[elkotronics]

Glad you're feeling better, PinkString. Smoky air sucks - we haven't been hit with it down here closer to the equator, glad for that.

Take all your meds even though they're annoying and obnoxious, unless they're overpriced and not helping your health much. I don't just automatically take any med my doctor suggests, and I suggest medicines to him to see if he thinks they would help me.

Also, research doctors and test to see if they're in your "network" before you go see that doctor and/or get that test. You may be screwed if they're not in your network, IOW's, you're gonna have ta ante up more cash than you'd like.

I am seriously researching moving out of America after I retire. Better, lower - cost healthcare is the major reason for this strange decision. My better half wants nothing of it. She didn't want the 2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed, either, until I insisted on it, so, by extension, maybe I can talk her in to expatting to Belize, Portagul, Peru or Panama.

Panama really rolls out the red carpet for Americans to move there. They speak English, make citizenship somewhat easier than some countries do, and offer movie, restaurant and other store discounts part of the package for Americans moving there. I've been researching this for months, health care in America sucks. And I work in the bid-ness.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Panama really rolls out the red carpet for Americans to move there. They speak English, make citizenship somewhat easier than some countries do, and offer movie, restaurant and other store discounts part of the package for Americans moving there. I've been researching this for months, health care in America sucks. And I work in the bid-ness.

Direct flights to Las Vegas too

[elkotronics]

Direct flights to Las Vegas too

Yeah, the literature always mentions "direct flights to Miami that only last 2 hours," but direct flights ta Vegas, too, eh? The picture only gets brighter, then. We love our Alamogordo house and have invested money in to it to make it our sweet forever home, but, I'm just thinking our money will stretch further in a foreign country. And, what's more, less SS income or retirement savings will go to dental and healthcare costs in a foreign country. Any of those I mentioned above will save money on healthcare, especially if you establish citizenship there. I know it sounds kind of weird at first.

I work with a guy from Belize, he's only in his 40's and looking to finish working here in Alamo and get back home within a couple of years. He's bought several homes to rent out down there. I like Portugal, too, but Panama seems the one with the most amenities.

There's even scads of expats retiring in Mexico. They offer to help new expats get settled in and say it's good living down there. I've gone to the dentist in Juarez since 2014 and they've taken good care of me. I've found the locals to be kind and helpful. We'll see - it's cool ta have options. Wherever I go I'll need to stream Seattle Seahawks football and not miss a game.

Go Hawks! Russell Wilson is on fire, baby!

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Glad you're feeling better, PinkString. Smoky air sucks - we haven't been hit with it down here closer to the equator, glad for that.

Take all your meds even though they're annoying and obnoxious, unless they're overpriced and not helping your health much. I don't just automatically take any med my doctor suggests, and I suggest medicines to him to see if he thinks they would help me.

Also, research doctors and test to see if they're in your "network" before you go see that doctor and/or get that test. You may be screwed if they're not in your network, IOW's, you're gonna have ta ante up more cash than you'd like.

I am seriously researching moving out of America after I retire. Better, lower - cost healthcare is the major reason for this strange decision. My better half wants nothing of it. She didn't want the 2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed, either, until I insisted on it, so, by extension, maybe I can talk her in to expatting to Belize, Portagul, Peru or Panama.

Panama really rolls out the red carpet for Americans to move there. They speak English, make citizenship somewhat easier than some countries do, and offer movie, restaurant and other store discounts part of the package for Americans moving there. I've been researching this for months, health care in America sucks. And I work in the bid-ness.

Yeah, taking the meds, although all the side effects are quite harsh! Especially the one's that make my ankles and feet swell up so much, I cannot wear shoes!! And it's very painful, being caught in a vise like grip squeezing so freaking tight! From my shins down to my toes. but at least I can breathe much better than before. I will see if my doctor can fix it a little when I see her the middle of October. Thanks also for the heads up to make sure that the cardiologist that wants to see me is in network. I will do some digging around and find out. Otherwise, that is out. But he is also the person that did the procedure on me while in the hospital. You know, the thing I miss the most about being in the hospital, besides having a private room, was some of the food. We could pick up a menu and dial in room service, although they had me on the cardiac menu, most of the food was tasteless because of no salt to add, not even a few granules!! But I made do by ordering most everything with gravy, so I had rice and gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy, and some other things with gravy I normally do not eat at home, but flubbed up my eating plan for, because it tasted good and I was hungry! lol Next time I go, I am sneaking in a little slightly salty seasoning for my food. Plus some regular tea bags. Their lipton decaf was barfy. They kept bringing me disgusting tasting coffee, turns out it was decaf and tasted horrid!!! I will order up the hot lemon water, then add the tea bag to that, plus a sugar packet.



I hear ya about leaving the states. Do what makes you happy. Do not settle for the old USA if it is not working well for you anymore. I have been looking at some other states, (red states) to retire in or to just move to for awhile. I do not need a big house. Just enough square feet where my husband and I and cat or two can comfortably exist and not be in each others way. Preferably a 1 story. Tired of stairs. Also a nice small patio back yard works great, kind of what we have now. Maybe add a hot tub. A basement would be great, preferably finished. And a porch. Having to get used to snow again would be a little weird. The other half does not want that, but for me, I don't care. Sure beats heat too much of the year!!!

[elkotronics]

Sounds like you're on top of things, PinkString. Flights ta Vegas from Panama sounds good - especially if we ever get opened up to having live rock shows again. As things sit right now, I'm not sure we're heading back there anytime soon.

Getting the Mrs. on board with my expat idea will be another story for another day. Gonna be working here for just short of 4 more years, that's a lot of time to continue planning. There's a 2-month old Kia in our garage that I really had ta work for, though, and it worked out!

Carry on Las Vegas!

[elkotronics]

Any one of you Lost Wages city-data people Las Vegas Raider fans? Hardcore fans?

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Merry Lee, Ever since I had the coronavirus the beginning of the year, I could not breathe the last 9 months. Found out blood clots are one of the surprises we get later on from having that rotten virus. Some people get multiple. Was it EA or Airics that had the virus and he said his lungs felt like feathers? Probably multiple blood clots. I also notice EA is no longer a member since 7-24-20. I hope he is OK. I wish my memory was better, sucks getting old. lol. It's actually too many medications right now. I went from 1 a day to 8. Only temporary until this is all over. Dissolve the rotten monster inside and regain my health. Also, have been looking at other states to move to later on, not sure where yet. Unless something miraculous happens to keep us here, I don't know. I hope all the smoke is gone before then.

Sorry to hear you got the virus. Having COPD, it matters not if I get the flu, pneumonia or the Virus, it's good-bye world.

Thankfully, Tucson is out of the smoke zone, largely, and best of all we're out of the big windstreams, which is one of many reasons I left Sinless City, those nasty winds that would howl through the valley, bringing in all that fine silica straight into your lungs.

No temptation to be an ex-pat for if you do your research, you can find places to retire just as cheap as Mexico. $56 a year taxes on my mobile home, and $198 Association dues in my mobile home co-op, and where I live, in Midtown, so close to everything, you can survive without a car here.

With the fertility rate having dropped to near 2.0 in Mexico, what does that tell you? It's going to be increasingly expensive to live or retire there.

My Mexican roommate, when he goes home every year, is astonished how expensive Mexico is getting to be. He'll never find a 30 pack of Natural Ice for $16 in Mexico. Never. He's in the process of building himself a small house besides his duplex, which he rents out, and last time he took along $3k to get it started and only 1/5th of it was built. 10 years ago, it would have been almost completed.

You know that you can beat the summer heat just like I have done for 20 years, sleep away the heat of the day, up all night. Right now I'm trying to reverse my summer sleep schedule and what a challenge that is. I'm still finding myself going to bed around noon/1am, getting up around 9pm. Take a bike ride at midnight, walk the ferret later in the morning. But I have a treasure for a neighbor, who worked the night shift for 30 years, and I can visit here anytime of the night and she can visit me anytime of the night, but she's more disciplined than I am, she goes to sleep around 6am.

[Mike from back east]

Fertility rate of 2.1 is said to be the rate at which births match deaths IOT keep population levels static, aka the replacement level.

Here's a listing of fertility rates around the world. Most of the developed world is at or below replacement levels which I think is good since good jobs will be increasingly scarce as technology advances, the carrying capacity of the planet is being strained and there's no telling what horrors await from climate change.

FYI: The USA has a fertility rate of 1.78 which means a slowly shrinking population unless we allow more immigration which is a 2-edged sword. The listing also says we have a growth rate of just 0.59% which is way below the 3% growth rate the business community considers its holy grail for business expansion.

The listing is interesting for data geeks like myself.

[tijlover]

And how would you like to open a business in Japan with their 1.2 fertility rate, with 1.2 applicants per job? Can't be very picky, that's for sure!

My biggest worry, with the low fertility rates around the world, is if there's a deadly plague that wipes out a good part of the population (Outside Africa), are there going to be enough people to keep our infrastructure going.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by tijlover

And how would you like to open a business in Japan with their 1.2 fertility rate, with 1.2 applicants per job? Can't be very picky, that's for sure!

My biggest worry, with the low fertility rates around the world, is if there's a deadly plague that wipes out a good part of the population (Outside Africa), are there going to be enough people to keep our infrastructure going.

The Black Death saw an end to feudalism. I'm not for mass extinction, but if something like that happens again, most survivors would probably be better off.