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I'm sorry Hillbilly I didn't realize you were looking to be refuted! You posted a lot of reasonable points that should be helpful to those researching the topic. In my opinion only something like this should only be done after a lot of research, should be done for a short period of time (maybe a few years provided your health is good, no real estate should be purchased. As far as crime goes the less traveled may not realize (especially in SA) that police and taxi drivers are not to be trusted. Gamble? Maybe. An adventure? Definitely! But no place to be really old and sick.
That is so true. and I know someone who got mediclaly treated there incorrectly.
If you do not blend well into other cultures or can grasp their language, forget it. You'll be an easy crime target all the time. OTOH, if you do fit in, then all you have to worry about is just like in the U.S.. crime.
I think overall you will live healthier with less processed food, more walking, less media hype, and genuine people.
This made me think of a woman I used to work with. She always wanted to retire to a certain town in Mexico. She learned to speak the language fluently by taking classes after work and by speaking to the natives when she visited the town. Most of her vacations were spent there.
I haven't seen her in years but I know she would be retirement age by now. I am certain she made it to her little town. By preparing herself ahead of time by learning the culture, language and anything else she needed to know she would have made a pretty smooth transition.
It might be a good idea for people who think they might like to retire to another country to start thinking about visiting possible relocation spots and getting to know the place ahead of time while they are still working.
I'm very interested in Ecuador. I've vacationed there and feel that it would be a viable place to consider retirement. Stable (for South America) economy, world-class medical care in the cities, the US Dollar is their monetary unit and the weather is great. My retirement income would stretch quite nicely there.
Chow, include Ecuador in your research. There are three main areas where there are expat communities, mostly Americans: Cotacachi, in the north (I think the local expat real estate company is called "Go, Ecuador", they have a blog), Cuenca, farther south, and around Vilcabamba and Loja province in general, in the south, above the Peruvian border. All are in the highlands, and have the same temp., about 70 degrees, year-round. Cotacachi and Loja province are in heavily Indigenous areas, but with mixed population. Cotacachi was the last one of the three to be "discovered" by US expats, so the COL there is a little cheaper, but is catching up fast, due to its popularity. It's across the highway from the well-known market town, Otavalo. Cotacachi has a local hospital that's good, and a local public market that was a US-funded AID project, which is very popular with the local expats.
On that blog site, btw, you'll find some discussion about issues like the possibility that Ecuador's president might tax expat retirement income, and other such considerations.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 08-30-2016 at 04:27 PM..
I appreciate the responses in this thread. Like I said I'm in the research phase here but the whole financial part of getting access to your money being made more and more difficult by the US government is definitely a bummer. Never seen that mentioned on the website that I've just lightly perused so far. IDK, this isn't something I'm looking to do right now, I was kicking around the idea of working another 5 yrs or so and that would put me in my low 50's and was maybe hoping to take an early retirement but if you can't get easy access to your money then IDK sort of defeats the purpose of relocating..... have to spend more time looking into it. I also want to get a couple three years to learn Spanish. The thought of going to another country and not speaking the language is pretty scary to me. I'd feel too helpless. I get that certain areas some people probably speak decent English, but if you get off of the beaten path you're screwed. Some of the websites I saw said that English speaking is pretty limited.
I don't really care if people want to live abroad. On a personal level though, I don't consider someone who wants to leave this country permanently a real American.
What does occur to me though is that if someone is getting a social security check or pension check and spending it abroad its money that isn't being spent in the United States. Money spent in the United States goes to create jobs and employment opportunities in this country. Therefore, it seems an activity to me that shouldn't be encouraged or subsidized in any way.
I am not saying you are choosing to live in another country for these reasons. However, there are Americans--particularly men--who choose to live in third world countries like the Philippines to exploit the local women. That is something I am completely against. There are also other questionable motives--in my mind--such as wanting to live in a place where you can be waited on hand and foot by servants who will work for extremely low wages.
If money is an issue, there are plenty of cheap places to live in the USA.
I just can't support something that I believe isn't a good thing. Its certainly not good for the image of this country.
We disagree about so many things - but I tend to agree with you when it comes to this.
FWIW - my first housekeeper when I moved to NE Florida 20 years ago was an immigrant from Lima Peru. Miraflores. She and her husband were school teachers there. Very well educated. But - at their ages and with their language skills - they couldn't become school teachers here. They came here for their kids - as did many members of their family - as soon as they got their green cards. And their kids have done great. Their oldest son is a doctor now (UF/UF Medical School). And the rest of the kids have done great too. It kind of reminded me of why my 4 grandparents came to this country from Europe.
I am not sure I agree with you 100% about all the money stuff. If someone is entitled to SS - I don't think it should matter where they live to get it. OTOH - I am perfectly ok with the Medicare rules. And the rules applying to other medical benefits - like veterans' care - as well.
I agree with you 100% about exploiting local women and workers. Basically employing people at slave wages or similar. That rubs me the wrong way. Robyn
I appreciate the responses in this thread. Like I said I'm in the research phase here but the whole financial part of getting access to your money being made more and more difficult by the US government is definitely a bummer. Never seen that mentioned on the website that I've just lightly perused so far. IDK, this isn't something I'm looking to do right now, I was kicking around the idea of working another 5 yrs or so and that would put me in my low 50's and was maybe hoping to take an early retirement but if you can't get easy access to your money then IDK sort of defeats the purpose of relocating..... have to spend more time looking into it. I also want to get a couple three years to learn Spanish. The thought of going to another country and not speaking the language is pretty scary to me. I'd feel too helpless. I get that certain areas some people probably speak decent English, but if you get off of the beaten path you're screwed. Some of the websites I saw said that English speaking is pretty limited.
My husband and I just spent a week in Madrid a few months ago. English in Madrid - which isn't exactly off the beaten path - is very limited. Note that my husband speaks somewhat although not totally fluent Spanish and I am ok in Spanish. So it wasn't an issue for us during our (vacation) trip. OTOH - I would hate living in a place where English was limited or non-existent. My brain has to work very hard to speak the Spanish I can speak. Translating from English to Spanish - figuring out all the words - conjugating the verbs - etc. It is super fatiguing. My husband's Spanish is much better than mine - and he might do ok. But I couldn't. OTOH again - I think my husband might have issues in a Spanish speaking country because - although he can speak Spanish very well - he's worse than I am when it comes to understanding what people are saying. IOW - he's better at talking - I'm better at listening/understanding. Just think of all the things you do every day. Would you care to conduct your everyday business in a second language where you're functioning at less than 100%? I wouldn't. Robyn
I appreciate the responses in this thread. Like I said I'm in the research phase here but the whole financial part of getting access to your money being made more and more difficult by the US government is definitely a bummer. Never seen that mentioned on the website that I've just lightly perused so far. IDK, this isn't something I'm looking to do right now, I was kicking around the idea of working another 5 yrs or so and that would put me in my low 50's and was maybe hoping to take an early retirement but if you can't get easy access to your money then IDK sort of defeats the purpose of relocating..... have to spend more time looking into it. I also want to get a couple three years to learn Spanish. The thought of going to another country and not speaking the language is pretty scary to me. I'd feel too helpless. I get that certain areas some people probably speak decent English, but if you get off of the beaten path you're screwed. Some of the websites I saw said that English speaking is pretty limited.
Chow, we've been to Ecuador to check it out, spent a month there a couple of years ago and we're going back again this December to try to put something together.
As far as I can tell at this point it's easier to get a pensioner's residency permit to live in Ecuador (not easy) than it is to deal with all the financial traps the US government has set up for American expats. Because if the US expat runs afoul of any law or regulation (73,000+ pages of US tax code) unkowingly, and if that expat has any assets still in the US, particularly bank accounts, the IRS can seize those assets leaving the expat 5,000 miles away without recourse or money.
It's a minefield and I still haven't completely figured out how to pull it off safely.
I find all the usual dumb discussions here about expatting in retirement to be generally useless. Most of these posters want to talk about culture or street crime or weather while ignoring the the two biggest parts of expatting:
Residency visas
Moving money
Those are the most important elements. Solve those first.
P.S. Governments are a shifting sand of of laws and regulations. In the years we have been planning this, Ecuador's visa requirements have changed repeatedly and American financial fencing laws have become more draconian. I expect more of the same in the future.
I appreciate the responses in this thread. Like I said I'm in the research phase here but the whole financial part of getting access to your money being made more and more difficult by the US government is definitely a bummer. Never seen that mentioned on the website that I've just lightly perused so far. IDK, this isn't something I'm looking to do right now, I was kicking around the idea of working another 5 yrs or so and that would put me in my low 50's and was maybe hoping to take an early retirement but if you can't get easy access to your money then IDK sort of defeats the purpose of relocating..... have to spend more time looking into it. I also want to get a couple three years to learn Spanish. The thought of going to another country and not speaking the language is pretty scary to me. I'd feel too helpless. I get that certain areas some people probably speak decent English, but if you get off of the beaten path you're screwed. Some of the websites I saw said that English speaking is pretty limited.
Are you posting on forums for your country of interest. Have you posted on expat.com?
I'm sorry Hillbilly I didn't realize you were looking to be refuted! You posted a lot of reasonable points that should be helpful to those researching the topic. In my opinion only something like this should only be done after a lot of research, should be done for a short period of time (maybe a few years provided your health is good, no real estate should be purchased. As far as crime goes the less traveled may not realize (especially in SA) that police and taxi drivers are not to be trusted. Gamble? Maybe. An adventure? Definitely! But no place to be really old and sick.
That's a fair statement, in fact taxi drivers were the biggest risk when I worked in Arequipa, Peru....I have heard and from my limited experience it seemed true that Chile is an exception to this.
Just FYI, you often can find intensive Spanish lessons one-on-one in Latin American countries. You'll probably get more out of it if you at least have a basic introductory college course in the US, to get you started, but I'm mentioning this so you know you'll have another option. Heck, in Ecuador they'll even give you private Quechua lessons, if you want.
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