Retiring Overseas (On Topic)

[Shiftless]

I just had a conversation with a guy I know who has traveled a bunch in South America and who has now retired. He is moving to Panama. He says by far, they are the most retirement friendly country (at least in his opinion). The "Pensianado Program" provides all kinds of discounts and the medical he says if you can prove your income in US dollars they offer a medical health program that comes out to less than 100 dollars a month full coverage. Granted, maybe not up to the US standard. He figures he will keep up his medicare in the event any major issue arrives.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Can Medicare be used in a Third World country?

 

[FrigidFTSup]

Can Medicare be used in a Third World country?

No

 

[jr32bad]

If your going south make sure u have a few guns
Drug cartels and bad police force

 

[rod]

I would certainly do something like that in a heart beat BUT Ma has to have access to the Grandkids and has too many friends here. Flying/driving back a forth to Texas from Mn. is bad enough--- I can't imagine throwing in the International BS. There are a lot of things I would be doing if the wife wasn't in the picture.

 

[burrheadd]

I would certainly do something like that in a heart beat BUT Ma has to have access to the Grandkids and has too many friends here. Flying/driving back a forth to Texas from Mn. is bad enough--- I can't imagine throwing in the International BS. There are a lot of things I would be doing if the wife wasn't in the picture.

Sounds like a cop out to me
If you wanna do it do it

 

[rod]

Sounds like a cop out to me
If you wanna do it do it

I would have to get a divorce first-----then I couldn't afford to even live there

 

[Gypsytoes]

I've been entertaining the idea for years because unfortunately, my pension will be nothing like a UPS pension. I've been following this woman's blog. She and her husband retired to Nicaragua.

We’re Leaving Our Babies

Thanks for posting my blog. I wondered where the hits were coming from and I found this forum.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

We had a feeder driver who retired to Columbia, I believe. He went down there several times beforehand, and even spoke pretty good spanish before he left. He lived there for about a year, and then moved back to Texas. Saw him at the last old fart's retired feeder driver luncheon. Next time i'll ask him why he moved back. Texas is pretty diverse. A lot of retirees move to other parts of Texas. (hill country, south Texas) Cost of living is a lot cheaper, tho maybe not cheaper than south of the border. The complaints I hear most are access to kids/grandkids, medical care, money not being insured at banks, and in a lot of places, US citizens cannot own property, just rent. My uncle retired from the military, and lived all over the world. He lived in Crete, Greece for a long time before his last move to Costa Rica, among other places. He flew back to the states to go to VA hospitals when he had to.

 

[Gypsytoes]

My husband and I retired to Nicaragua and we live on a tropical island. We were teachers living on small teachers' pensions and we couldn't afford to retire early and live in the states. We are located in the middle of Central America, easy and quick access to Costa Rica. We bought 2 beach front ( a giant lake) acres, grow a thriving tropical garden and are culturally immersed in an all Spanish speaking neighborhood. Our cost of living generally is less than $1,000 mo. With the money we save, we travel all over the world and return to Nicaragua, which is our home base. If you are interested in retiring abroad, I suggest you read expat blogs of people who are retired, like me! We tell the naked truth about retiring abroad...not the fluffy stuff you find on International Living. Retiring abroad isn't paradise..no place in the world is paradise. But it suits us perfectly.
My blog is called Rewired and Retired in Nicaragua. I also have links to many other friends' blogs who have retired abroad. Ask me anything...

 

[burrheadd]

We had a feeder driver who retired to Columbia, I believe. He went down there several times beforehand, and even spoke pretty good spanish before he left. He lived there for about a year, and then moved back to Texas. Saw him at the last old fart's retired feeder driver luncheon. Next time i'll ask him why he moved back. Texas is pretty diverse. A lot of retirees move to other parts of Texas. (hill country, south Texas) Cost of living is a lot cheaper, tho maybe not cheaper than south of the border. The complaints I hear most are access to kids/grandkids, medical care, money not being insured at banks, and in a lot of places, US citizens cannot own property, just rent. My uncle retired from the military, and lived all over the world. He lived in Crete, Greece for a long time before his last move to Costa Rica, among other places. He flew back to the states to go to VA hospitals when he had to.

Doesn't everybody in South Texas speak Spanglish

 

[1989]

I would have to get a divorce first-----then I couldn't afford to even live there

You could just disappear.

 

[rod]

You could just disappear.

I suppose if I hated my life I could ---but I don't.

 

[Operational needs]

My husband and I retired to Nicaragua and we live on a tropical island. We were teachers living on small teachers' pensions and we couldn't afford to retire early and live in the states. We are located in the middle of Central America, easy and quick access to Costa Rica. We bought 2 beach front ( a giant lake) acres, grow a thriving tropical garden and are culturally immersed in an all Spanish speaking neighborhood. Our cost of living generally is less than $1,000 mo. With the money we save, we travel all over the world and return to Nicaragua, which is our home base. If you are interested in retiring abroad, I suggest you read expat blogs of people who are retired, like me! We tell the naked truth about retiring abroad...not the fluffy stuff you find on International Living. Retiring abroad isn't paradise..no place in the world is paradise. But it suits us perfectly.
My blog is called Rewired and Retired in Nicaragua. I also have links to many other friends' blogs who have retired abroad. Ask me anything...

I've been reading your blog for years.

 

[scratch]

Thanks for posting my blog. I wondered where the hits were coming from and I found this forum.

We’re Leaving Our Babies

[/QUOTE]

I appreciate your blog. I found International Living and I figured it was too general and the real estate prices were too high. I am in the early thinking stages of doing something like this. I try to research people like you that have actually lived overseas and can give real testimonies about the ins and outs of the of undertaking something like this.

 

[over9five]

My husband and I retired to Nicaragua and we live on a tropical island. We were teachers living on small teachers' pensions and we couldn't afford to retire early and live in the states. We are located in the middle of Central America, easy and quick access to Costa Rica. We bought 2 beach front ( a giant lake) acres, grow a thriving tropical garden and are culturally immersed in an all Spanish speaking neighborhood. Our cost of living generally is less than $1,000 mo. With the money we save, we travel all over the world and return to Nicaragua, which is our home base. If you are interested in retiring abroad, I suggest you read expat blogs of people who are retired, like me! We tell the naked truth about retiring abroad...not the fluffy stuff you find on International Living. Retiring abroad isn't paradise..no place in the world is paradise. But it suits us perfectly.
My blog is called Rewired and Retired in Nicaragua. I also have links to many other friends' blogs who have retired abroad. Ask me anything...

Very nice of you to come talk to us. Welcome to BrownCafe!

 

[olroadbeech]

Believe it or not, I do think about what I will do when I retire. I have started doing research about cheaper places to live, and other countries like in Central America are catching my attention. Supposedly you can live on just a Social Security check in places like Costa Rico, Panama, and Belize among others. Throw in a Teamster's Pension check and I am thinking a beach house in a tropical climate without touching my investments. Has anybody else looked into this?

Yes , we have seriously thought about it. It is very doable but we would keep our home here in California .

I have several books on doing this. You can check amazon. Experts suggest you do it on a trial basis . First , take a small vacation to the country of your choice. Then try a small 3-6 month rental there and get to know the place. Most of the countries Americans retire too have large American communities . You can make friends and ask questions. After a couple trials you should know if you should make the plunge.

We have thought of trying Belize, Panama, Costa Rica. Even going back to South East Asia where we lived for several years in the 70's.

But we would surely rent out our home here. The only thing that is stopping us is leaving family. We have children, grandchildren , and all that. I know that we could come visit a couple times a year but we are so family oriented that we see them a couple times a month now. That would be hard to change.

 

[olroadbeech]

I appreciate your blog. I found International Living and I figured it was too general and the real estate prices were too high. I am in the early thinking stages of doing something like this. I try to research people like you that have actually lived overseas and can give real testimonies about the ins and outs of the of undertaking something like this.[/QUOTE]
You also have to think that retiring here in the U.S. is not too bad if you plan it out right. We live near Lake Tahoe which has a very high cost of living but we are doing fine on HALF our pension.

We paid off the house long before retiring and banked all that mortgage money, paid off the cars , have no debt , and bought all the big ticket items like a new kitchen, roof, furniture , repairs , etc , before retiring.

We have been retired for a little over a year and our total monthly expenses have ranged from 1200-1500 a month and we are not going without. This includes Christmas and gifts to the grandkids for birthdays, etc. and all the day trips we take. I still go to Costco and buy whatever we want or need.

That's half our pension and we still have to wait for Social Security to kick in. We haven't even touched our 401k or IRA's yet. The more we thought about it the better it would be to stay here and travel the world if we feel like it .

Best of both worlds. but it is still nice about owning a beach front house in Central America.

 

[Operational needs]

I appreciate your blog. I found International Living and I figured it was too general and the real estate prices were too high. I am in the early thinking stages of doing something like this. I try to research people like you that have actually lived overseas and can give real testimonies about the ins and outs of the of undertaking something like this.

I like her blog because, while she's a positive, upbeat person, she doesn't sugarcoat the things that can and do wrong in living overseas. She tells it like it is. Plus, she isn't just living there, she's trying to help the local community as well as being a part of it.

 

[oldngray]

What would worry me would be running afoul of laws you were unaware of. Plus the possible corruption (as bad as the US gets maligned the system mostly works here).