Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just curious to see what people think is the safest, most reasonable, ex-pat friendly, warm, best health care country in the world? If you don't have a country to mention you can also post a misconception of a country as I am going to do.
Advertising can be very misleading. I read Costa Rica is resonable, very ex-pat friendly, great healthcare and safe. So I would have answered this by voting for CR. After digging around a bit, I found that the majority of sites that are claiming it is wonder are owned by real estate agents, tour guide businesses, builders. Even the posts on ex-pat forums you will find this.
I have read many crime reports that have changed my mind on that. The developments are often behind razor blade barbwire, with armed security guards. Also, I read reports of homes being emptied while people are out of town. One man even said he was at the hospital with his wife and they emptied it, including the kitchen sink!
From what I am finding out, the CR people are not welcoming the ex-pats the way it was before. Also, I have read in various posts the police there do not protect the people, let alone ex-pats.
One man wrote how he was robbed in broad daylight 100 ft from an ambulance while the ambulance workers stood and watched. The man then found a police to report it and they laughed at him.
Healthcare practices were scary as well. One man wrote about how his wife had been treated poorly and ignored, left to wait, was discharged too soon, all because she was an ex-pat. Also, he mentioned they would draw blood without cleaning the area with alcohol and would not use gloves. He eventually lost his wife
That's my 2 cents. I am curious to see what other places people come up with. Good or bad, it is all good information for us to have.
You're right about Costa Rica. When I visited there (20 years ago), I found that the Costa Ricans didn't really like the expats very much, except those who were positioned to somehow take advantage of them. The expats in Costa Rica also seemed to be largely concentrated in closed communities, with limited contact with the Costa Rican culture.
In reply to the basic OP question, I would just take the easy way out and say Mexico, which is very hospitable and friendly to expats, the quality of life is very high and relatively cheap with affordable access to virtually any amenity, and Mexico is a very safe country, as long as the drug lords have not put a price on your head. And very close to home and easy to get to for American expats.
From what I am finding out, the CR people are not welcoming the ex-pats the way it was before. Also, I have read in various posts the police there do not protect the people, let alone ex-pats.
This is what I've heard, too. Ex-pats have been bailing out of CR for years. Some end up in Ecuador, the latest destination for US retirees who have been turned off by growing crime in Mexico, chaos in Guatemala (though the new president seems to be trying to do something about that), high prices in Panama, and hostility in CR. Parts of Ecuador are affordable, real-estate-wise. See Living in Ecuador | An Insider's Guide to the Good Life But my experience is that the police are ineffective everywhere, including in the US. They'll take a burglary report, but will ignore obvious clues. If a burglary is in progress, they won't send enough people to handle it, they let the burglar escape. This kind of stuff is penny-ante to them, they just don't care.
As far as health care goes, CR has rated ahead of the US on WHO for the last 10 years, at least. In fact, health care in the US has sunk to a new low: 40th on the WHO list, at last report. So CR must be doing something right...?
P.S. I'd really question anyone promoting Ecuador about crime. The country's really changed since "dollarization", and crime has skyrocketed. The people who run the website I linked are real estate agents.
I can't even tell you how many books I've read on great places to retire and how safe and cheap they are only to dig deeper and find out there are people being attacked with knives, missing tourists,etc.
I think it is irresponsible for any real estate agent to paint a rosey picture to entice ex-pats. People sell their homes, give up their lives in hopes for that deam of retiring to a safe, reasonable place only to find out the hard way that it is not safe at all.
Someone else mentioned Uruguay to me before. I will have to study that area. It's always good to be armed with as much knowledge as possible before planning trips to preview areas.
I think it is irresponsible for any real estate agent to paint a rosey picture to entice ex-pats. .
This is free market capitalism. Real estate agents have only one responsibility -- maximize commission by selling swamp land to suckers.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
