Retirement outside of the US

[Mike]

I can only offer some info from a neighbor. He's a plant operator not too far from retirement and loves to surf, even at his age. He will be going to Costa Rica. He spends 5-6 weeks a year there now already.

He's got a friend that made the jump in 2009 after dealing with Hurricanes Rita(house destroyed) & Ike(house flooded then burned at 90% rebuilt stage). He made the move an loves it. He cashed out about $300K and lives like a king. He makes a little extra $$ setting up buddies from the states with rentals, fishing and eco guides.

[hooligan]

You either have to have to have a job to move to New Zealand or you have to pay the Government a hefty sum of money to do so! This is what I was told.

I haven’t looked at NZ too closely yet as it’s be a stretch to get the wife on board. She’s good with Caribbean and Belize/CR since a it such a short flight. Hard to beat beaches, surfing, fishing and good food. Can always come back here a couple times in the fall to hunt

[Payne346]

Need to get Chuckfu to weigh in on this. He has a super nice house in CR. I’ve been down multiple times over the years. Health insurance/health care is always an issue to think about. Weather is not super great during the rainy season. Each to his own for sure, but I can vacation there, but always looking to get back to Texas after about 7-10 days down there. And from what I’ve seen it’s not as cheap as everyone thinks. If you live like the locals...yes, it’s cheap. Most of us are not willing to live to that standard of living. I am in that group for sure. Good luck.

[Bassdeer]

Everybody from all over the world is trying to get to America. What's that tell you? I'll pass I'm staying right here.

[LFD2037]

Funny you mentioned property taxes, my uncle just sold his Texas retirement house and is drifting around the redneck Rivera looking at better nesting areas

No way I could ever live in a massively overpopulated with tourists location like that. Fighting people and traffic every day to do daily affairs would be the opposite of retiring to me. Not to mention the cost of living being absurdly high.
Average condo/house starts at $1M.

[johnpaul]

Costa Rica
Nicaragua
Panama
Ecuador
Columbia

Wife and I are looking hard @ Nicaraguan land , ( super fabulous dove and duck hunting) fishing is awesome
Ecuador is 2nd on the list ( more European)

I don’t know that the fabulous dove and duck hunting would outweigh the fact that Nicaragua is essentially socialist and the second poorest country in the Americas for me lol...

We have a ton of visa workers from Nicaragua and they do not speak highly of it at all.

[BigRed323]

I don’t know that the fabulous dove and duck hunting would outweigh the fact that Nicaragua is essentially socialist and the second poorest country in the Americas for me lol...

We have a ton of visa workers from Nicaragua and they do not speak highly of it at all.

My dad is from Nicaragua and I have tons of family still there. We love going to visit family and spend time in the jungles and beaches. I don’t think many who enjoy the comfort of the states would enjoy living there for an extended period of time.

If we had to make a choice to leave, would probably choose New Zealand, isolated areas of Canada (since there is still great hunting), and of course Nicaragua because of all my family ties still there (although many fled to Costa Rica during this last little revolution they had)

[Dejashoot]

One of the guys I work with bought a house in New Zealand a few years ago. I don’t remember the details but basically he said they were closing down the housing market to foreigners to keep costs lower.

I’d consider Ecuador. Costa Rica is insanely expensive housing wise compared to other places especially if you want waterfront housing.

[Kossetx]

Everybody from all over the world is trying to get to America. What's that tell you? I'll pass I'm staying right here.

Like a man in Chile told me. "Everyone hates America...but they all want to go there."

[S-3 Ranch]

No way I could ever live in a massively overpopulated with tourists location like that. Fighting people and traffic every day to do daily affairs would be the opposite of retiring to me. Not to mention the cost of living being absurdly high.
Average condo/house starts at $1M.

He is hanging out in mobile and Biloxi Mississippi, looking at more rural acreage, I agree destin and closer to the gulf is ridiculous
He was in port Mansfield and his property tax was $4500 so he bailed to look for cheaper taxes

[BrianL]

I have been researching this for a while, and wondered if it was brought up on TBH. I need an affordable way to live from 59-65. I think i can retire, but cost of healthcare may hinder my lifestyle if living in the states. I would sell everything, buy a conex to put essentials at my son's, like my tools, hunting stuff, and guns to his place. I'm thinking about Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica, Thailand, and a few others. I'm thinking about a year or two in one then moving on to the next. then at 65 or 67 when full SS kicks in i might move back.

[MLank]

I have been researching this for a while, and wondered if it was brought up on TBH. I need an affordable way to live from 59-65. I think i can retire, but cost of healthcare may hinder my lifestyle if living in the states. I would sell everything, buy a conex to put essentials at my son's, like my tools, hunting stuff, and guns to his place. I'm thinking about Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica, Thailand, and a few others. I'm thinking about a year or two in one then moving on to the next. then at 65 or 67 when full SS kicks in i might move back.

I’ve thought very similar. Except, that lower age bracket started to trend downward and now I have started a wanderlust on how to make it work from 50-65, then 45-65, 40? 35?

Ha. But yes, living off less for 5-10 years while traveling, seeing, doing; and then come back to family/home/Texas/USA.

[Landrover]

I have been researching this for a while, and wondered if it was brought up on TBH. I need an affordable way to live from 59-65. I think i can retire, but cost of healthcare may hinder my lifestyle if living in the states. I would sell everything, buy a conex to put essentials at my son's, like my tools, hunting stuff, and guns to his place. I'm thinking about Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica, Thailand, and a few others. I'm thinking about a year or two in one then moving on to the next. then at 65 or 67 when full SS kicks in i might move back.

Portugal is our next visit. We traveled and hunted in Spain and loved it but it was not less expensive than the rest of Europe. Portugal is supposedly about half of Spain and most speak English. One of my peers from my Eli Lilly days loved going there as the wines were better than Spain & France.......his wine cellar was massive.....lol! The beaches are fantastic and his grandkids liked it there more than anywhere else in Europe they would go.

[bullhead44]

Been thinking about this recently as well. I think I have it figured out. I'm moving to Mexico and giving up my US citizenship. Then I'm gonna sneak back into the country as an illegal alien and live off all of you guys.

[simek]

Something to keep in mind. Cost of living and quality of life are indirectly correlated. As one goes up, the other goes down. It's logical. You have to have a higher tax rate to provide good health care (It's an assumption. I know. I don't want to get in a policy debate). There are some caveats. See lower right quadrant. These are countries with high quality of life (above median) and low cost of living (below median). There are not many.

Lithuania
Czech Republic (Chechia)
Slovakia
Hungary
Poland
South Africa
Romania

Key Take Away: Stay away from Switzerland and Nigeria.

All data gleaned from the web.