Posted on 08/13/2010 4:26:50 PM PDT by cll
Jason and Elizabeth Pearce moved from Canada to Belize three years ago. They bought a piece of property on the sea. A year later, they built a house. Today, they live in a beautiful Santa Fe adobe-style home with gardens all around.
The pair lives very comfortably, without wants or financial worries. They've had no trouble making friends in their new community because the folks in Belize speak English. They eat out three or four times a week. They barbecue lobster and filet mignon at home. They have reliable Internet to keep them connected to the outside world.
By choice, they do not have a television. "I used to think that the news was important," Jason explains. "But not anymore." The retired couple has a maid and a gardener, each of whom visit once a week. And here's the best part. Jason and his wife are living on their Social Security income alone.
In fact, they're living on Jason's Social Security income alone. Elizabeth's Social Security check goes into savings each month. Everyone's spending habits are different, but here's a sample monthly budget for a couple living a comfortable expatriate lifestyle in Belize:
--Rent: $300
--Utilities, telephone, and Internet: $500 (Your biggest expense in this country.)
--Groceries: $150
--Health insurance: $50
--Entertainment: $100
--Car expenses: $300
One of the most appealing things about Belize as an overseas retirement choice is that it can make sense even if you're nowhere near conventional retirement age. Through Belize's Qualified Retired Persons program you can establish foreign residency as young as age 40. Belize is a beautiful little country. It's a peaceful, eco-tourist retreat home to more than 540 species of birds, 4,000 species of flowering plants, and 700 kinds of trees.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
I could live high on the hog in the PI on about $20 a day.
On a serious note: with murderous Islam panning the globe, how long before they incite hatred toward Americans in the Phillipines? ... One of the most beautiful women I ever met was a Phillipino Lady. I was only fourteen, but her image is still clear in my memory.
I have a friend who’s sort of a Princess of Belize. Her family is powerful there. She married a Canadian and they move around the world a lot because of his job. Even while being of privilege, her stories say that living there is tough, mainly because of crime and politics.
I agree, would not go back. The things that most stayed with me from several years ago....
Houses on stilts obviously occupied, laundry on the porch, leaning 15 degrees
Barefoot children walking home from school
Two guards with machine guns outside the Western Union building “downtown”
That’s not a trade off I’d want to make to stretch my dollars. And you’d have no guarantee your escape plan would be effective in the event of a coup or other uprising. Heck, I live in Texas and what you describe is happening on our southern border.
When I read that line it reminded me of something a friend who has move to Cuernavaca Mexico said. She was trying to get me to come down and visit and she said “it's very safe, there are guards every where”.
We have made many trips to Mexico all of our lives but decided a few years ago, after several scary things happened to us and to our family members, that we weren't going back, ever!
I told my friend if Cuernavaca was very safe they wouldn't need to have guards everywhere. She doesn't ask me down anymore.
We vacationed in Belize last year and I was very impressed. Yes it is a poor country. Yes there is crime. There is crime and poverty in many U.S. cities as well.
The entire population of the country is 300,000. This is about the size of the suburban area where I live. To say a country this small has not developed a local art community is not fair.
There is very rich farmland in Belize - much of it is now cultivated by Amish from Canada. They have also figured out the best way to attract tourists is to keep their beaches and forests in pristine shape. This has raised jealousy in the neighboring primarily Spanish speaking countries that have overdeveloped their resources and have much higher populations.
I got the impression much of the crime was from immigrants from bordering countries Guatemala and Mexico. Sound familiar?
Would I consider retiring there? No. but if I had to pick one country in Central America (including Mexico) to do so, this would be it. I would definitely vacation there again.
“...all of the nicer houses have bars on the windows...”
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Ever been to Hialeah, Florida?
“What area are you in that it’s so inexpensive?”
I live on Cebu, two hours south of Cebu City.
My town is Dalaguete, the vegetable capital of Cebu.
Transportation is great. I do not need, or want, a car.
By the way, Travel and Leisure Magazine now rates Cebu as the
third best island in Asia.
Pretty good for a third world area.
As for that, I feel safer here then I would in ANY city of America.
That's where I want to go!
“They’ve had several shows on Americans buying in Belize, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Seems to be a trend.”
ALL of these areas and many more are covered by Escape From America Magazine:
http://www.escapefromamerica.com/
That’s funny, Cebu is where I’ve been looking as a place to retire, since I’ve heard Manila is too dirty and expensive.
Is It anywhere near Olongapo
“Manila is too dirty and expensive.”
Yes, but I have never been there, or even on Luzon.
That is also typhoon ally.
Cebu City is OK, with several huge malls and most anything you want, but I have no interest in living there,
I go up every few months for banking and special shopping.
I also travel South to Dumaguete, over on Negros. I do my visa renewals there every 2 months.
Many Expats live in Dumaguete...too many.
I generally avoid other expats, prefering to be with the natives or no one at all.
Most of the expats in this area are European, but plenty of Americans, too.
Ever been to Hialeah, Florida?
Ever been to Houston, TX?
As the Baby Boom generation heads into retirement, I wonder how many will head abroad because they can’t afford to retire here?
Missing number:
How much do they pay to go see their grandkids on the weekends?
I’m sure the health care is great /sarcasm (oh wait, America’s will be just as bad in about 10 years
...and 500 species of reptiles and 37,000 kinds of insect.s
What or where is PI?
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