In December 2023, Tony Smarrelli, 74, and his wife Francine, 75, made the life-changing decision to move from the U.S. to Italy. The couple, both of Italian descent, bought a charming three-bedroom home in the coastal town of Scalea, Calabria, for \u20ac150,000 (about $162,000), after spotting an online ad. The couple sought a slower-paced life, breathtaking sea views, and an affordable living situation, all of which they found in Southern Italy.<\/p>\n
After securing their elective residence visa, which required them to show a passive income of at least $40,700, the Smarrellis began renovations on their 1,500-square-foot property. They invested an additional \u20ac80,000 (around $86,500) to upgrade the house with modern plumbing, electric systems, and new interiors. The home was completed within four months, far below what they would have spent for a similar house on the U.S. coast.<\/p>\n
The Smarrellis found that life in Italy significantly reduced their living costs. Prior to the move, they spent between $4,800 and $5,000 monthly in the U.S. Now, their expenses are approximately $1,200 a month, saving them nearly $3,000 monthly. This includes dining out, utilities, and even caring for their beagle, Cooper. They emphasize that Italy\u2019s slower lifestyle, rich culture, and lower costs made it a \u201cgood choice\u201d for their retirement.<\/p>\n
Source:Swifteradio.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In December 2023, Tony Smarrelli, 74, and his wife Francine, 75, made the life-changing decision to move from the U.S. to Italy. The couple, both of Italian descent, bought a charming three-bedroom home in the coastal town of Scalea, Calabria, for \u20ac150,000 (about $162,000), after spotting an online ad. The couple sought a slower-paced life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[7266,3672,7267,7268,7269,7270,7271,7272,7273,7274,7275,7276,7277],"class_list":["post-1760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel","tag-affordable-italian-homes","tag-amat","tag-cheaper-cost-of-living","tag-cost-of-living-in-italy","tag-expat-lifestyle","tag-expat-living-in-italy","tag-italian-visa-for-retirees","tag-life-in-italy-for-expats","tag-moving-to-italy","tag-retire-in-italy","tag-retiring-abroad-savings","tag-scalea-calabria","tag-us-couple-moves-to-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}