Six Cheap Places to Retire Abroad, Would You Want To Live There?

Not me. Send me anywhere, just anywhere where it is warm all year round. We live in PA, but own another home in Florida, where we will be going in just a few days and will be staying until September. Then, right after the holidays, probably January 3 or 4. we will be going back down until the first of April. When I was younger and especially when I was a kid, I loved the winter and the snow. Back in the 50's and 60's while I was 'growing up', which my Mom always said that I never did, we had some really big snows and it was extremely cold. Of course, when you are young everything seems bigger and worse that it really is.

We were always so excited when school would be called off or closed early and sent home. Our group of guys would gather at a lake that was frozen and we would skate or play hockey. Or, we would get our sleds and go sledding for hours. We would all try to impress the girls by doing dare-devil style tricks, like going down the hill backwards or standing up on our sleds. Yes, it was a different time back then.

Sorry to get off the subject.
 

Definitely Thailand. I have a friend there that has tried to get me to move there for years, and the picture he paints is wonderful.

Vancouver just sounds a bit too rich for my blood.

I looked into Lake Atitland (Guatemala) previously, and although the living IS cheap there isn't much around there, and burglary and muggings are on the rise.

Argentina? I would be shy after their failed economy.

Spain? Language problem.

Guam? I've heard that large areas of it are pretty nasty, and you're very isolated there..
 
I've been lots of places and called lots of places home, but the only other place I'd even consider would be the West Country in the UK. However, it would be far too spendy for me in my "eld":D
 
The warmer, the better. If I could afford another home, it would probably be in Australia, near the water.....for Winter. Even Daytona Beach is too cold for me in the Winter.
 
I am no fan of South America. I visited there three times in different countries and I had my suite broken into two of those times with stuff stolen. I was sure that both times it was an inside job, but how do you prove it? I had to fill out a police report, so the insurance company would pay and both times the cops told me not to expect to get my stuff back. I told the cop the second time to check the bell hop's car or locker. I guess he knew I was right because he smiled and nodded his head.

I also told my wife that I will not be going back to S.A. By the way, just as a reminder for those that have never traveled abroad or out of the country, NEVER leave your passport in your hotel room. In some countries, U.S. passports fetch big bucks.
 
The I-15 Retirement.

For ME it would be in a USED 32 foot mobil home. One time cost $12,000.
Kalispell, Montana for 4 months (Jun-Sep) space - $2,000.
Logan, Utah for 2 months (Apr-May) / (Oct-Nov) space - $1,600.
Laughlin, Nevada for 4 months (Dec-Mar) space - $2,400.
Average yearly costs $6,000 space + $1,350 Gas = $7,350.
Average monthly costs $612.50 includes utilities.
Average monthly temp 75.

Establish either Nevada or Montana as my home state - no state tax.

Edited: Adjusted my gas expenses. Total miles was less than I thought after searching mapquest.

View attachment 8612
 
I would say Spain too. The Valencia region is lovely. However, I plan to stay here in the UK , where we get 'interesting' weather even if not hot [although this Summer is lovely so far.] I notice that 'oldman' says he lives in PA in the US. What does PA stand for?I have no idea where it is.
 
For the past 23 years I have spent five to six months living in New Zealand. Yep, it's a long way off, but the exchange rate at 86 cents U.S. dollar to the NZ dollar is not bad. 23 years ago it was 65 cents and the difference in living costs more than paid for the round trip air fare. English is the spoken language, excellent standard of living, out standing scenery and great people. 12 1/2 hours non stop from LA to Auckland.
 
Bonnie said:
Guatemala ??? . ... isn't this where the illegals are coming from, to the US?:confused:
Click to expand...

Bonnie, that was exactly my thought when I read that part of the article ! Here we have the article showing us beautiful scenic areas near a large lake (or whatever that is), and then we have all the pro-illegals telling us how terrible that life is in Guatemala, that they have to send their children up here to escape from the horrible gangs and attacks down there ! !
So, which one is the REAL Guatamala ?

I think that each place had some good attractions going for it. I would have to look at everything more closely before choosing any of them, though.
Not sure I would want to live by the volcanoes, either !

I really like the Olympic Peninsula. The climate is moderate, you have beautiful lakes and mountains, easy to get to the ocean from there, and many of the smaller little towns there are pretty cheap to live in as well. I loved living in Western Washington, and being able to go and just spend the weekend at a cheap little motel there and walk on the beaches !
And I love fresh panfried oysters ! !
 
SeaBreeze said:
The only choice for me if I wanted to live abroad from this selection is Vancouver, BC. Here are some of their other choices, would you like to retire abroad in any of these places?? http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/6-cheap-places-retire-abroad.aspx#slide=1
Click to expand...


I'm from Langley, BC which is about 45 minutes outside of Vancouver. Truly a lovely city. But with the housing costs there as high as they are, I'm amazed that that city is listed amongst cheap places to live. One of the reasons we moved to Nova Scotia was because it's cheaper here for property. Average cost for an acre of land is about $5,000 give or take although building costs are pretty much the same. Wages are also lower here and jobs are way harder to find so if you were a senior who thought you might do PT work to help out, you'd probably have difficulty meeting those needs.
 
New Zealand would still be a good choice because of the favorable monatary exchange rate. At 85 cents US to the NZ dolla.r It's not as good as the 64 cents that I was getting in the 1990's, but it's still good if you are living on American dollars. Everyone speaks English, high quality of life, clean air and water, generous and kind people.
 
New Zealand?
New Zealand has so much going for it (have been there several times); Beautiful scenery, friendly people, clean air, good food, and best of all: 'Very Safe'!
However, it is also very 'quiet'! Some, used to stimulating, active city living, could find it boring.
 
You said cheap and Vancouver ????? Vancouver and Oregon are the places I would retire to but I have a fairly new 2,800 sq ft home paid for, with that and my savings I couldn't buy a shack in either of those places.
 
We are enjoying our winter here in Thailand but could never move away from Scotland permanently. Scotland is definitely not a cheap place to retire on US dollars. UK income is needed in addition to US or other.
 
I flew the DC-10 and 747 for a living and like Johnny Cash sang in his song, "I've been everywhere man" (except Antartica) but I especially liked Australia, Bermuda, Hawaii and St. Johns in the Virgin Islands. You could say I like warm islands. :) Unfortunately these can be expensive places to live. But if I had one country to choose I think it would be the USA. Great retirement towns abound and the cost of living varies from A-Z to meet your needs.
 
Susie said:
New Zealand?
New Zealand has so much going for it (have been there several times); Beautiful scenery, friendly people, clean air, good food, and best of all: 'Very Safe'!
However, it is also very 'quiet'! Some, used to stimulating, active city living, could find it boring.
Click to expand...

Funny but that is exactly the way I felt about New Zealand, beautiful but very very quiet.
 
The only reason Vancouver is on the list is stated clearly - healthcare costs. However, what the article DOESN'T say is that immigration to British Columbia is pretty much closed to the average person. My MIL's family, close to 200 of them, live in Vancouver/Richmond. She always thought she could go live with them in her old age. However, we discovered that BC now requires $350K cash - yes, cash - and you must declare your intent to start a business. They want entrepreneurs only.

You are, interestingly enough, welcome to be an 'illegal alien.' There is a six month max residency for visitors, but Customs honestly told us they don't enforce it. This means you can use their healthcare services, but you will pay for it with your own $$$. It is very inexpensive for regular day-to-day care. But getting specialists, especially for certain conditions, can be an issue. Even American $$$ don't always get you to the head of the line, then.

I don't think we should be surprised that Guatemala is praised for its beauty yet has immigrants looking to leave. I married an immigrant and they firmly believe the US remains the land of opportunity. South America lacks a stable middle class and corruption is rampant. Like Asia it is very class-conscious. As an American with even a basic SocSec check, one is able to live an upper-class lifestyle with ease because the currency exchange works heavily in your favor.

We have friends who had to go to Panama to live because he lost his job and simply could not afford to retire in the US. Fortunately his wife grew up in S.A. and speaks fluent Spanish. They took about 2 yrs to complete their permanent move - it was not an easy process. They also were smart to try to a number of different places by renting. They are very happy in Boquete where they currently live.

As we live in one of the most beautiful areas in the world - the San Francisco Bay Area, where people come from all over the world just to spend a few days here - we have no particular desire to live elsewhere or even travel abroad at this point. We've spent the last five years traveling a circuit around Northern CA, with occasional trips elsewhere (all along the West Coast; the Southwest; the Connecticut/Massachusetts area on the East Coast where I have relatives).

It has been terrific to be able to spend uninterrupted days in places we could only visit by day-trips when we were still working. We are foodies so this is another reason why this is such a great area to spend our time in. We do regular driving trips to Napa and Sonoma counties (separately; Sonoma is very large), Monterey/Carmel, Mendocino and the Northern Coast. Sooooo gorgeous!

We enjoy living in the city. We prefer the easy availability and wide variety of services, as well as having our HMO doctor/hospital less than 10 min. from our home. Great weather, beautiful area, staggering number of activities for every interest, varied social life, amazing food...can't think of anything we're missing.
 
I hear of lots of retirees from the U.S. happily relocating to Costa Rica. Visiting beautiful Vancover for pleasure is at the top of my bucket list, Lethe. My home here in NC is more than I need now. I never use the upstairs. But, instead of selling and losing that as an income-producing property and investment, I've been thinking of renting it out, using the rental income for management services, taxes, HOA dues, maintenance, and then hopefully have enough left to help with rent on a smaller place near the beach (by renting I wouldn't have to pay outrageous hurricane insurance or deal with storm damage headaches)….but not abroad as I have commitments here in the US. Plus, being single and up there in the years, I wouldn't have the courage to uproot everything for the unknown.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top