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A Year (or 2) in Germany

7 years ago
We are a family of three and U.S citizens who want to move to Europe (prefer Germany) next fall for a year or possibly two. I am 65 and retired, my wife is 39 and works and our son is 8 and will be in 4th grade next year. My wife and I have both traveled extensively and I have lived overseas before (albeit in Asia) and we want our son to be exposed to and experience other cultures, languages and peoples in depth.
My wife is a mortgage broker and works from home and her job is such that while the hours would be horrible due to the time zone difference she could easily do her job from anywhere in Europe as long as the internet and phone connections are reliable. We would plan to immerse our son in local schools if possible and if not then we would home school.
I know all that is probably TMI but I’m trying to set the stage for the next question which is: What is the simplest, easiest and quickest type of visa/residence permit we would need to get in order to simply live in Germany for a year or two given our perimeters? Neither of us would be looking for a job in Germany and between us we have a very solid and quite good income stream. I have no intention of formally retiring in Germany as from what I can garner that is just a nightmare of paperwork with horrible tax implications. Obviously we would need to purchase health insurance and that is no problem.
I have done some research for Germany, and various other EU countries, and can’t seem to find a viable solution that quite fits our situation or at least one that doesn’t involve one or two years worth of preparation, tomes of paperwork and a half dozen frustrating trips to a consulate somewhere that is in a galaxy far, far away. If anyone has any input/suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you!

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