'I was ready to leave America': this couple chose Southern France and early retirement over corporate life
When Rich Kagan announced he would meet with Carcassonne's newly elected mayor earlier this year, fellow American expatriates responded with alarm. The mayor, Christophe Barthès, had just won office in March 2026 with 40.4% of the vote, becoming the first Rassemblement National mayor in the southern French city's history—despite opposition parties forming a unified front to block the far-right candidate.
"Oh my god, why are you doing this?" Kagan, 51, recalls them asking. Yet for this gay, Jewish-American father, the meeting held personal importance. "I wanted him to see that families like mine exist here," he said.
The encounter—which Kagan describes as productive and candid—represents one of many unexpected victories for the Kagan family since relocating from Minneapolis to Carcassonne in May 2024. Rich, his husband Yuri, 42, and their daughter Sonia, now six, have built a life far removed from the typical American expatriate narrative.
From Hot Tub Dreams to French Reality
The couple's path to France began years earlier with a conversation during their San Francisco days. Walking home from work, Yuri told Rich that if they married, he wanted children. Rich's response: if they had children, he wanted to live in Europe. "Both of us thought, well, that's crazy, neither one of those situations are going to happen," Rich recalled.
Life proved otherwise. Sonia arrived in 2020. Several years and multiple relocations later, when Rich's employer Amazon announced yet another required move, he reached his limit. "I was ready to leave America," he said.
Yuri initially resisted. Growing up in an immigrant family that had left Europe, he questioned abandoning hard-won stability. "There's a certain immigrant mentality where you have to have a certain level of success on paper," he explained. "Once we finally had that, I'm like, why would we leave?"
The answer came through practical calculation. Working backward from a monthly budget of €2,000, the couple discovered their savings could support a comfortable life in southern France. The 2016 PUMA law, which extended France's universal healthcare to long-stay visa holders even without employment, provided crucial financial security for their early retirement plans. Though a December 2025 change to the Social Security Financing Law now requires non-EU visitor visa holders to pay annual healthcare contributions of €300 to €600, the Kagans had already established their residency.
Every evening in their Minneapolis hot tub, Rich scrolled through his phone, creating vision boards and selecting furniture. Following a 2023 visit to Carcassonne—population 46,080—where some of Yuri's family lives, they found a suitable property. Their planned November 2024 arrival accelerated to May when circumstances aligned. "Everything was just kind of falling into place naturally," Rich said.
Standing Out in a Small City
The Kagans' arrival in Carcassonne sparked immediate curiosity. Their American nationality, early retirement, and status as the only openly gay family Rich knows of in the area made them conspicuous. "As we're walking through the city, we just stand out," he acknowledged.
Yet standing out has not meant feeling unsafe. Unlike in the United States, where sexuality carries political weight, in France it remains largely a private family matter, Rich observed. Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since May 17, 2013, when Law No. 2013-404 made France the 14th country worldwide and ninth in Europe to recognize such unions. More than 70,000 same-sex couples married in France between 2013 and 2022, according to the Institut national d'études démographiques.
The Kagans have found acceptance in their community. Carcassonne hosts an annual Pride march, and despite the election of Barthès—a 59-year-old winegrower who also serves in the National Assembly representing Aude's 1st constituency, where he won re-election in 2024 with 61.44% of the vote—political differences have not overridden basic courtesy.
"When we first showed up at school, parents were like, 'Oh, who's that?'" Rich said. "But now that they know we're not going anywhere, we're invited to all the parties."
Raising a French Daughter
Six-year-old Sonia has integrated most completely. About eight months into their French life, Yuri met with her teacher and learned she ranked among the top students in French. "We were like, wait, what?" Yuri recalled. "We've never heard her speak French at that point."
Today Sonia speaks primarily English at home but is fully fluent in French. Her parents also have peace of mind regarding school safety—a stark contrast to the United States, where more than 200 lives have been lost to school shootings as of 2025, according to the Washington Post.
"We're American dads raising a French girl in France," Rich said.
Finding Meaning in Retirement
The transition from corporate America to retirement in France took adjustment. After about six months, Yuri found fulfillment through volunteering and career coaching. "I found other ways to have meaning," he said.
Rich launched a Substack newsletter approximately a year after arriving, sharing the family's journey and offering advice to other Americans considering France. What began as an independent project now reaches nearly 7,000 subscribers.
When the Kagans first announced their move, they faced skepticism about leaving comfortable salaries, a house, and a car for a savings-supported lifestyle. That skepticism has shifted to curiosity as more Americans explore similar paths. In 2025, France issued 15,388 first residence permits to American citizens—a 17.3% increase from 13,122 in 2024—making Americans the sixth-largest nationality receiving first French residence permits. However, over half of these permits went to students in temporary exchange programs rather than permanent relocators.
The broader trend is real: the United States experienced negative net migration for the first time since the Great Depression in 2025, losing approximately 150,000 residents. High-profile figures including actor George Clooney obtained French citizenship that same year after transitioning to full-time residence in France.
For Americans considering a similar move, Yuri emphasizes understanding budget and living standards. Rich encourages starting early and taking the leap. "We are our own roadblocks," he said.