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Old 06-01-2016, 03:03 PM
 
Location: New York
1,186 posts, read 958,056 times
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This probably isn't the first choice for most Americans, but I would retire to India and am, in fact, planning to do so. However, the city I would retire to is not one of the major hubs of pollution and overcrowding but is a smaller (by Indian standards anyway) coastal city.

Reasons for doing so:

1. COL is way, WAY lower than the US given the current exchange rate and market values. I can get a 2k - 3k sq ft house for the same price as a 2bd apartment here in NY.
2. Services (which become much more necessary as you age) are very inexpensive and easy to find such as housecleaning, driver, help with groceries, nursing, etc.
3. Healthcare is very good despite all claims to the contrary - facilities in this particular city are as good as any in the US and at a fraction of the cost.
4. Family ties to the area - I would have a lot of relatives/friends to rely upon for support and socialization
5. Cultural reasons - as an elderly person there are few places I would rather be due to the general deference and respect/affection given to the elderly in the area. The nursing home concept is all but absent.

The cons are the things that people have mentioned about other places such as culture, language barriers etc. I'm currently already working on the language aspect and travel to this particular location yearly for about a month or so, but would definitely need to plan in advance nevertheless.

I think people tend to give India a really bad review when, in fact, there are some very decent places to stay apart from what most Americans think of (Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, etc). This might account for the 0 Americans I have met while traveling to the smaller cities.

Anyway, just my two cents.
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Old 06-01-2016, 03:18 PM
 
Location: NC Piedmont
4,023 posts, read 3,783,318 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
Precisely. Whether I move to England, Panama, Botswana, or the next spaceship to Mars, or stay right here in Ohio, I'm going to be paying the same US federal income tax. If that's my greatest expense in retirement, then local cost-of-living becomes a secondary consideration.
I still don't see your logic. You say COL would be a secondary considertation, but you have already established that there is no reason to consider tax at all since it won't change. So what would be the primary consideration if it can't be taxes and isn't COL?
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Old 06-01-2016, 03:46 PM
 
9,837 posts, read 4,601,925 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
A crucial consideration is that income for American citizens is taxed worldwide. For those people for whom income-taxes are their largest expense in retirement, relocation to a "cheaper" country may not make significant difference.

As an immigrant to the US, I'd hypothetically like to return to my birth-country upon retirement – not to save money, but to partake of the culture. Unfortunately, this is impossible. Said country has woefully disintegrated, lost its ethos and national spirit, and was overrun by charlatans and bandits. The best realistic option is therefore to take residency in an American state without income taxes, and to spend as much time as possible in an immigrant-enclave elsewhere in the US (most likely New York City).



I've been trying to improve, but peer-pressure keeps thwarting my efforts.

The last time I checked, (at least a decade ago) your income had to hit $175,000 PA in order to trigger actual taxation. And many countries have tax treaties that consider taxes paid in the foreign country.

the result is not that many middle class folk end up paying, although you may have to file anyway, but it is just a quick easy to do standard filing...
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Old 06-01-2016, 08:42 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 4,588,823 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightengale212 View Post
I went on a Panama Canal cruise a couple of years back in the month of October and the heat and humidity in Panama was way above my heat tolerance, and I am one that does Disney World in August. No Thankis
I wonder if it's just because it is an activity that the body felt more exhausted and swamped. Whenever I visit my sister and go out with my teenage nephews in California, all the activity intensified the heat further. I could imagine if I live in California though that it won't feel as much hot since I won't be going out on daily activities.
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Old 06-01-2016, 08:49 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 4,588,823 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vladlensky View Post
This probably isn't the first choice for most Americans, but I would retire to India and am, in fact, planning to do so. However, the city I would retire to is not one of the major hubs of pollution and overcrowding but is a smaller (by Indian standards anyway) coastal city.

Reasons for doing so:

1. COL is way, WAY lower than the US given the current exchange rate and market values. I can get a 2k - 3k sq ft house for the same price as a 2bd apartment here in NY.

Anyway, just my two cents.
Spill it , which area is best to retire in India that you're looking into? You also mentioned house so does that mean they allow foreigners to buy land there?

I have an Indian colleague who bought in a 2-bedroom condo in India for $83K in 2007. He is targeting to complete his payment by end of the year. I'll ask again which city did he buy since he knows the area and I'll post here.
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Old 06-01-2016, 09:49 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 4,588,823 times
Reputation: 5455
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiluvr1228 View Post
I once considered Ecuador but they have had civil unrest and earthquakes in the last 5 years. I doubt I would ever leave the U.S.
Living in Ecuador for Americans/foreigners


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vQtd15UAU


This is very important. You have to learn the art of haggling in prices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoRcWNjIOiM

As for the civil unrest, as long as it is within the boundary of reasons, for me that is fine. US has its share of civil unrest. And yes, Ecuador along with the other countries in the Ring of Fire that includes US' west side (have you seen San Andreas movie yet? It's great!), Chile (remember the 33 miners back in 2010?), Japan (too many earthquakes to mention), Philippines (don't worry Makati CBD is not affected by the fault line) and others. Just know where the actual fault lines lie in each area and do not reside close to it.
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Old 06-01-2016, 11:24 PM
 
Location: Hollywood and Vine
2,074 posts, read 2,004,878 times
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My husband wants us to to back to his native Netherlands ASAP . So he can retire and our health benefits are far better . HE got here too late to ever retire . Plus he misses the 30 days with pay vacations.
We have been back 10 years and he was glad to see things he wanted to see. We are now saving up the cash to go back .
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Old 06-02-2016, 12:40 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,505,644 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
Precisely. Whether I move to England, Panama, Botswana, or the next spaceship to Mars, or stay right here in Ohio, I'm going to be paying the same US federal income tax.
Not necessarily. If you need to withdraw 60k annually in Ohio but only 40k in Panama, there might be a difference in your taxable income thus your fed income tax burden.

Either way I have trouble imagining a scenario where fed income taxes are a retiree's biggest expense.
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Old 06-02-2016, 07:22 AM
 
Location: New York
1,186 posts, read 958,056 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yippeekayay View Post
Spill it , which area is best to retire in India that you're looking into? You also mentioned house so does that mean they allow foreigners to buy land there?

I have an Indian colleague who bought in a 2-bedroom condo in India for $83K in 2007. He is targeting to complete his payment by end of the year. I'll ask again which city did he buy since he knows the area and I'll post here.
Bhubaneswar, it's on the far eastern side of India south of Calcutta in Orissa. I think it was recently named India's top smart city and is overlooked by most tourists and even Indians due to it's lack of cosmopolitan appeal. However, this is beneficial in some ways, as the air is clean, traffic is relatively low (for India) and it has that sort of 'small city' feel to it. If I were making a correlation to the US, I would say that it is like Minneapolis, Kansas City or one of the Midwestern cities that people don't visit unless they have some specific reason to.

Orissa is close to Puri beach which is a huge religious pilgrimage spot due to the temple as well as a vacation spot due to the beachfront. It's about a 2hr drive away and nice to get away on weekends - many people buy a 1bd apartment there for just that reason.

In terms of housing costs, a friend of mine just built a new home for around $75-80k USD on the outskirts of the city (there's a lot of new development in the prior agricultural areas). The house has a top level which is specifically intended to rent out initially for extra income.

I'd be interested to know where your colleague purchased. Obviously property values in the major hubs (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore) are very high but in smaller cities you can build a very nice house for far less than the costs in the US, including property taxes, which are also lower, on average.

As far as climate, you're looking at coastal temperatures and the best time to go is Nov-Jan. Hottest months are in March-May before the monsoon season hits, then a lot of rain. The cuisine in Orissa is very mild even by US standards and is heavy on various freshwater fish, crabs and vegetables.
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Old 06-02-2016, 01:58 PM
 
Location: New York
1,186 posts, read 958,056 times
Reputation: 2970
Following up to my above post, here's some further information (for those so inclined):

About Bhubaneswar


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