# Mykonos Move



## Myk~Ams (Aug 9, 2010)

Starting from next year I am hoping to possibly live in Mykonos for 5 months of the year (what with it being seasonal), so May through to September. Then the other 7 months in Amsterdam. I currently live in London and really am in need of a complete fresh start. I have travelled to both Amsterdam & Mykonos many times and adore both places.

Unfortunately at the moment I am unwell, and was wondering what the situation is regarding UK residents moving and social security benefts (naming sickness benefits) in Greece & the Netherlands. I of course hope to be well enough to support myself in these places.

I have absolutely no idea about how these countries operate for their own people, let alone ex pats. Any advice at all in any capacity, whether that be social security, housing, employment, medical care, etc etc most gladly welcomed and appreciated!

Many thanks,

James  lane:


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi James, and welcome to the forum!

I'm American and I live in the Cyclades, so I may be able to give you some hints about living in the area. While it is true that Mykonos has a "season," of course it has a year-round permanent population so you could certainly live there all 12 months of the year if you wished to. 

Anyway on to your questions. As an American, a lot of my stuff is different, because being in the EU entitles you to a lot more good stuff, but when one lives on a small island (like Mykonos) those differences tend to fade away in the face of the actual facilities in place. You will need to buy PRIVATE health insurance for yourself if you want to use private health facilities like private hospitals in Athens. However, on Mykonos, you will probably use the local health clinic, which should be able to provide your basic health services free of charge assuming you have your card (I can't remember what the card is called, as we Americans can't get them, but it's something like E111 and you get it in the UK). This does not cover non-prescription medication, so you will have to pay that out of pocket. It probably does cover prescription medication, but they are in the process of moving drugs from the prescription list to the over the counter list in order to pay for fewer drugs. Things like antibiotics are often over the counter. Once you start working in Greece, your employer should provide you with Greek public health insurance. There are a few of them, and they depend on what kind of work you do (most people end up on IKA) and then you have to shop around to find a doctor who will take it. They may say "we will see IKA patients on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am to 11am" or whatever.

As far as social security, you will pay into social security in whichever country where your employer is based. So if you start working for a Greek company in Mykonos while you're there, you will get credit toward Greek social security assuming your employment is legal and above board. 

The way social security works in Greece (at the moment - this is liable to change at any minute as it has already changed a lot in the last few months) is that based on the kind of work you do (self-employed, private sector, public sector, etc) your employer or yourself sends money to the government from your paycheck and you get "credits" based on how much you work. You can collect social security once you have worked for like 37 years or something (all of this is up in the air as they haven't actually announced the ages, they will be announced in the next few years, it's based on life expectancy and I guess they haven't worked that out yet). Anyway, at least as far as I'm aware, you can't collect social security if you're sick. Social security in Greece is for retirement. If you're sick, you have health insurance for your medical bills, and unemployment if you can't work (although this doesn't last forever and is based on your previous job). Unemployment is not enough to live on for anybody. If you are self-employed, you still have to pay social security, but it's based on how much you make.

Housing: you will want to look for a monthly rental most likely, at least for the first few years. This will be very expensive because you have chosen the "high season" months. If you were to live in Mykonos from October through April, you would probably pay €300/month. As it is, I suspect it will be several times that, and in July/August, I wouldn't even like to think about it. Think about where you want to live, and once you arrive, stay for a few days in a rented room until you find a place to rent. I do not recommend doing this sort of thing online. Once you are on the island you will find more places as well as be able to see them up close and discuss things in detail with the owner. Be ready to pay for electricity, water, and internet, most likely through your landlord rather than directly to the companies.

Employment: legal for all EU citizens; however, unemployment on the islands is close to 30% (statistics were published a few days ago that in the Ionian islands, the unemployment rate is 52%) and this is especially the case on heavily touristy islands like Mykonos. If you are lucky enough to find a job, IF it's full time, most likely it be about €700-900 per month after taxes. Bear in mind that out of that you will have to pay your rent, utilities, food, and all other expenses. Personally, as an island resident, I know I have to budget a lot of every month's income toward an "emergency fund" - if ANYTHING happens, we have to get off the island and that can be expensive. Any kind of health problem means taking a ferry (me, my husband, and probably the car = €280 return), a hotel in Athens (€70/night at least), meals and other "traveling" expenses for the duration.... - when I had to have an emergency operation in March, aside from the actual expense of the hospital, we spent several thousands of euros just to deal with all these little expenses that go along with it - they add up fast. So I recommend to ANYONE who plans to live on an island that you have money put away for emergencies. To put it simply, it would be very rare for someone to be able to work on Mykonos in the summer and make enough money to live there so you would definitely need to have a healthy savings to get yourself started.

Remember too that everything is much more expensive on the islands. Although our sales tax is a bit lower (it's 23% on the mainland and 16% for us), everything is still more expensive for us. A liter of milk is €1,70 at best. A liter of gasoline is €1,65. A loaf of bread on our island is €1,60 (which is why I make my own). And I am not talking about going out to a taverna for a meal, I'm talking about sitting at home with a slice of bread and a glass of milk. Once you add it up, you quickly find that it is very expensive to live there. 

I LOVE living in the Cyclades. My husband has a job there, but I don't. My job is in Athens, but it's actually coming to an end and I'll be unemployed along with a good third of the rest of the working age population. It's very difficult to get by, but it's the most amazing place in the world (in my opinion). I think the best thing to do is to have your eyes wide open (at least, as much as is possible at this stage) and realize that with a lot of money, anything is possible, but without a lot of money... it will be very, very difficult. I know lots of people who gave it their best but had to give up and leave (either to Athens or outside Greece). 

One thing I heard for YEARS before I finally moved to Greece permanently about 14 months ago (after traveling in Greece for 10 years before that) was "you don't know what it's like to live in Greece until you actually LIVE in Greece." I didn't believe a word of it, until, of course, it came true. I tried but couldn't grasp the differences between coming here as a visitor and living here. I'm starting to see them now: illogical bureaucracy, poor citizen protections, corruption, widespread apathy about the environment, high inflation, lack of services, and an environment that makes it VERY difficult to "get ahead" in life. The number of museum guards who have PhDs in archaeology is astounding. There are a LOT of very capable, well educated, good hard-working Greeks who are desperately underpaid and under-appreciated, and entering the job market here when you're not well connected, fluent in Greek, got a lot of money in the bank already, and possessing very unique and advanced and in-demand skills is pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. Obviously there are exceptions, but this is the general rule.

The quality of life in the Cyclades is, in my opinion, pretty much without equal. I've lived a lot of places in the USA and Europe and I absolutely love living in the Cyclades. I hope you live your dream. Keep researching, asking questions, etc., but don't lose sight of what you really WANT because heck, if I can do it, so can anyone else.


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## hecate (Jul 12, 2010)

Hi James,

Nifty plan. I'm American so can't answer about UK benefits, but cannot stress strongly enough that you must MUST get definitive info, especialy related to disability,* in the UK.* Sorting anything out from here will verge on the impossible (Netherlands probably more functional). Theoretically it's smooth sailing for EU-folk, but... 

Mykonos off-season is delightful. Bit on the quiet side, but relatively polished. You won't be the only foreigner. Should be able to get nice digs very, very reasonably. Work iffy, depends entirely on what you do. ?

Good luck, and get well.
Hecate


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