domiciled funds are what most of Europe buys: the Ireland–US treaty halves the dividend withholding inside the fund. That advantage belongs to the fund's home, though — it doesn't soften the rules for Irish residents themselves.
None.
Capital Acquisitions Tax takes 33% above lifetime thresholds — €400,000 from a parent, €40,000 from a sibling or grandparent, €20,000 from anyone else. Spouses are fully exempt.
The rate was just cut (from 41% to 38%) and a retail-investment reform is on the table — watch Budget 2027 in October 2026.
Can you actually move here?
Hold an EU or EEA passport and the door isn't the question — freedom of movement covers the move itself. The clocks and the tax-residency rules below still run for you.
With your passport, skip the doors — the clocks and the tax-residency rules are what matter for you.
No EU passport means one of the doors on the left — each checked against the authority that issues it.
€50,000 a year per person (€100,000 for a couple), plus access to a lump sum for the unexpected (2026)
the Immigrant Investor Programme went citing EU and OECD concerns.
dual allowed
in the tax year, or 280 across two years with at least 30 in each
Ireland will host you but not naturalise you for it: Stamp 0 takes €50,000 a year per person plus private cover — and its years are not 'reckonable', so they never count toward citizenship, whose five-year clock runs only on work and family permissions. There's no language test and dual citizenship is fine; the catch is simply that the retiree door and the passport clock are different doors.
Private cover — mandatory on Stamp 0 — is inflating fast: the average adult premium passed €1,880 a year in 2025, with 3–6% rises announced for 2026.
Check it yourself: Immigration Service Delivery — retiring to Ireland (Stamp 0) · Citizens Information — naturalisation
Getting-in rules checked July 2026. They move faster than tax law — confirm the current rule with the authority before you plan a move around it. Education, not immigration advice.
Access runs on being 'ordinarily resident' — a year in, or the intention to stay one. Most residents hold 'limited eligibility': public care with charges unless a means-tested medical card applies; the public in-patient overnight charge was abolished in 2023.
Private cover: mandatory on Stamp 0 — about €157/month at the 2025 average adult premium, with 3–6% rises announced for 2026.
Healthcare access checked July 2026. Systems are stable but details shift — confirm before you rely on them. Education, not health-insurance advice.
Common questions
- How are ETFs taxed in Ireland?
- Ireland taxes ETFs under its own exit-tax regime — 38% as of 2026 — and 'deemed disposal' taxes your accumulated gains every eight years even if you haven't sold a thing.
- Do Irish residents benefit from the tax advantage of Irish-domiciled funds?
- The Ireland–US treaty halves the dividend withholding inside Irish-domiciled funds, which is why most of Europe buys them — but that advantage belongs to the fund's home and doesn't soften the rules for Irish residents themselves.
- Is Ireland's fund tax rate changing?
- The rate was just cut, from 41% to 38%, and a retail-investment reform is on the table — watch Budget 2027 in October 2026.
- Does Ireland have a wealth tax?
- None.
- Can an American or a Brit retire early in Ireland?
- Yes — the door is Stamp 0: permission for persons of independent means — no work, no state benefits, applied for from outside Ireland. The bar is €50,000 a year per person (€100,000 for a couple), plus access to a lump sum for the unexpected (2026). An EU or EEA passport skips the visa question entirely — freedom of movement covers the move itself. Rules like these move — confirm with the immigration authority before planning around them.
- How long until a Ireland passport?
- 5 years of legal residence is the general naturalisation rule. Dual citizenship is allowed.
Run your own numbers.
The Exit Calculator
Years to your number, at your savings rate.
OpenWhere You Live
What an annual wealth tax does to the maths — illustrative, deliberately.
OpenThe Geoarbitrage Map
The same life, priced across 58 countries.
OpenThe whole system — wrappers, funds, withdrawal, the blank page — is in the guide: The European FIRE guide
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.
This page was last verified against official sources on 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Know a figure here that’s wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source — every correction gets checked, and it’s how the map stays right.
Report a correctionBring 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.