Exactly this. I mean, I know I qualify for the golden visa or equivalent in a number of countries in which I'd like to live. But that's *very* different from it making sense for me to turn on a dime and move there. And that's before I consider things like moving away from elderly family, leaving friends, and more.

But I've shifted from "it sounds nice to have an expat retirement in one of these places 10-15 years from now" to "I should start looking into what this would look like as the chance I'd want or need to do this sooner is no longer 0%". And that's a huge indictment on the state of affairs here in my mind.