Monaco residency 2026: the financial requirements for Americans, and the honest role of a US annuity
Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Short answer: Monaco publishes no fixed income or deposit figure for a residence card in 2026, for a single person or a couple. You need sufficient financial resources (a salary, professional income or sufficient savings), shown by a bank attestation from a Monaco institution, and the Government says the amount judged sufficient depends on the Monaco bank. Figures around EUR 500,000 are often quoted, but that is bank practice, not a rule. Monaco has no personal income tax for residents other than French nationals and no wealth tax, while US citizens still owe US tax on everything, so a US lifetime annuity in Monaco is about cash flow and renewals, not about passing the gate.
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Income rules and taxes by country: Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Malta and more, plus how a lifetime annuity fits.
Monaco residence requirements in 2026
Anyone 16 or older who wants to stay in Monaco more than three months a year needs a residence card (carte de séjour), issued by the Residents Section of the Public Security Department. The Government’s service portal lists what a first application needs:
- A visa first, for Americans: non-EU nationals must obtain a residence visa for Monaco (visa d’établissement) from the French authorities, through the French consulate, before applying. The visa is mandatory to file.
- Sufficient financial resources: a salary, professional income or sufficient savings, shown by a bank attestation from a Monaco institution dated within the last month. In the Government’s words, the sum judged sufficient depends on the Monaco bank.
- A home in Monaco sized to the household: as owner, tenant, or hosted by a close relative.
- Good character: a criminal record extract or equivalent.
- An individual appointment with a complete file of original documents. The first card costs EUR 80.
Card types and renewals: a newcomer gets a temporary card valid one year (EUR 80 first issue, EUR 40 renewal). After three years of residence you can move to an ordinary card valid three years, and after ten years of residence with effective presence, a privileged card valid ten years. To renew, you show proof of means again (a bank attestation from a Monaco institution, for a retiree), plus your latest electricity bill and rent receipt, which is how Monaco checks you actually live there. The service portal does not publish a minimum number of days; plan on real, documented occupancy.
Single or married: how much you need for Monaco residency
| Household | Published figure | What you actually show | Who must show it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | None published | Attestation from a Monaco bank that your savings or income are sufficient | The applicant |
| Couple | None published | A bank attestation for the household (ask the bank whether one covers both); each spouse 16+ needs a card | Either spouse; a non-earning spouse can rely on the other’s support |
| Spouse of a Monegasque | None published | Separate 5-year card after one year of residence | Not the usual route for Americans |
Official versus practice. The often-repeated figure of about EUR 500,000 deposited in a Monaco bank is not in any rule I could find. Monaco’s Government says only that the sum judged sufficient depends on the Monaco bank, and each bank sets its own threshold for opening an account and issuing the attestation. Ask the bank you plan to use, in writing, what it requires for a single person and for a couple. On renewal, the portal lists an attestation of support from the resident who supports a dependent family member, which is how a non-earning spouse is usually covered.
Where a US annuity fits in Monaco, honestly
Monaco is a wealthy-retiree market, and the gate is a bank relationship and a deposit, not an income test. A US single premium immediate annuity (SPIA) does not replace the Monaco bank attestation; it is not held at a Monaco bank and it is not a deposit. What it does do:
- Cash flow without drawing the deposit. Monaco is expensive. Lifetime payments into your Monaco account cover living costs, so the savings behind your bank attestation stay intact for the next renewal.
- Proof of means at renewal. The renewal list accepts a bank attestation; regular lifetime payments arriving in that account make the attestation easy to give, year after year.
- A clean US tax picture. A US annuity is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938 and is not a PFIC. The Monaco bank account and portfolio, by contrast, are foreign accounts you report on FBAR and, above the thresholds, Form 8938, and non-US investment funds held there are generally PFICs with punishing US tax rules. Moving part of the money you live on into a US annuity before you go keeps that part simple.
Which annuity counts
Monaco has no lifetime-income rule, so any annuity paying into your Monaco account supports the bank attestation. For a retiree the cash flow logic still favors lifetime payments: a life-only SPIA, a joint and survivor SPIA, or an existing deferred annuity or MYGA converted to lifetime payments. A period-certain annuity can end while you still live there, and an annuity still accumulating pays nothing toward Monaco’s cost of living.
Why I write about this. My mom is Norwegian, my dad is American, and they’re planning the move from the US to Norway. My mom is the sponsor (the host, or “reference person” in UDI’s words), so Norway’s income test falls on her income, not my dad’s. UDI told us in writing that money in an account does not count as income, and only lifelong income does. Their savings were not the problem; the paperwork wanted a monthly number in the host’s name. The rules in Monaco are different, but the problem is the same one many retirees hit: the income test, not the net worth. I’m writing this to help others in the same boat as my parents. Read how we worked through the Norway income requirement.
In the same boat? Let’s run your numbers
See roughly what a lifetime annuity would cost to close your income gap, then get my personal read by email. I can help while you still live in the US.
Estimates use the September 9, 2026 ImmediateAnnuities.com payout survey (life only) and a 15% cushion. Illustrative, not a quote.
Example: a 62-year-old American moving to Monaco
Because Monaco sets no income bar, size the annuity to the monthly budget you want covered without touching the deposit. Premium = monthly target / payout per $100,000 x $100,000. At 62 the ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026 (life-only, per $100,000 a month) averages $603 for a man and $582 for a woman; the best quotes were $660 and $637. Rounded to the nearest $1,000. Illustrative, not a quote.
| Household, age 62 | Monthly budget covered | Premium, average rate | Premium, best rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single man | $8,000 | $1,327,000 | $1,212,000 |
| Single woman | $8,000 | $1,375,000 | $1,256,000 |
| Couple, annuity on his life | $12,000 | $1,990,000 | $1,818,000 |
| Couple, annuity on her life | $12,000 | $2,062,000 | $1,884,000 |
| Single man, $8,000 budget with $1,600/mo Social Security | $6,400 gap | $1,061,000 | $970,000 |
The budgets are examples, not Monaco figures; use your own. Social Security can start at 62 and shrinks the premium. For a couple, a joint and survivor annuity keeps paying the surviving spouse but pays less per dollar than single life, so the premium runs above the table; get a quote for both. A surviving spouse in Monaco also needs to keep a residence card, and a joint contract keeps the income in the survivor’s name.
US gift note (general information, confirm with a tax adviser): if the premium comes from the other spouse’s money, putting it into an annuity owned by one spouse is a gift between spouses. Between two US-citizen spouses, gifts are unlimited. Gifts to a spouse who is not a US citizen are excluded from taxable gifts up to $194,000 in 2026 (IRC 2523(i), Rev. Proc. 2025-32); above that you file Form 709, usually with no tax due.
On the Monaco side, inheritance duty on Monaco assets is 0% between spouses and in the direct line.
How the annuity is taxed: Monaco and the US
The Monaco side. Monaco has had no personal income tax since an 1869 ordinance. Monegasques and residents do not pay it, with one exception: French nationals, who are covered by the 1963 Franco-Monegasque convention and taxed by France. An American resident in Monaco pays no Monaco tax on annuity payments.
The treaty. There is no US income tax treaty with Monaco; Monaco is not on the IRS list of US income tax treaties. The consequence is simple here: no treaty article, no reduced rates and no re-sourcing rule, and since Monaco charges no income tax there is no foreign tax to credit either. The US taxes the annuity as it would at home.
The US side. As a US citizen you stay taxable on worldwide income wherever you live. A US single premium immediate annuity bought with after-tax savings is taxed under IRC 72: an exclusion ratio makes part of each payment a non-taxable return of your premium until the premium is recovered. If you bought it with IRA money, every payment is taxable. The foreign earned income exclusion does not cover annuities (IRC 911(b)(1)(B)(i)). Foreign tax on the payments can be credited on Form 1116 (passive category income), through the treaty’s relief article where there is one; claiming the treaty re-sourcing rule may also call for Form 8833. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding, even if payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13), Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1). Withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax. An annuity from a US insurer is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938, and it is not a PFIC.
Net result. The US tax is the only tax on the annuity. It is the same US tax you would pay in California, and Monaco adds nothing on top, so the annuity is neutral in Monaco: no better or worse than drawing on savings, but simpler to report.
Does Monaco have a wealth tax? No
Monaco has no wealth tax, no annual property tax and no residence tax (Government of Monaco, Monegasque taxation). Inheritance duties apply only to assets located in Monaco (gifts of Monaco assets are also taxed; confirm the rates), at 0% between spouses and in the direct line, 8% between siblings, 10% for uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, 13% for other relatives and 16% for unrelated people. US estate tax still applies to a US citizen’s worldwide estate. For countries where an annuity can lower a wealth tax, see wealth tax countries and annuities.
Checklist to retire in Monaco from the USA
- Talk to a Monaco bank first: ask in writing what it needs to open an account and issue the attestation of sufficient resources, for one person and for a couple.
- Find a home of adequate size (lease or purchase); the residence file needs it.
- Apply to the French consulate for the visa d’établissement for Monaco before anything else in Monaco.
- If you want lifetime cash flow, buy the SPIA while you still have a US address, and have payments sent to your Monaco account or to a US account.
- Plan for US withholding: since January 1, 2026 a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of it, even on payments to a US account. It is a prepayment, not extra tax.
- Set up FBAR and Form 8938 reporting for the Monaco account, and avoid non-US funds in it unless your tax adviser has a PFIC plan.
The trade-offs, once
A SPIA is irrevocable, level unless you add a cost-of-living rider, paid in dollars while you spend euros, and backed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability. Payouts are lower at 62 than at 70. In Monaco it is a cash flow tool, so size it to the part of your budget you want covered for life; Monaco decides each residence file, and no one can promise approval.
Married? Make the income outlive either of you. In Monaco the main applicant shows the income and the spouse joins as a family member, so the annuity sits with the main applicant. If a single-life annuity is on one spouse and that spouse dies first, the payments stop, and the surviving spouse may have to show income of their own at the next renewal. A joint and survivor annuity, which keeps paying until the second death, or a separate annuity on each spouse closes that gap. Joint and survivor pays less per dollar than single life, so ask for both quotes and compare.
Frequently asked questions
Free annuity gap analysis for Monaco. Tell me your ages, your Social Security or pension, and whether you are single or a couple. I will show how far your income is from the Monaco requirement and what a lifetime annuity would cost to fill the gap, in the sponsor’s or main applicant’s name where that matters.
Related reading
- Moving abroad on a fixed income: hub
- Wealth tax countries and annuities
- Using an annuity to meet a visa income requirement
- Spain non-lucrative visa income requirement
- Andorra passive residence income requirement
- FBAR, FATCA and double taxation of a US annuity
Sources
- Government of Monaco: apply for a residence card (first application)
- Government of Monaco: the residence card (types, validity, fees)
- Government of Monaco: renew a residence card
- Government of Monaco: moving to Monaco
- Government of Monaco: Monegasque taxation
- Government of Monaco: inheritance duties
- IRS: United States income tax treaties, A to Z
- IRS: 2026 inflation adjustments, including the gift exclusion for a non-citizen spouse (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
- ImmediateAnnuities.com: immediate annuity rates by age (survey of September 9, 2026)
- 26 U.S.C. 72 (annuities, exclusion ratio)
- 26 U.S.C. 911 (foreign earned income exclusion; annuities excluded)
- 26 U.S.C. 3405 (withholding on pensions and annuities)
- 26 CFR 31.3405(e)-1 (withholding on payments to US citizens with a foreign address, from 2026)
- IRS: Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements
Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services · Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent, CA lic. #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · 213-414-2808 · hans@hansgoldstein.com
Education, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules, thresholds and exchange rates change; confirm with the consulate or immigration authority and a local tax adviser before you act, and get answers in writing. Hans Goldstein is a licensed insurance agent (CA 4273294) and can only offer annuities to residents of states where he is licensed. Annuity payments are guaranteed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability, not by any government. Payout figures are illustrations from a published survey, not quotes. Immediate annuities are generally irrevocable.