Five Reasons not to retire in the US (article) (relocate, marriage, state)
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I've worked and lived over 10 years in Europe (which I hated), Asia (which I loved) and the Middle East (which I also hated) and have agreed to work the next 18 months in S. America, which I hope is more like Asia than the other two.
Thailand is a country where most people could retire cheaper and have access to a great culture that is friendly, respectful, and where you can live much better at a given cost than the USA as long as you can handle warm and humid climate...Malaysia has many advantages as well.
I love Thailand but I wouldn't retire there. We do long trips to Koh Samui - 2 months during the winter. That's fine with me. I've never found it too hot or too humid, not by the beaches.
I find it ironic that foreigners are trying to get in and Americans are trying to ge out. We as Americans have become complacent and don't realize how well our bread is buttered. More irony is that the pilgrims came over to escape taxation. I guess that's why people are running to third world countries. Ever heard the saying, "Freedom isn't free?" NOTHING is free. lol
Baloney.
The Pilgrims were separatists from the Church of England, who moved to Holland where they would be allowed to practice their non-conformist religious belief. However, they found their group was losing its English cultural roots. They moved to the New World for religious freedom and to be able to keep their community functioning as culturally English. Taxation was not the issue for them.
I don't know about Poland except that many have moved to the UK. But I know many Americans who live or have lived in the UK. Some move back to the US, but the majority prefer to stay here. Like me, they prefer the NHS to US health insurance worries. There are many reasons I prefer it here, but one reason I'd never move back even if I wanted to would be the healthcare.
As I said yesterday, this is your preference and it is fine, but for every senior deciding to retire in foreign countries there are 20 people on the list to immigrant to America. And how many people live in our country that are from UK? A heck of a lot. The basis of the story, if you read it, was cost of living and for the most part UK wasn't where retirees were going. There is no way anyone can honestly believe that living in UK is cheaper than living in America. The article mostly mentioned countries that were bordering on 3 world. If this is what seniors want or others that is fine. If you have a personal reason for not wanting to live in America that is fine, but the article is still bunk!!!!
and as for your comment about no one ever being turned down for medical care because they can't afford it: you don't mention the length of time it can take to see a doctor and you forget, even here in the USA it is rare anyone can not get medical care if they need it. We have several family members in the medical field.
I emigrated in 2000 to Europe, and am very happy. I am so happy with the move that I cannot imagine going back for any reason. However that experience is, I am sure, unusual.
Americans - and I continue to meet and talk with American tourists, and eavesdrop on them - and whether they are young people or adults, I have never met any who would be capable of living happily outside the U.S.
Plainly put, too many Americans are truly living at the level of spoiled children. The happiness of Americans depends to such a great degree on possessions, and they are obsessed with whether they have enough of this, enough of that, enough of something else and especially enough money or not. This is not a mentality that is going to be portable, except for the very rich...and even then, I wonder. And when confronted with the new and different Americans are very suspicious, arrogant and intimidated all at once.
I myself would not want to live in a very poor country, because I probably would not feel safe living in a local neighbourhood, but that the same time I would never, never want to live in a U.S. expat ghetto in a poor country. (As it is I will not live in Brit ghetto here, but there are no problems and so many advantages in not doing so.) So, I can perfectly understand those Americans who no matter how concerned to save a few buck they are, do not want to live in these places. Me either.
More developed countries....many are a yes for me. But I think most Americans (if this thread is any example) would still be spending most of their time b*tching about things....meanwhile, if their kids under six or seven could escape their parents for enough time, they would do great.
Americans are ultra-nationalists, and like fundamentalist Muslims are probably better off staying where they came from.
In this respect the Americans and English are amazingly alike.
In many countries, for residents, I believe that it is. Not for visitors, of course.
Health care is not free anyplace in the world. If you don't pay monthly you paying via your taxes or someone else's taxes. Not to mention the lack of really good, quick medical care.
In all fairness you should add that the US has tax treaties with most other countries so that a US citizen working in another country does not pay taxes to two countries on the same income. The US credits the tax paid to the other country against tax owed to the US.
There shouldn't be any tax owed to the US when the money is earned elsewhere from a non US source.
As I said yesterday, this is your preference and it is fine, but for every senior deciding to retire in foreign countries there are 20 people on the list to immigrant to America. And how many people live in our country that are from UK? A heck of a lot. The basis of the story, if you read it, was cost of living and for the most part UK wasn't where retirees were going. There is no way anyone can honestly believe that living in UK is cheaper than living in America. The article mostly mentioned countries that were bordering on 3 world. If this is what seniors want or others that is fine. If you have a personal reason for not wanting to live in America that is fine, but the article is still bunk!!!!
and as for your comment about no one ever being turned down for medical care because they can't afford it: you don't mention the length of time it can take to see a doctor and you forget, even here in the USA it is rare anyone can not get medical care if they need it. We have several family members in the medical field.
Americans are always defending their healthcare system by claiming there are long waits for medical care in countries with socialised medicine. I'm sure there are longer waits in places like London, but where I am waits are short. For a normal appointment it would be less than 2 weeks, if I said it was urgent it would be right away. Same for specialist referrals.
Sure, in the US care has to be provided for the uninsured if it's life or death, but otherwise, nope. How many have had to file for bankruptcy, or be in debt for life, or had no insurance in between jobs, or couldn't get insurance because of a pre-existing condition??? No, thanks. I'll stay here.
There shouldn't be any tax owed to the US when the money is earned elsewhere from a non US source.
Why not? Doesn't our country have a duty to protect Americans even if they live abroad? Do citizens not have a responsibility to support their country?
I find it ironic that foreigners are trying to get in and Americans are trying to ge out. We as Americans have become complacent and don't realize how well our bread is buttered. More irony is that the pilgrims came over to escape taxation. I guess that's why people are running to third world countries. Ever heard the saying, "Freedom isn't free?" NOTHING is free. lol
The foreigners tend to have superb drive and work ethic and know what it takes to be successful in America. If someone wants to slack off and be "average" they are better off going to Europe or the third world. People all over the world dream of living in places like NYC or San Francisco, extremely high cost of living areas. These places attract the best and brightest because you absolutely must be if you want to earn the kind of income needed to live in a world class city surrounded by people of an elite stature. Just look at the millions of hopefully foreign students who fiercely compete against one another for a chance of spot in a top American university like Harvard or Yale.
Why not? Doesn't our country have a duty to protect Americans even if they live abroad? Do citizens not have a responsibility to support their country?
And what exactly is the US doing for me while I live here? I am not using any US services of any kind. Why should I have to pay any tax to them?
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