C. Edmund Wright, you’re dead on correct. Either on account of cognitive lag, fear of the unknown, or some other reason, there seems to persist lots of misinformation about living overseas.
Here’s an article that explodes the most common myths about living overseas: http://www.thestreet.com/story/13228084/1/debunking-4-common-myths-about-retiring-to-central-america.html
yeah, my wife sent me that link just 3-4 days ago when it came out. She’s all over this project (our ex pat research and exploration project).