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Hot climate is simply not an issue. By retirement age, you'll be using sweaters and blankets.
I've heard that before but I don't see it in my parents or MIL. As it is I'm 55 and have spend the last 4 years with actual winter (prior to that I was in Atlanta and really only had a pale version of winter) and rekindled my love for it. Cold outside and warm house just seems so much more appealing than hot outside and blasting AC.
Well, we retired to a beachfront condo in Ecuador and love it. We can live the high life on a low budget.
People are friendly, seniors are respected, it's 75 to 85 all year 'round, no mosquitos, no gun violence.
Sure, if I was a millionaire I might have stayed in the U.S. But this is perfect for us.
Modern shopping mall a few miles away, new hospital about 10 min. away, cheap taxis, buses and flights.
For something different, there's the mountains and the Amazon. Better internet than where we were in the U.S. Health care is $80 per month for us both and property taxes are $45 a year.
Our incomes goes a long way! We can even travel to Europe for months at a time.
Or, we could live in a trailer park in Alabama. Hmmmm.....
The best place to retire is the good old USA.
-Unless you speak Spanish (or Portuguese), you would be confined to the expats settlements, where everything is marked up, so the supposed cost savings would be reduced.
- Unless you are from Louisiana or Alabama, the heat and humidity will be unbearable. I spent some time in Panama City on business a few years ago. In February! I could barely walk the streets, and had to struggle into an air-conditioned mall to cool off. I promptly scuttled my sightseeing plans and hired a cab to drive me around instead.
- Forget about efficient shopping, banking, transportation. It's a Third World, remember?
- Medicare typically does not cover people living abroad.
- You are one military coup away from losing everything.
I can see the advantages of retiring in Europe, but Latin America? No thanks. The writers of these silly lists are cousins of those who compile those ridiculous Best Places to Live in the US.
Wow these comments are what is ridiculous. If this is what one believes then fine, they should stay in the US and remain close minded.
Well, we retired to a beachfront condo in Ecuador and love it. We can live the high life on a low budget.
People are friendly, seniors are respected, it's 75 to 85 all year 'round, no mosquitos, no gun violence.
Sure, if I was a millionaire I might have stayed in the U.S. But this is perfect for us.
Modern shopping mall a few miles away, new hospital about 10 min. away, cheap taxis, buses and flights.
For something different, there's the mountains and the Amazon. Better internet than where we were in the U.S. Health care is $80 per month for us both and property taxes are $45 a year.
Our incomes goes a long way! We can even travel to Europe for months at a time.
Or, we could live in a trailer park in Alabama. Hmmmm.....
I bet not long enough to see the bad side of living in a foreign country Unless you're fluent in Spanish, which most Anglo Spanish speakers are not, you will never be accepted fully. IF you're married this means a lot less as you have a companion. Yeah medical care is cheap but it's not very good either. And a major illness will still set you back even at the low rates there, IF you can find up-to-date medical treatment. And shopping will never be as good as in the USA and is likely much worse. Also your legal rights are likely to be much less than USA and justice is likely to be long delayed if at all. Not to mention the hassles of getting residency and citizenship.
Last edited by Steveareeno5; 02-18-2022 at 09:15 PM..
Reason: addition
The American magazine Travel + Leisure recently published an article of the best countries to retire. Among Latin American countries imcluded among the ten are the following in the order they appear.
01. Panama
03. Dominican Republic
05. Costa Rica
08. Ecuador
09. Mexico
10. Colombia
For me and I would guess many Americans, there is a certain rate of crime/murder that you would avoid and that would include many cities in the USA. As countries, Columbia, Mexico and DR have murder rates far higher than the USA average making it quite difficult to feel secure enough to move there. There are outliers such as Merida, Mexico but it's not particularly safe to drive there from the USA.
Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica have lower crime in comparison, and I think makes them more desirable. Were I to retire in Latin America, I would likely go with the nation that has a lower murder rate and longer lifespan than the USA that has the most stability in Latin America, so Chile.
If Mexico lowered their murder rate, I think you would see a flood of people from the USA moving there, reversing the previous flow from Mexico to the USA.
Well, we retired to a beachfront condo in Ecuador and love it. We can live the high life on a low budget.
People are friendly, seniors are respected, it's 75 to 85 all year 'round, no mosquitos, no gun violence.
Sure, if I was a millionaire I might have stayed in the U.S. But this is perfect for us.
Modern shopping mall a few miles away, new hospital about 10 min. away, cheap taxis, buses and flights.
For something different, there's the mountains and the Amazon. Better internet than where we were in the U.S. Health care is $80 per month for us both and property taxes are $45 a year.
Our incomes goes a long way! We can even travel to Europe for months at a time.
Or, we could live in a trailer park in Alabama. Hmmmm.....
What part of Ecuador did you choose? Can you post a list of your monthly costs?
I worked in Ecuador for a year several years ago. I found the people to be friendly and the costs lower than the USA. Also not all of Ecuador has very hot weather as Quito (the capital) and Cuenca (the 3rd largest city with an expat community) are high up in the mountains.
For me and I would guess many Americans, there is a certain rate of crime/murder that you would avoid and that would include many cities in the USA. As countries, Columbia, Mexico and DR have murder rates far higher than the USA average making it quite difficult to feel secure enough to move there. There are outliers such as Merida, Mexico but it's not particularly safe to drive there from the USA.
Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica have lower crime in comparison, and I think makes them more desirable. Were I to retire in Latin America, I would likely go with the nation that has a lower murder rate and longer lifespan than the USA that has the most stability in Latin America, so Chile.
If Mexico lowered their murder rate, I think you would see a flood of people from the USA moving there, reversing the previous flow from Mexico to the USA.
To use one example, if for you say Ecuador is more appealing than the Dominican Republic to retire, that is your pregorative. It will not be because of the national murder rate.
In anycase, murder is like everything else, it isn't equally at the same level everywhere within the same country. Retirees aren't moving to ghetto areas in major cities, which often accounts for a lion share of that and other types of crime. One poster here has mentioned living as an American retiree in Ecuador and have no issues with gun violence. We can all rest assure that poster isn't living in say Quito, to name one place that could be responsible for increasing the national murder rate to levels that is higher than say Dominican Republic.
With that said, most Latin American countries do have an average national murder rate than the USA (according to this article in 2021 it was 6.9 per 100,000), but a handful if countries have a bit higher murder rates than the USA. Those countries would be Paraguay, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.
That's only a snap shot of 2021. Aside from glossing over variances within the borders of each country, also it doesn't say what's the tendency regarding if the murder rate is increasing, remain stable or decreasing over the long haul. Plus, it doesn't say the nature of the murders. A place could have a high national muerder rate and most victims are related or knew closely the murderer. A drug deal that went badly or a love triangle are the usual culprits. That is a different type of murder probability than say people killed at random. If a retiree isn't selling or buying drugs and neither are his/her acquaintances and he/she isn't fooling around with taken or married men/women, the chances of being a victim of murder decreases substantially. To that another tendency needs to be added. Almost everywhere most victims of murder are young men, usually in their 20's in addition to what has been stated. Quite frankly, not many people are retiring in their 20's and 30's, its almost unheard of in their 40's too.
To use one example, if for you say Ecuador is more appealing than the Dominican Republic to retire, that is your pregorative. It will not be because of the national murder rate.
In anycase, murder is like everything else, it isn't equally at the same level everywhere within the same country. Retirees aren't moving to ghetto areas in major cities, which often accounts for a lion share of that and other types of crime. One poster here has mentioned living as an American retiree in Ecuador and have no issues with gun violence. We can all rest assure that poster isn't living in say Quito, to name one place that could be responsible for increasing the national murder rate to levels that is higher than say Dominican Republic.
With that said, most Latin American countries do have an average national murder rate than the USA (according to this article in 2021 it was 6.9 per 100,000), but a handful if countries have a bit higher murder rates than the USA. Those countries would be Paraguay, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.
That's only a snap shot of 2021. Aside from glossing over variances within the borders of each country, also it doesn't say what's the tendency regarding if the murder rate is increasing, remain stable or decreasing over the long haul. Plus, it doesn't say the nature of the murders. A place could have a high national muerder rate and most victims are related or knew closely the murderer. A drug deal that went badly or a love triangle are the usual culprits. That is a different type of murder probability than say people killed at random. If a retiree isn't selling or buying drugs and neither are his/her acquaintances and he/she isn't fooling around with taken or married men/women, the chances of being a victim of murder decreases substantially. To that another tendency needs to be added. Almost everywhere most victims of murder are young men, usually in their 20's in addition to what has been stated. Quite frankly, not many people are retiring in their 20's and 30's, its almost unheard of in their 40's too.
I looked back at the site and the year they were using was 2018. I wouldn't want to retire or live significant years in an unsafe country, now that Ecuador has a significantly higher murder rate, they would be out for me as well.
While I agree there are areas one can go that are much safer in any given country, the fact that the national rate is so high would indicate to me that they have lost control nationally of safety. As I said, for me, Chile is the safest country in Latin America and the one I would personally choose to live. I like Peru also for its low murder rate and lived and worked there for 16 months and really enjoyed it.
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how long have u lived there?
