How much does an American family of three need to earn in order to live comfortably in spain?

Question

How much does an American family of three need to earn in order to live comfortably in spain?

Answer 1

Wow. That's a toughy. There are LOTS of dependent factors involved here. Here are some questions we'd need answered before giving you our estimate:

1) is the family of 3 all of mature age or is there a baby or adolescent involved?

2) where do you want to live? City or village?

3) do you plan to buy a flat or rent?

4) are you psychologically able to give up your spacious 3 bedroom, 2-floor house comfort for a 2-bedroom, single floor flat of 75 square meters? (or less!)

5) do you intend to get a drivers license and buy a car?

6) do you plan to work in Spain or will the income come the United States?

7) what do you consider "comfortable"?

The last question is probably the most important one. Some people are very comfortable in simple living conditions while others require much more to be comfortable.

Look at the rental and buying prices of homes in Spain at http://www.IDEALISTA.com first to get an idea of what things cost here in Spain.

Keep in mind that jobs - particularly for foreigners - are very very difficult to find in Spain, wages are very very low for everyone - particularly low for foreigners.

Lots of Spanish 3-person families live sparse, difficult lives with 20,000 Euros per year in one of the far suburbs of Madrid or Barcelona. In my opinion, for three persons to live "comfortably" in Madrid or Barcelona city, downtown, it would take about 35,000-40,000 Euros per year while living in a rental property. More would make things more comfortable, of course.

If you can wrap your brain around all the above, keep in mind that with the horrible USDOLLAR - to - EURO exachange rate  the above 35,000 Euros per year translates to about $55,000 USD.

Saludos, BarcelonaMan(.com)