I am a US citizen planning to retire to France, and I am about to convert my IRAs to an annuity to provide a regular income stream, required for the carte de long sejour. It occurs to me that it might be better if the annuity payments were made in euros instead of US $. Converting my IRAs to a French annuity would incur an initial loss, but subsequent payments would not be subject to the poor exchange rate.
My questions are: are there French equivalents to Vanguard or Fidelity that offer annuities (actually insurance companies piggy-back on Vanguard or Fido)? Do annuities even exist in France as a means of converting savings into income? I know that, unlike in the US, most retirees in France enjoy pensions. Do French banks offer annuities?
Thanks very much!
My questions are: are there French equivalents to Vanguard or Fidelity that offer annuities (actually insurance companies piggy-back on Vanguard or Fido)? Do annuities even exist in France as a means of converting savings into income? I know that, unlike in the US, most retirees in France enjoy pensions. Do French banks offer annuities?
Thanks very much!
