I'm a Brit, been living in the US for a decade or so now. I came here for the money and the weather, but the weather is going to shit these days...

The long term plan was always to make sufficient money to retire early, then go home. Complicating this easy straightforward idea was that I got married (!) and now have a kid who I don't want to uproot. So now I wait for college-days, and then sod off back to the UK :)

The cost of my (paid off) house in the Bay Area will fund a small mansion by the sea in the UK. Long walks on the beach with the dog seem appropriate, and will even be good for my old age :)

Living far away from your children and grandchildren is really sad, especially once you get old and need help and company.

But... I won't be ?

I'm a Brit. I have lots of family in the UK. My wife doesn't have any siblings, her mother lives in Costa Rica, and her father lives in Southern CA but hasn't visited in the 10 years we've been married (we've been there).

Perhaps it wasn't clear, but I was expecting the kid (man, at that point, I guess) to come with - there's plenty of excellent universities in the UK, and he'll even be legally able to have a beer or two...

Some might say you're giving your son a gift having citizenship in both the US and the UK. Options are freedom.

Must be raging that that doesn't include EU citizenship now

What can I say ? Idiots.

Not that I had any say, I've been out of the country too long to vote now.

Plenty of that happens in the US too though. I grew up in the Rust Belt but have lived my entire post-college life (more than 2.5 decades) on the west coast.

By the time you need to get on a plane to visit, 2000 miles vs 5000 miles isn't a tremendous difference. (Assuming normal times with open borders).

Every time your elderly father gets sick are you going take the plane? Take him to the doctor? Wash him, prepare dinner. Not everyone can afford retirement facility.

That's a crazy good deal. As long as the 500k doesn't get completely wiped out someone with a family likely comes out ahead on health-care costs alone (though I understand the tax implications of US citizens abroad are complicated).

There is an investment version where the cost is only 250000 EUR, but there's more due diligence and paperwork required. You're essentially buying citizenship for the opportunity cost of those funds not making returns in more aggressive investment vehicles for several years.

Are these people you know Americans? I admire the spirit of such a move, but losing immediate contact with friends/family would make it challenging (for me).

Yes. Most end up either in Lisbon or Porto.