The short answer
If the question is "which one lets me in on the smallest pension", it is Portugal: the D7 tracks the national minimum wage, €920 a month for a single applicant in 2026. If the question is "which one taxes my pension least", it is Greece, provided you qualify for its 7% flat rate for foreign pensioners and apply in time; without that election Greece's standard scale is the heaviest of the three on a €30,000 pension, Portugal's the lightest, and the gap between them is a few hundred euros a year rather than thousands. If the question is "where does a month cost least", Greece again, mostly on rent. Spain sits in the middle on every measure, with the most predictable paperwork and the clearest public-healthcare buy-in. The table gives you the figures; the sections below explain the catches, because each country has one.
At a glance
| Portugal | Spain | Greece | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retirement visa | D7 (passive income) | Non-lucrative visa | FIP (financially independent person) |
| Income required, single | €920/month (2026 minimum wage) | about €2,400/month (400% of IPREM) | €3,500/month |
| Income required, couple | €1,380/month (+50% for a spouse) | about €3,000/month (+€600 per dependant) | €4,200/month (+20% for a spouse) |
| Days you must spend there | Tax resident above 183 days or with a habitual home | 183+ days a year to renew, so every NLV holder is a tax resident | 183+ days a year to keep the permit |
| Tax on a €30,000 foreign pension, standard scale (illustrative) | about €5,140 | about €5,500 | about €5,900, or €2,100 at the 7% flat rate if you qualify |
| Special regime for pensioners | None. The old 10% NHR deal is closed; its successor (IFICI) excludes pension income | None for retirees (the Beckham regime is for people who come to work) | 7% flat tax on all foreign income for 15 years, application deadline 31 March |
| Typical monthly budget, single, mid-sized city (calculator baseline) | about €2,270 (rent €1,350) | about €2,235 (rent €1,300) | about €1,740 (rent €850) |
| Public healthcare for a retiree | Register at the local health centre once resident; effectively free at point of use | Buy-in (convenio especial) after a year on the padrón: €157/month over 65; NLV needs full private cover first | Access is via contributions; FIP holders generally stay on private insurance permanently |
| Private cover at 60 (indicative) | €120 to €200/month | €100 to €180/month | €90 to €160/month |
| Permanent residence / citizenship | 5 years / 10 years (changed May 2026) | 5 years long-term residence | 3-year permit renewable; citizenship at 7 years with exam |
Sources: the linked guides on this site, each verified against the immigration authority, tax office or health service named on the page (Portugal: Vistos MNE / AIMA, Portal das Finanças; Spain: BOE, Agencia Tributaria; Greece: Ministry of Migration, AADE). The tax row applies each country's standard 2026 progressive scale, as coded in our tax calculator, to €30,000 of pension income with no other income, allowances or treaty adjustments; it is an illustration of the shape of each system, not a computation of your bill. Budget figures are the baselines in the cost-of-living calculator for a single person in a mid-sized city.
Getting in: the income bar is not the whole story
Portugal's D7 is the lowest bar in the group by a distance, and it accepts pensions, rental income, dividends and interest. The catch is time: realistic processing runs four to seven months from application to residence card, and since 19 May 2026 the road to citizenship for non-EU nationals is ten years rather than five, counted from the residence permit. Spain's non-lucrative visa asks for roughly €2,400 a month and full private health insurance with no co-payments, and its renewal rule now requires 183 days of real presence, which means tax residence is built into the visa. Greece's FIP wants €3,500 a month of stable passive income, gives a three-year permit renewable for three more, and forbids any work in Greece. On paper the three countries publish these thresholds; in practice consulates read them with different strictness from month to month, which is why every guide linked above lists the documents that reduce the chance of a bounce.
Tax: the row that decides most moves
All three countries tax residents on worldwide income, pensions included, and all three treat 183 days as the trigger. The difference is what happens next. Portugal's celebrated 10% rate on foreign pensions ended with the old NHR regime, and the replacement IFICI regime leaves pension income out entirely, so a retiree faces the standard scale from 12.5% to 48%. Spain has no retiree regime at all; the Beckham law that people read about is for people who arrive to work. Greece is the outlier: qualifying foreign pensioners who move their tax residence to Greece can elect a 7% flat rate on all foreign-source income for 15 years, but the election has conditions, including an application deadline of 31 March in the year you want it to start, and it is worth reading the full guide before assuming you qualify. Whatever the country, your home country keeps a say: US citizens file wherever they live, and the UK, Canada and Australia each have treaty rules that decide which side taxes which pension. Our France vs Italy vs Greece pension-tax comparison covers the other Mediterranean options.
What a month costs
Rent is the swing factor. The calculator baselines put a single person's month at roughly €2,270 in Portugal and €2,235 in Spain, with rent around €1,300 to €1,350 of that in a mid-sized city, against about €1,740 in Greece where rent sits nearer €850. Food, utilities and transport differ by tens of euros rather than hundreds. Two cautions: these are mid-sized-city baselines, so Lisbon, Barcelona and central Athens run higher and the interior of all three countries runs lower; and the Greek figure assumes you keep private health insurance for good, which most FIP retirees do. Run your own numbers, with the city you actually mean, in the cost-of-living calculator.
Healthcare after 60
Portugal is the simplest: legal residence is the only condition for registering with the public SNS, and it is effectively free at the point of use, though public specialist waits in Lisbon and the Algarve push most expats to carry light private cover for speed. Spain lets non-working residents buy into the public system through the convenio especial after a year on the municipal register, at €157 a month over 65, prescriptions excluded; until then the NLV's private policy carries you. Greece's public system is reached through contributions, which FIP holders do not make, so most run fully private for the duration. The healthcare comparison sets all three against the other 19 countries we cover.
How to use this
Start with the visa row and eliminate anything your income cannot clear with margin; consulates like headroom. Then take the two survivors through the tax calculator with your real pension figure, because the gap between a standard scale and Greece's 7% is often larger than the gap in rent. Only then compare lifestyle, and for that the country guides and, for Portugal, the lifestyle and creators page are a better guide than any table. If you want this comparison and the three relocation checklists in your inbox, the form below sends them and adds you to the Saturday briefing that flags when any of these numbers move.