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More American Retirees Seek Havens Abroad
NYTimes ^ | 7/30/05 | Hillary Chura

Posted on 07/30/2005 1:36:02 PM PDT by qam1

These days, some Americans heading for retirement are as concerned with pesos as pensions, and foreign language classes as Medicare. They are part of an emerging population expecting to spend their retirement abroad.

In January, baby boomers will start hitting 60 at a rate of more than four million a year. More mobile, active and adventuresome than prior generations, these 78 million Americans are rethinking retirement. Many will be lured overseas by a more affordable cost of living and temperate weather. Some will want to return to their native countries or to places where they once worked or studied.

Coreen Plewa and her husband, James, plan to move to Mexico in four years. They say they adore their home in Santa Fe, N.M., but will not be able to make ends meet once Mr. Plewa retires from teaching high school math. The Plewas and about 10 like-minded people have been meeting to discuss moves to Latin America.

"This is not like, 'I've got to get out of this hole,' " said Mrs. Plewa, who believes health care costs in the United States could eat up 40 percent of the couple's estimated $4,000 to $5,000 monthly retirement income. "We think our dime will go further."

*snip*

Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama are common retirement havens, but Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador and English-speaking Belize are making a push to attract retirees. Various countries in Europe are also viable alternatives, but current exchange rates make them less attractive for those with limited resources......

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Mexico
KEYWORDS: babyboomers; byebye; expats; genx; retirement; seniors
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To: Maceman

Good point. If all the RAT Boomers leave, think of the extra votes for Pubbies from the zillions of the soon-to-be-legalized illegals.


101 posted on 07/31/2005 7:53:02 AM PDT by Paulus Invictus
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To: Jeff Chandler
Everyone has their own retirement situation...here's mine...maybe something will be useful to others here:

I retired at the age of 28 and that was abut 35 years ago. At the time I was working at UCLA and decided that University life was not for me....too structured, too confining....and I was a conservative with little hope of achieving my dreams in a liberal fish bowl....

By "retired" I do not mean that I would live the life of no work..just that I would live where ever I felt like living and and not work for anyone but myself.

I became a writer and investment advisor and slowly built up my investment poke...In the 1960's and 1970's I lived in CA beach communities like Seal Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and then I moved to the mountains...Mt Shasta, Yreka ...and then I realized that CA was an expensive place to live and was taxing me to death ...so in the early 1980's I moved again to a no state income tax state...

I ended up in the Black Hills of South Dakota...eliminatng CA income taxes was the best thing I ever did in my life....living costs are low in SD...and the living is slow paced and easy.

The money I saved on CA income taxes covered the cost of my home, sending my three children to good colleges and bought the good life...and a lot more.

About the wealth stuff...I have now given most of my money away to others...but I have saved enough for myself to provide a very comfortable life (I live the life of a typical subscriber to WORTH magazine)...how???? Well, as I said...I became a writer and investment advisor and the US of the past 40 years has been a great place for savvy investors who understand how compounding works.

If you do not know how compounding works...visit the library.

Presently, I live most of the year in pine covered mountains at about the 3700 foot level and escape to milder climates when the winter winds come...we do not get much snow in the Black Hills but can get very cold temperatures...for brief periods of time.

The point of all this is...you only get one chance to live your life...so think it out carefully. Do not wait until normal retirement age to plan, to figure out what is best for you....and your family...and to act. Do not choose or get stuck on a foolish path...one that purposefully diminishes all that you can be.

In the USA you can live an extraordinary life...if you want to!!
102 posted on 07/31/2005 7:56:16 AM PDT by Guilliamus
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To: Triggerhippie

Mexican hospitals and medicos are among the worst we have seen. Dirty, poorly trained staff and spotty services are normal. The smaller the city, the worse they are. Not for me!


103 posted on 07/31/2005 7:57:03 AM PDT by Paulus Invictus
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To: qam1

I know a guy that instead of retiring at 50(after 30 years), the company offered him a position in SheKou China. He got a work visa somehow and has been there 10 years. He took about a 20% wage cut from the NYC metro area. Now he lives in a mansion and has two full time servants.

SheKou is near Hong Kong and as Modern as any major city here in the US.

I would consider Thailand. It's very inexpensive and the people genuinely like Americans. At 40ish Baht to the dollar, your money goes a long way. Other than the smell, Bangkok isn't so bad, but you could easily move into the country or near one of the resort areas and live very well on just SS alone if nothing else. Of all the Asian countries I've visited, Thailand is my favorite.(and no, not because of any sex business or any such thing).



104 posted on 07/31/2005 8:13:02 AM PDT by Malsua
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To: BJungNan

You would think that HK doctors (British trained?) would be better than their mainland Chinese counterparts...

There is no way that I would go to a hospital in either, lest my kidneys make it back to the states before me.


105 posted on 07/31/2005 9:33:33 AM PDT by Triggerhippie (Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)
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To: Paulus Invictus

That isn't surprising about Mexico. While the exchange rate is (and always will be) great against the Peso, I don't think that I'd want to move there.

I was thinking more Pacific Island-y.


106 posted on 07/31/2005 9:36:49 AM PDT by Triggerhippie (Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)
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To: Triggerhippie
You would think that HK doctors (British trained?) would be better than their mainland Chinese counterparts...

They may be better trained that Chinese Doctors, but many of them (especially at the private hospitals) will tell you that you need a procedure you do not need.

Case in point - a friend in Hong Kong was diagnosed with cancer. HK$1,000,000,000 later he was completely cured. He got to talking to another doctor after the episode and that doctor had some tests done for him. He had never had cancer.

Since then he has heard from several other people that have been remarkabley cured. If you are in Hong Kong, go only to one of the government hospitals. Do not go to a private hospital.

In Mainland China, a friend had to have bypass surgery. He got real lucky. A doctor heart specialist from the U.S. happended to be in China for a seminar and the Chinese doctors asked him to look him. He had the surgery done there. The U.S. doctor told him he was very lucky he was there and that it was caught when it was.

Those are some of my direct experiences on the subject other than the times I myself was in a hospital in both Mainland China and Hong Kong.

107 posted on 07/31/2005 11:06:49 AM PDT by BJungNan
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To: joshhiggins

You'd be amazed at how many people down south can and do speak English. However nowadays Spanish is being heard here more and more.


108 posted on 07/31/2005 11:11:25 AM PDT by proudofthesouth (Boycotting movies since 1988)
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To: WildTurkey

We moved to Florida to retire but its tooo hot, tooo many bugs, alligators etc. So now we are going in August to Mo. to look around. Its a good idea to check out the area before moving. We had checked out Fl every 2 weeks in Feb for 15 years but vacationing in winter doesn't count. Travel when its the hotest.


109 posted on 07/31/2005 11:19:18 AM PDT by jrcats
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To: JimSEA

South of what? China? France? US ?


110 posted on 07/31/2005 11:24:30 AM PDT by Ditter
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To: Ditter

South of Thailand where the Muslims play at beheading their neighbors (Buddhist neighbors preferably to the Muslim murderers).


111 posted on 07/31/2005 6:07:51 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: MarMema

"Plenty of room in Tbilisi."

LOL! Thanks, but I think I'll stick with southern Greece!


112 posted on 08/01/2005 5:40:43 AM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: qam1

Here is the rain on their parade. Very few countries have reasonable laws regarding estate succession. Some really don't have rule of law at all in this regard. Even prior to the question of succession, simple lack of property rights for foreigners can be a really bad deal. The last thing someone may want to have to do when they are 85 years old is to move back to the US with no money.


113 posted on 08/01/2005 4:19:56 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the"and Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: AlBondigas

RE: Nothing's said 'bout security (financial & personal) in those foreign lands.

I searched several continents (over 10 years) &
all things considered, it's the USA !

I've also done the research and agree with you 100%. Even with our Death Tax and even with recent property rights decisions, if you want to see real nightmares with regards property rights and estate planning, check out some foreign countries. Any property you bring with you or buy there may not really be yours! Bad way to find it out is half broke on the retreat to the US.


114 posted on 08/01/2005 4:23:53 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the"and Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: AlBondigas

And you're still leasing. There is no free hold in most countries outside the US.


115 posted on 08/01/2005 4:25:03 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the"and Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: MarMema
Exactly why we are looking into real estate in Georgia right now, having been there in May and fallen madly in love with the country.

Don't commit yourself until you've been there in August.

116 posted on 08/01/2005 4:27:41 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: MarMema
Exactly why we are looking into real estate in Georgia right now, having been there in May and fallen madly in love with the country.

Oops! Never mind! I thought you were talking about the state of Georgia. My bad.

117 posted on 08/01/2005 4:29:05 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: Guilliamus

I like how you think!


118 posted on 08/01/2005 4:33:10 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the"and Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Malsua

While many of us here do not care for lawyers, my recommendation to you is to get legal advice regarding the implications of living in Thailand. We did just that - we had both one in the US familiar with Thailand do it and one in Thailand as well. Bottom line is, unless you are willing to forgo major protections of your consumer rights, your property rights (even in New London! LOL), your estate planning, and other things we take for granted here, don't do it! We took a serious hard look at it and concluded NFW when the risk exposure became apparent. All you need to do to see the risk is to play a few scenarios of stuff going wrong. The only people who I would not strongly advise against doing it would be people with no kids, small estates and who really have essentially "nothing to live for" in the US. Seriously ... that was our conclusion.


119 posted on 08/01/2005 4:38:27 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the"and Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: qam1
I have been giving thought to immigrating to New Zealand. I know their cost of living is cheaper depending what part you go to. Wellington & Auckland is expensive but there are other places that are nice such as Christchurch or Queenstown. They are of the mentality of working to live versus the American idea of living to work and they are more laid back than even Colorado where I currently live at.

Interesting that one person posting mentioning of leaving California for the SD Black Hills, sounds interesting. I am at the point right now of wanting to get out of the "corporate lifestyle" and kick back some. I have enough money where I don't have any kind of debt including the house. I would not totally quit working but working would be for pleasure instead for a living.
120 posted on 08/01/2005 4:40:05 PM PDT by CORedneck
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