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.
We retired early and moved to Costa Rica - we live on the northern Pacific coast and have been here for almost ten years. To say that it is inexpensive here is no longer true. One can live that way, but I promise you that it will not be what you envision. If you want to live somewhat close to a North American standard, life will quickly become very expensive.
Add to that an import tax of up to 100% on most "luxury" items (such as cars) and high import tax on many other imported items (how about US$8 for a box of Cheerios?), expensive electricity, and incredibly high house prices, and one can quickly be stretched rather thin.
A house that would cost me $400,000 in Florida will easily run me $800,000 here. Granted, I might get a nice view, but I will also get intermittent electricity, water outages, and crappy roads...
Alas, medical services are great (in San Jose) and life certainly offers much more freedom than anywhere else I've lived.
After all this time here, I must admit that I feel that this is a mixed bag. Some things about living in Costa Rica are really fantastic but some others can be extremely difficult and frustrating. Life here requires the utmost in patience and you must check any expectations at the door. We've learned that there are two things you can never say: "Wouldn't you think that...." and "Why don't they..."
This might sound easy, but it's truly not.
Granted, my experiences are in rural Costa Rica and not in the San Jose area. The capital is located in a beautiful spot with a fantastic climate. Unfortunately, the city does not live up to its surroundings. It is noisy, dirty, gritty, and has excessive crime levels.
Even though I really like living here, I am currently in the process of relocating to the US to offer my daughter better access to education and my wife and myself more stimulation.
Very well said. My feeling exactly. I left CR after three years due to rising prices, and the trash and crime. But it also has many positives.
It is all relative to where you live now and prices you are accustomed to. For me anything over $200,000 is expensive. If you are in a higher price range there are a lot of options.
The most popular area on the pacific in Costa Rica is Jaco and some affordable property. Vacation Rentals Jaco Beach
Thanks very much. It seems that the idea of retiring offshore may not be what it once was. It's frustrating for my wife and I to look ahead and try to retire on just our SS and small state pension. Most of the places in the U.S. with really low costs of living are not desirable from our stand point--either too hot or too cold or somehow otherwise undesirable. We are trying to think outside of the box, but so are a lot of other people these days.
You say warm weather over cold. OK! You need to be more specific.
What are the limits to the climate you'll be living in? What are you accustomed to? For me, climate is my first consideration, to others it doesn't seem to matter.
I've black-magic-markered anywhere in world with combined heat and humidity, along with pesky insects. I want a climate where I'll never need to use an air-conditioner or a heater, anytime of the year, and those places do exist, along with place you won't need bug spray.
But it takes the right equation of altitude and tropics.
Anywhere along the Caribbean or Pacific coasts of Central America are out of bounds for me. Now, move up in altitude in that area of the world, and you may have the perfection you're looking for. Guatamala City is just a tad too high in altitude at 5000 feet, and it's not surprising to see people donning a leather coat at night down there.
Mexico City, at 7200 feet? No way! Way too cold at night!
Not quite as bad with Quito, Ecuador at 9500 feet or Bogota, Colombia at 8600 feet, because you're closer to the Equator, but times of the year, you'll probably need a heater, although no air-conditioning ever.
Myself, for my perfect climate spot, I'd choose Tegucigalpa, Honduras, at 3300 feet in altitude.
Now, if you don't feel comfortable unless you're living around more of your own people, then move on to some ex-pat area of Costa Rica or Panama.
I've only been to a couple Caribbean islands, but if it spells heat and humdity, I would never consider it. But, don't take it from me, as I'm a desert creature accustomed to very low humidity and absence of bugs.
Wow....thanks everyone for their input. I was able to read but not respond thanks to frying my keyboard after spilling some coffee on the ol' netbook!
We totally do NOT need to be by other ex-pats. Id rather live in a remote village that hasn't been 'discovered.' My family (generation before mine) 'discovered' San Miguel in 1971 when there was maybe a total of about 200 Americans living there full-time. It was cheap, beautiful and we felt we played a part in its renaissance. If I could find a town like that again, Id be thrilled. I realize we could live in a cheap condo on the outskirts but it would just break my heart all over again considering where I had lived.
Tj, I like how you think regarding climate. Even San Miguel gets pretty cold at night for me and heat is necessary there, so warmer than that would be great. Im also not a fan of insects and humidity thanks to having lived in South Florida now for the past 20 years. The beach is not necessary as we've been there, done that - Id be more interested in a place where we could do interesting day trips. Part of what I envision is a maid, a gardener, a cook, etc, so cheap help is a huge plus. Our budget would be around $2,000 a month total (including housing), so when I said very inexpensive, I meant it. We could purchase something for around $150K eventually should we find we love it, but of course would rather spend less than more... Also my husband is a high school math teacher and would actually enjoy continuing to teach or tutor and certainly even dirt cheap wages would help cash flow...
So, are Malaysia, Thailand, Montenegro, Panama, Ecuador, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, etc, etc, realistic? If someone can come up with another suggestion, Im all ears! Oh and a shout out to the person who suggested Phoenix & LV...you are probably right on, but it's a bit too close to our current lifestyle - definitely looking for a bit of adventure!
Wow....thanks everyone for their input. I was able to read but not respond thanks to frying my keyboard after spilling some coffee on the ol' netbook!
We totally do NOT need to be by other ex-pats. Id rather live in a remote village that hasn't been 'discovered.' My family (generation before mine) 'discovered' San Miguel in 1971 when there was maybe a total of about 200 Americans living there full-time. It was cheap, beautiful and we felt we played a part in its renaissance. If I could find a town like that again, Id be thrilled. I realize we could live in a cheap condo on the outskirts but it would just break my heart all over again considering where I had lived.
Tj, I like how you think regarding climate. Even San Miguel gets pretty cold at night for me and heat is necessary there, so warmer than that would be great. Im also not a fan of insects and humidity thanks to having lived in South Florida now for the past 20 years. The beach is not necessary as we've been there, done that - Id be more interested in a place where we could do interesting day trips. Part of what I envision is a maid, a gardener, a cook, etc, so cheap help is a huge plus. Our budget would be around $2,000 a month total (including housing), so when I said very inexpensive, I meant it. We could purchase something for around $150K eventually should we find we love it, but of course would rather spend less than more... Also my husband is a high school math teacher and would actually enjoy continuing to teach or tutor and certainly even dirt cheap wages would help cash flow...
So, are Malaysia, Thailand, Montenegro, Panama, Ecuador, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, etc, etc, realistic? If someone can come up with another suggestion, Im all ears! Oh and a shout out to the person who suggested Phoenix & LV...you are probably right on, but it's a bit too close to our current lifestyle - definitely looking for a bit of adventure!
take a look at Copan. It is beautiful, in Honduras, not too far from Guatamala, safe, inexpensive, unique, friendly and zero crime. I loved it. You could do day trips for years.
Copán Ruinas Honduras (http://www.copanhonduras.org/aboutcopan.htm - broken link) Copán
Seems to me that Panama might be a good option for you. It still offers many "undiscovered" towns, plus healthcare is good while goods and services are available. As an added benefit, Panama's policies seem to be geared toward attracting expats, meaning that they make it rather easy for people to stay...
take a look at Copan. It is beautiful, in Honduras, not too far from Guatamala, safe, inexpensive, unique, friendly and zero crime. I loved it. You could do day trips for years.
Copán Ruinas Honduras (http://www.copanhonduras.org/aboutcopan.htm - broken link) Copán
Ding,ding,ding....I think we may have a winner....
Of great interest beyond all the other perks was this sentence in your last link once I was already pretty much sold: Living well here can be done on $500-$600 a month.
So, are Malaysia, Thailand, Montenegro, Panama, Ecuador, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, etc, etc, realistic? If someone can come up with another suggestion, Im all ears!
Malaysia is do-able on less than US$2,000 per month.
To obtain a retirement visa, one must either put RM150,000 (~US$47k) into a fixed-rate deposit at a bank, OR have a pension income of RM10,000 per month (~US$3k) from outside the country. This is for people over 50. Under 50, you must have both.
If you can deposit the RM150,000, they allow you withdraw a certain amount of that after one year to purchase a local house.
Other than that, food, rent, and public transport are fairly cheap. Stay away from the expat popular spots (lots of Koreans and Japanese in certain places), and the costs are even lower.
Do a google search on Malaysia My Second Home program.
There are alot of neat little towns in Latin America like Copan Ruinas, Honduras but they are very small and a bit isolated. If I went the small town route I'd pick Panajachel, Guatemala on the shore of Lake Atitlan, one of the world's most beautiful lakes. But my overall preference after looking at just about everything would be San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Extremely beautiful, cool climate but not bitter cold, great English bookstore, tons of culture, great restaurants, multiplex playing American movies in English, Walmart and Sam's Club about to open, middle of large interesting area with many options, large city 45 mins away with good airport, couple can be comfortable on less than $1000 a month.
I guess it depends on how you define inexpensive. Check out Venice, Florida, which is just south of Sarasota. It's a paradise for retirees (and many others, for that matter.)
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.
