Retiring overseas

[LadyShea]

With the high cost of living and health care in the US for retirees, my mom and I have been discussing her and dad going furriner. Yucatan, Mexico has amazing deals on real estate and a large ex-pat community as do other places in the world. A couple can live very nicely on Social Security in some of these areas, apparently (though that may be deceiving)

Anyone ever looked into retiring overseas seriously?

[Javaman]

Only semi-seriously. I've got quite a while to go, yet. I looked at Argentina, though. Lovely wine country and cheap land. Plus I'm not too bad at Spanish -- some immersion should sort me out. I'll try to find some of the good links for Argentinian land/homes.

[Ensign Steve]

I would love to retire to Mexico. I don't know what the world's political climate will be in another 20 or 30 years, but I have always loved Mexico and hoped to live there one day.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

I would love to retire to Mexico. I don't know what the world's political climate will be in another 20 or 30 years, but I have always loved Mexico and hoped to live there one day.

I have been on Real Estate in Yucatan - Mayan Living of Merida, Mexico for the last few hours, dreaming of renovating one of the colonial townhomes.

[Javaman]

Oh, I might be able to live here!

San Rafael, Argentina - Vineyard & Orchards On 134 Acres - $402,000

Slightly out of my price range right now, though. There was a great web page that I spent oodles of time on but I'm having trouble locating it now. Not that I'm trying to change your mind but I don't know nuthin' about Mexico - except for Ciudad Acuña which is not very nice.

[Ensign Steve]

Yucatan is wonderful. It's smack in between the gulf of mexico and the carribean, and a lot of it is farther north than (read: not as cripplingly hot as) a lot of texas. And its just a puddle-jump across the gulf from where you are!

Edit: Oops, I'm mistaken about the latitude. I was thinking of wext mex.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by Javaman

Only semi-seriously. I've got quite a while to go, yet. I looked at Argentina, though. Lovely wine country and cheap land.

Or Uruguay.

[godfry n. glad]

My SO is pushing for Costa Rica. She's done some humanitarian work there and loves it. It seems to be far more stable than most other banana republics.

And Ensign...You're going to have to prove this one to me:

Yucatan is wonderful. It's smack in between the gulf of mexico and the carribean, and a lot of it is farther north than (read: not as cripplingly hot as) a lot of texas.

The last I checked no part of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is "farther north than a lot of Texas." Nor is any part of it farther north than any part of Florida, including the Keys. If anything, I'd guess that the Yucatan is just as hot and a helluva lot more humid.

[Ensign Steve]

Keep reading, my friend.

[godfry n. glad]

Ah, wext mex.

That's a different story, now.

That's a whole lot dryer. Like two major deserts, the Chihuahuan and the Sonoran. It's a dry heat.

Yeah, further north all right (than many parts of Texas), but I still don't know about cooler climate. At night, maybe.

[ZEZOZE]

this sounds like just another american plot to spread out and take over the world. the empire's new weapon are aging baby boomers. there are too many to kill them all and their weapons are shields of self-righteousness that leave all opponents stunned and their bellies exposed...

now put your teeth in and smile, bitches!

[ChuckF]

Retirement is pretty far off for me, but I would like to do the Brit thang and retire to southern France (or maybe Bulgaria). The major complication, as I understand it, it usually regulations about foreign nationals owning property. But there are a lot of agencies that help foreigners buy property and deal with the red tape. I have no idea about the situation south of the border.

[Ensign Steve]

I do know that you can't own any part of the coastline of Mexico. That's all protected. That's about all I know about it, though.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by InTheServiceOfZeke

this sounds like just another american plot to spread out and take over the world. the empire's new weapon are aging baby boomers. there are too many to kill them all and their weapons are shields of self-righteousness that leave all opponents stunned and their bellies exposed...

now put your teeth in and smile, bitches!

I got all my original teeth, sonny...

All any subject peoples need do is install the McBarnyard's Golden Starches (like pustules upon the land) and the invading 'merkins will continue to kill themselves.

[Plant Woman]

I haven't thought about it seriously, but always thought that living in New Zealand or Tasmania would be a great place to retire. However it also seems like a real hard thing to do too.

[Qingdai]

One of my friend's parents retired to Mexico about three years ago and returned just this year. I think they had health problems that they felt better about being in the US.
When I was in Costa Rica in 1987, there was some local discontent with Pensionarios.
Is there a parade I can rain on?

Really I'd like to go to Mexico, Costa Rica or south of France.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by Qingdai

One of my friend's parents retired to Mexico about three years ago and returned just this year. I think they had health problems that they felt better about being in the US.
When I was in Costa Rica in 1987, there was some local discontent with Pensionarios.
Is there a parade I can rain on?

Really I'd like to go to Mexico, Costa Rica or south of France.

NZ or Canada have always been my objectives. I don't give a hoot about warm weather year 'round, I just want a comfortable out of this insane asylum I was born into.

[LadyShea]

All my parents have for retirement is their SS and their real estate equity. SS is not much to live on in the US, and though the equity is pretty tidy, smaller places/rent are almost as expensive as their current place...so downsizing doesn't make much of a difference (unless it's to some Midwestern boring place). Medicare sucks as we all know, and many retirees/elderly can't afford their medications. Buying private insurance for 60 somethings who have had heart attacks is nearly impossible.

BUT, that same equity will buy a nice place near the coast, and allow for significant fix up, without having to carry a mortgage someplace like Yucatan and others. Then their SS can cover living expenses easily. Meds are way cheaper etc. Since the money is coming in from outside, manyof these foreign countries are happy to be host to the American retirees...they aren't competing for jobs etc. and contribute to local economies.

Is my thinking off? If so please let me know because I am having trouble putting stuff in the "cons" column.

[Qingdai]

There was also a report on NPR (?) about a family moving to India. Health care and living was so much cheaper there they could afford to have assisted living on SS. Plus warm!

[wildernesse]

Disaster relief in Mexico is probably not as good as the US. (I know, at the mo, not a high standard.) I would be concerned about that if I moved to the Yucatan, for example. I'm not sure that I would want to live through a hurricane in Mexico.

The idea of health emergency or any emergency requiring evacuation in a place where I don't know the language really bothers me, but your aversion to this risk may be much less than mine.

[LadyShea]

Thanks Wildy. I have the same aversion/fear for many places, but oddly not Mexico.. I have no idea why.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by Qingdai

There was also a report on NPR (?) about a family moving to India. Health care and living was so much cheaper there they could afford to have assisted living on SS. Plus warm!

I remember a TV report on jobs exported to India, some of them have gone to American expats. The mayor of one fairly high tech town there warmly welcomed Americans willing to move there. The report showed all the different restaurants there were and how the meals they serve only cost about a dollar. It also said if you cooked your own meals you could easily get by on a dollar or two a day. I'm sure the currency exchange rate has slid since then, but even at two to four dollars, it's fairly inexpensive to live there.

Originally Posted by Dingfod

I remember a TV report on jobs exported to India, some of them have gone to American expats. The mayor of one fairly high tech town there warmly welcomed Americans willing to move there. The report showed all the different restaurants there were and how the meals they serve only cost about a dollar. It also said if you cooked your own meals you could easily get by on a dollar or two a day. I'm sure the currency exchange rate has slid since then, but even at two to four dollars, it's fairly inexpensive to live there.

And you'd get to read a lot, unless you're crazy and actual enjoy a movie culture where every damned film has random singing.

[Qingdai]

I must be crazy. I love Bollywood films, I wish all films had random dance numbers and wet sari scenes.
My favorite had Frankenstein, the wolf man and a mummy randomly chasing the lead characters around the last half hour of the movie.

I suppose that India has the internet and you could download films if you liked.

[LadyShea]

Oooh, looks like you can beautifully restored villas in Italy's Abruzzo region very inexpensively as well!