For pensioners
Retiring to France
France has no counter that stops you and no scheme that lures you: no registration duty for EU citizens, no tax break for newcomers. What it does have is a healthcare system that only knows you once you report yourself — and that is exactly where pensioners get stuck in the first months.
The clock you start on day one is the CPAM's. For those who do not work, the right to healthcare begins after three months of residence, and after that the processing runs on for weeks to months; with an S1 from the CAK you get in, but the file has to be complete. Once you are in, two choices determine your bill: declaring a médecin traitant (otherwise you are structurally reimbursed less) and a mutuelle next to the basic insurance, as nearly everyone in France has.
Fiscally, France has no little paradise: the only special regime is for employees brought in by a French company. The system counts per household, and your first return only comes in the year after you arrive. What the Netherlands still levies on your pension meanwhile depends on the kind of pension — something you work out before you move, not after.
And then the paper that is not a registration but is asked for everywhere: the justificatif de domicile. Without proof of address no bank, no CPAM, no carte grise for your car — and that car has to be on French plates within a month, with no relocation exemption from the CO2 levy.
Still deciding between countries? To the pension comparer
Your healthcare — start the clock on day one
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
The CPAM and the number you wait months for: start the clock on day one
French healthcare only knows you once you report. For non-workers the entitlement begins after three months of residence, and after that the processing runs on for weeks to months. Whoever starts the registration straight away suffers least from it.
Updated 28 August 2026
Médecin traitant and mutuelle: the two choices that keep your French healthcare affordable
Whoever doesn't declare a GP in France is structurally reimbursed less — from 19 to 8.40 euros on a consultation of 30. And almost everyone (96%) has a mutuelle alongside the basic insurance. How both work, and when you arrange them.
Updated 28 August 2026
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
Your money and your pension
Tax in France: no favourable regime, but a system that helps families
France has no little tax paradise for newcomers — the only favourable regime is for employees brought in by a French company. What there is instead: a system that calculates per household, and a first return that only comes the year after your arrival.
Updated 11 September 2026
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 September 2026
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
Your paperwork and your house
The justificatif de domicile: the paper all of France asks for
No registration, no residence card — and yet *every* French counter asks for proof that you live where you live. What counts as proof, how fresh it has to be (that differs per counter), and how you start the chain on day one.
Updated 11 September 2026
Buying a house in France: the notaire arranges almost everything — these are the three differences
Of all destinations, France resembles the Netherlands most here: the notaire collects the taxes, registers the transfer and you walk out as the owner. The differences are in the bill (count on 7 to 8% for existing property), your ten days of statutory cooling-off after the preliminary contract, and the taxe foncière that comes every year after that.
Updated 28 August 2026
Taking your car to France: the carte grise is manageable, the malus isn't
Within a month your car has to be on French plates, entirely digitally. The procedure is doable — but unlike in Spain and Portugal there's *no* relocation exemption for the CO2 levy. So do the sums before the lorry sets off, not after.
Updated 11 September 2026
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 September 2026
Want to walk this journey with the order watched — the CPAM on day one, the carte grise within the month, your Dutch affairs closed on the right day? The French step-by-step plan is ready for you.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Forty-four journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.