Case Study: A Couple 72 and 71 Moving to Norway. $1 Million in a Home, or Half in a Home and Half in Deferred Annuities?
Written by Hans Goldstein, EA, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Admitted to practice before the IRS
Short answer: it depends on one thing: do they come back to the US. If they do, and one of them lives past about 92 to 93, deferred income annuities (DIAs) beat a home with a rental unit. If they stay in Norway for life, or die before about 92, the home wins. The best of both is a home plus a modest DIA slice, if a return to the US is the plan. Numbers are modeled; real quotes ran a bit higher. Not tax advice.
He is 72, she is 71, both US citizens, moving to Norway with $1 million to place. Either all of it goes into a home with a small rental unit, or half goes into a home with a unit and half into DIAs that start paying in 5 and 10 years (joint life, 100% to the survivor, life only). Which one pencils?
The answer in one table
| Yearly return, second spouse dies at 90 / 95 | Back in the US after 10 years | Stay in Norway for life (last 3 years in a nursing home) | 5-year stay, then the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1M home with a rental unit | 4.6% / 4.4% | 5.1% / 5.0% | 4.0% / 3.9% |
| $500k home with a unit + $500k DIAs (5 and 10 years) | 4.0% / 4.8% | 3.4% / 4.5% | 3.7% / 4.6% |
| $1M in DIAs only | 3.2% / 5.3% | 0.7% / 3.7% | 3.4% / 5.5% |
| Bank in Norway | 3.0% / 3.1% | 2.0% / 2.1% |
Left to heirs at 90: the home leaves about $1.8 million. DIAs, life only, leave $0. The split leaves about $0.9 million. We show life-only DIAs. A cash-refund feature adds a death benefit that Norway may treat as savings insurance and tax as wealth, and it cuts each check by about 5%. Real quotes also show the deferred product pays no death benefit during the deferral years anyway. No ruling covers it.
What it means
- DIAs win if they come back to the US and one of them lives past about 92 to 93. Then the checks keep coming as long as either lives. At 95 the split returns 4.8% against 4.4% for the home, and DIAs alone 5.3%.
- The home wins if they stay in Norway for life. The nursing home takes up to about 85% of annuity income, and does not charge the house. The home with a unit returns about 5% a year; DIAs alone 0.7% to 3.7%.
- The home also wins if they die before about 92, and it leaves the heirs about $1.8 million.
- Best of both: a home plus a modest DIA slice, if they plan to return to the US and fear outliving their money. That slice buys a paycheck for life.
- Inflation. A rental is a natural cost-of-living adjustment: rents rise with inflation, and the house appreciates. DIA checks are flat. Two starts (5 and 10 years) are what create the step-up.
Why the numbers come out this way
- Wealth tax. A home you live in counts at 25% of its value, about $30,000 over 10 years on $1 million. A life annuity from an insurer never licensed in Norway is outside the wealth tax (skatteloven section 4-2(2), Skatte-ABC F-24-2.1); cash in the bank counts in full.
- Rental unit. Rent from a unit in your own home is tax-free in Norway when the lease is at least 30 days and you use at least half the home (skatteloven section 7-2). The IRS still taxes it, and the rent counts as income for the nursing-home charge. The unit stops at her age 85 in the model, since few people manage tenants at 95.
- When the DIA checks start. On a 10-year stay, the first tranche pays from year 6, while they still live in Norway, and Norway taxes those checks at 22% of the gross amount. The second starts after they leave. On a 5-year stay, neither is taxed by Norway.
- The nursing home. The town may charge 75% of income up to 1 G (NOK 136,549 from May 2026) less an allowance, and up to 85% above that, capped at the real cost. It charges income, not capital.
- Estate. Norway has had no inheritance tax since 2014. A US citizen’s heirs get a new tax basis at death (IRC 1014).
Assumptions
- Non-qualified (after-tax) money, not IRA money. Ages 72 and 71; 10-year stay unless noted; 22% tax rates; home growth 3% and rent growth 2.5% a year.
- Rent saved $2,600 a month on the $1M home, half that on the $500,000 home. Unit rent $1,200 a month, half for the $500,000 home, ending at her age 85. US tax modeled on 70% of the rent.
- DIAs: joint life, 100% to the survivor, life only, half starting in 5 years and half in 10. Payouts are modeled and checked against real quotes, which ran a bit higher than the model. Rounded; get your own quote.
Related: the case study for a couple 70 and 68, the article on what pencils and the calculator. I am a US-licensed insurance agent and do not give Norwegian tax or legal advice. This is education on modeled numbers, not tax advice.
Married? Make the income outlive either of you. In Norway only the sponsoring spouse’s income counts, so the annuity is owned by and pays the sponsor. A joint and survivor payout then keeps paying the other spouse after the sponsor dies. 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
Related reading
- Moving to Norway from the US: the hub
- Home, rental unit or DIAs: what pencils
- Case study: parents 70 and 68, 10 years in Norway
- DIA ladder vs real estate calculator
- Norway wealth tax and real estate: why real estate is king
- Moving to Norway for 5 years: wealth tax and annuities
Sources
- Lovdata: Forskrift om egenandel for kommunale helse- og omsorgstjenester, section 3 (long-stay nursing home charge)
- NAV: Grunnbeløpet (G) from 1 May 2026, NOK 136,549
- Skatteetaten: Inheritance tax is abolished (2014)
- Lovdata: Skatteloven section 7-2 (rent from your own home)
- Skatteetaten, Skatte-ABC B-11: primary and secondary home
- Skatteetaten: Wealth tax rates 2026
- Skatteetaten, Skatte-ABC 2025/2026 F-24 Livrenteforsikring (F-24-2.1 wealth, F-24-5.1 income)
- IRS: United States and Norway income tax convention (Articles 18, 22, 23)
- 26 U.S.C. 72 (exclusion ratio; 72(q)(2)(I) and 72(u)(4) immediate annuity; 72(q)(2)(D) life payments)
- 26 U.S.C. 1014 (basis of property acquired from a decedent)
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.