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 ...
You pay US Income Taxes no matter where you live, as long as you are a US Citizen.
Yes. Forget about high quality medical care in the Third World.
But what about 10 years from now building an enclosing, heated dome over some ghost town on the Great Plains and turning it into an all-weather retirement community ? That has been a theory of mine.
My wife is Filipino, and sometimes we give thought to retiring somewhere else later. The Philippines is not particularly attractive (even though her family is there), because the government is corrupt from the top to the very bottom, and very unstable at the top right now. So Philippines is not a viable option.
One thing in your post I didn't understand, you said in Thailand, a condo costs about $50K US, but you said your new 3bd home incl furnishings cost $30.5K. Why would the home be less expensive than the condo?
Thailand and the Phillipines are a pretty big for retiring military.
I should look up MediGap, since I've never heard of it. My father is in his 90's and Mom is in her mid 80's and you're right on with the $60 per month out of SSI....they have a Blue Cross supplemental which has a monthly premium of $396; in the year since I've taken over handling their affairs, the only check I've written to a doctor was their dentist.
We just dropped my health insurance from Humanna. It was going to cost my wife and I some $21,000 per year plus co-pays. We are both in our in our early 50's and have reasonable expenses of about 3500 per year.
Bangkok is more exciting but we are old folk with many friends in the North generally.
The condo is more expensive because it can be sold to foreigners who, as everyone knows, are rich. :)
We've retired on the Colorado River and we couldn't be happier. Of course, I retired at 46, so what's to be unhappy about!!!
Holy Toledo! You gotta SHOP, man! Get an agent to do it for you, and he'll do it gladly.
I've always been "sensitive" to health care insurance, because I have never had or been involved in any sort of company plan - it's always been strictly 'out of pocket'.
We're both 58, and would be paying around 9000 bucks had we not downgraded to a higher deductible plan earlier this year. Somebody's hosing you, bigtime from what I read.
You know most Georgians speak English, and most of the signs are in Georgian and English. You can do just fine in Tbilisi with English only. I did. Even a last minute taxi I grabbed to the hotel one day was amazingly efficient, as the man sat there and thought for a moment about what I had said, and then figured out what I was asking.
That said I am going to be learning Georgian.
You were probably being funny, but I was referring to the Republic of Georgia.
Oh gosh, you are so kind. I was referring to the Republic of Georgia. Outside of Tbilisi.
I'd knock down the castle, but keep the pool area. The actual castle is a-s ugly.
Dominican Republic or Argentina for me. More likely the latter.
Have you been to Georgia?
That is what we are planning to do. Retire overseas - most likely in China. The big concern is medical care as we get older - I imagine that will be a concern when you get to retirement age.
But, the cost of living is so much less. Take a nest egg with you and you can live great, unlike in the U.S. where you get eaten alive with bills and contemplate if dog food for dinner would really taste so bad.
Health care would be the major concern for me. Where can one obtain the best medical care?
The elite - it seems to me an option far more suited to the less well off.
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