retiring to finland

l&d · Post by **l&d** » Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:36 am

my husband and I are US citizens considering retiring to Finland . We will have a source of income for rent or buying a house etc. My question is about health care. will we be eligible for healthcare there or is it possible to buy health insurance there? Any information will be appreciated.

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Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sat Jul 30, 2016 9:07 pm

It won't work. We have had earlier on this board cases where the person wanting to retire here was a parent or at least grandparent of a Finnish citizen, and it did not work out either.

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Sat Jul 30, 2016 10:57 pm

l&d wrote:my husband and I are US citizens considering retiring to Finland . We will have a source of income for rent or buying a house etc. My question is about health care. will we be eligible for healthcare there or is it possible to buy health insurance there? Any information will be appreciated.

If you are eligible for a residence permit to retire, you will get a municipality of residence which entitles you to public health care.

Rip wrote:It won't work. We have had earlier on this board cases where the person wanting to retire here was a parent or at least grandparent of a Finnish citizen, and it did not work out either.

Yeah sounds like one of those cases. l&d which of the categories here are you planning on?

http://www.migri.fi/frontpage

Just pension income will not suffice.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:51 am

It's your business as to why you would want to retire here. If you have been here and love the nature or something like that, or have perhaps a child married here and want to retire near your grandchildren I can understand that. But, if you just sort of picked Finland randomly (and people do), there really are many countries which would give you an easier retirement. Finland is very expensive, and IMHO getting worse. Health care is nowhere near all it is cracked up to be. Queues for a doctor in the Helsinki area can be 5 hours or strictly by appointment 2 weeks after you phone...... If you are dreaming of a winter paradise be aware that in the south of Finland - where most people are - you MIGHT get a few weeks of -15c, bright sun and packed snow. But, more likely to be intermittent periods of between -5c and +5c which means constant freezing and melting, so you are walking around in messy slush looking like a dogs dinner for most of the winter. Public transport is expensive, parking difficult in many places. Things that retirees have time for like opera and dramas and so on are really expensive here.

If I was looking for a country and it had to be Europe where I could get amazing nature, long warm summers, short, snowy but fairly dry and not windy winters, and pleasant autumn and spring, with very reasonable living prices and cheap entertainment I would pick Slovenia. I lived there for ages and intend to retire there. A season ticket for the Opera costs the same about 2 shows in Helsinki. A litre of wine from your local Vinoteka (bring your own bottle) is about 1.20e and everywhere has markets with fresh fruit and veg for cheap prices, brought up from the coastal area. It is an Alpine country so expect snow in winter, but, if you get sick of it, Italy and Croatia are both an hour's drive, and you are more or less out of the winter. Finland is an amazing country but retiring here will need serious finances.

Oombongo · Post by **Oombongo** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:21 am

l&d wrote:my husband and I are US citizens considering retiring to Finland . We will have a source of income for rent or buying a house etc. My question is about health care. will we be eligible for healthcare there or is it possible to buy health insurance there? Any information will be appreciated.

Please tell me you didn't chose Finland because you heard it is a great country with working healthcare system and..oh! the local honesty and people singing hakuna matata under the sun in some buzzfeed article

the weather is crap most of the time of the year
everything is outrageously expensive for some reason. I buy my stuff from abroad unless I have no other choice.
healthcare is going down the hill literally
I certainly won't choose Finland for retirement as well. Might hit Ukraine with crap load of sílildenafil and end up killing myself among lovely ladies and a massive boner

Oombongo · Post by **Oombongo** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:25 am

frack, double post

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:38 am

biscayne wrote:Queues for a doctor in the Helsinki area can be 5 hours or strictly by appointment 2 weeks after you phone......

If it's not urgent, why shouldn't people wait a little? It's more efficient on costs that way and not dangerous. Granted there's things to improve in the health care system (where there wouldn't be) but I have also had and heard of a lot of positive experiences.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:23 pm

Health Care: Yes, Finland consistently gets "good marks" for health care, but I work in health care and find the system here to be not very efficient. For example:

Finland: I have a bad cold and need say 2 days off to get the temp. down and not infect everyone in the building. Need to go to doctor, who is a random doctor, queue up, wait ages, infect everyone in the place and feel sick and miserable while waiting, just for a sick cert. for work.

Slovenia: phone the local Zdravstveni Dom (Health Centre) speak to my own doctor who knows me, or his/her nurse, explain, they write the cert., it waits for me there, the day I go back to work I pop in, collect it and deliver it to the HR at work.

Another example, I broke my shoulder and arm in 4 places skiing in Tyrol. Got fixed up in Bruneck (nice hospital), on the way back to Ljubljana, phone the big hospital there, explain, they say to come straight there. Get there, they are waiting for me, I do not wait more than 3 minutes, a whole team there including Trauma guy. Get a new type of cast and sling, a date for the next trauma check-up and CT scan, get note for my own doctor for the sick leave. Prescription etc. Not to mention the rehab I got which was amazing.

Finally, best thing about healthcare in Slovenia: child gets chickenpox. Ring the health centre - doctor comes to US, yes! Each doctor there has one or two days a week for home visits! The best!

And, no out of pocket expenses for anything.

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:10 pm

Well, why aren't you living in Slovenia then?

I had no issues seeing a doctor. Go to the centre. Take a number. Longest wait was about 30 mins. Saw a nurse (some kind of different nurse. Maybe a nurse practioner? Because she could give prescriptions). If it was bad, sent to the "ER" or straight to Hyvinkää Hospital.

Maybe I was just lucky.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:53 pm

Not actually complaining about Finland, just saying for two retirees there are places where they could get better value for their money unless they have real reason - their business of course. Regarding healthcare, I do think it is a better system there because you know your doctor and get to see him or her, it is not a "take a number" and be seen by anyone situation, which I personally don't like, but each to his own.

As to why I don't live in Slovenia anymore, well you know yourself from experience, people have various reasons for moving in and out of places. I liked it there, yes, and was just pointing out some good stuff about it, but we all move on.

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:18 pm

Flossy1978 wrote:Well, why aren't you living in Slovenia then?

You can criticize and point out what is wrong.. that's how things improve. We bring the good things others have and we get rid of the bad things we have. We learn from others, we develop, and become better. That's how civilized societies are.
With such arguments and attitude you have, you're a much better fit with like-minded individuals in the Middle East/Russia/China who answer every criticism with such classic fallacies; places where when people criticize and want to improve are told to shut up and f*ck off somewhere they think is better.

Read this before you make a joke out of yourself again https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergo_decedo

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:53 am

It was a genuine question. Not sarcasm or anything negative. I apologise for it veing conceived in such a manner.

Tiwaz · Post by **Tiwaz** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:14 pm

Beep_Boop wrote:
Flossy1978 wrote:Well, why aren't you living in Slovenia then?
You can criticize and point out what is wrong.. that's how things improve. We bring the good things others have and we get rid of the bad things we have. We learn from others, we develop, and become better. That's how civilized societies are.
With such arguments and attitude you have, you're a much better fit with like-minded individuals in the Middle East/Russia/China who answer every criticism with such classic fallacies; places where when people criticize and want to improve are told to shut up and f*ck off somewhere they think is better.

Read this before you make a joke out of yourself again https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergo_decedo

However, this sample does not tell us what is reality of Slovenia. Are such sterling services available for everyone regardless of wealth and standing?
And how they are funded...)

Finland pays about 700 million more to EU than receives (2014 numbers were ones I found. Slovenia receives about 800 million euros. That is for nation with about 2 million people quite a nice pile of cash which pays for many things. It was like that in Ireland too. Anyone remember how able their system was to fund itself when the money flow stopped?

I'll give a hint. It was not.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 11:58 pm

Oombongo wrote:
l&d wrote:my husband and I are US citizens considering retiring to Finland . We will have a source of income for rent or buying a house etc. My question is about health care. will we be eligible for healthcare there or is it possible to buy health insurance there? Any information will be appreciated.
Please tell me you didn't chose Finland because you heard it is a great country with working healthcare system and..oh! the local honesty and people singing hakuna matata under the sun in some buzzfeed article
the weather is crap most of the time of the year
everything is outrageously expensive for some reason. I buy my stuff from abroad unless I have no other choice.
healthcare is going down the hill literally
I certainly won't choose Finland for retirement as well. Might hit Ukraine with crap load of sílildenafil and end up killing myself among lovely ladies and a massive boner

One of the finest, if not the finest post ever.

<Raises glass of Congolese tropical fruit based drink in direction of Umbongo>.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Sun Aug 14, 2016 4:13 pm

Tiwaz wrote:

However, this sample does not tell us what is reality of Slovenia. Are such sterling services available for everyone regardless of wealth and standing?
And how they are funded...)

Finland pays about 700 million more to EU than receives (2014 numbers were ones I found. Slovenia receives about 800 million euros. That is for nation with about 2 million people quite a nice pile of cash which pays for many things. It was like that in Ireland too. Anyone remember how able their system was to fund itself when the money flow stopped?

I'll give a hint. It was not.

As regards Ireland, you are totally correct - I am actually Irish, and can testify that while the public system is excellent once you are in it, gaining access is difficult. This is the case particularly for chronic conditions which affect quality of life but are not life threatening such as a hip replacement - waiting on the public system can mean 2 years or more. Whoever can afford it gets private insurance which is a bit different to the US, I think of it more as supplementary insurance - you end up seeing the same consultant, and being treated in the same hospital, lying in the same ward as a public patient (unless there is a private room free and there may not be) but you have essentially "jumped the queue" because you had extra insurance and the consultant took you on his "other book". It is a disgraceful situation.

Slovenia: I only had the normal universal public insurance everybody has, which you fund via your pay, it is taken directly from your salary and costs about 25e per month, or the state pays if you are unemployed. I got the same treatment anyone would get. There are no out of pocket expenses there at all, not for prescriptions, nothing. I will definitely retire there, unless something changes, and am looking into going back. It had the best quality of life (for my taste), so far in my travels. But these things are individual.

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