The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget

The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget provides a detailed guide to one of the least-known but most effective retirement strategies in today's chaotic economic environment: retiring abroad. The premise is simple: Enjoy a happier, healthier, more fulfilling retirement than you could possibly afford in the U.S. or Canada by finding the right overseas retirement haven. The book reveals those affordable havens and the strategies for successfully making the move that could save your retirement. Aimed at retirees and near-retirees in the U.S. and Canada, this book's strategies apply just as well to younger people and people with families who are looking for ways to improve their quality of life while at the same time lowering their cost of living. It includes solutions for the challenges of continuing to work and earn money abroad, too.

As long-time contributors to the acknowledged leader in the field, International Living, authors Suzan Haskins and Dan Prescher have at their disposal more than thirty years of International Living experience and expertise in the topic. They've been writing about living overseas for more than 12 years and have created their own broad and deep body of work, including regular blogs on the topic for Huffington Post and AARP. The authors include information and strategies that can be successfully applied by anyone regardless of their political or economic opinions. For anyone who wants a happier, healthier, more affordable life, The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget shows you how to enjoy the romance and excitement of living abroad on an affordable budget.

foreword ix

Bill Bonner

Introduction xi

What if you could retire better, more affordably,and even earlier than you expected?

Part one

Contemplating an Exciting Move1

Chapter 1

Can You Afford to Retire Where You Live? 3

Chapter 2

Can You Really Live (Well) Overseason $25,000 a Year?15

Chapter 3

What’s Your Deal Breaker?23

Chapter 4

The Most Common (and Avoidable) Mistakes Expats Make 33

Chapter 5

Health Care: Myth versus Reality 39

Chapter 6

The Challenges of Language and Culture 53

Part Two

Making the Move: It’s a Big World Where Should YOU Go? 61

Chapter 7

Belize: No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem(and It’s All in English!) 63

Chapter 8

Costa Rica:Your Easiest Choice 73

Chapter 9

Ecuador: Something for Everyone 87

Chapter 10

Mexico: The Top Foreign Destination for U.S. and Canadian Retirees103

Chapter 11

Nicaragua: Ready for Prime Time117

Chapter 12

Panama: The World’s Best Retirement Program(and Much More)131

Chapter 13

Uruguay: More First World Than the United States? 145

Chapter 14

Europe: All the Ingredients for the Good Life157

Chapter 15

Southeast Asia: Exotic and Affordable175

Chapter 16

Boots on the Ground: Zeroing In on the Community That’s Right for You 189

Chapter 17

You Found Your Paradise. Now What?: Should You Rent or Buy? And How to Know When Halfway Isn’t the Wrong Way 199

Chapter 18

Once You Know Where You’re Going: Put Your Plan in Action 207

Part Three

Once You Get There: Adjusting to Your New Life 217

Chapter 19

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitude: Maintaining the Bridge between Your Past and Present Lives 219

Chapter 20

When the Hammock Gets Boring: What to Do after You Retire and Move Overseas 227

Chapter 21

Moving On: This Is Not a One-Way Highway 239

Epilogue If We Knew Then What We Know Now 245

Index 251

SUZAN HASKINS and DAN PRESCHER have been writing about life outside the United States for more than 12 years. Suzan and Dan ran a marketing firm in Omaha, Nebraska. In 2001, they moved to Quito, Ecuador to write for International Living. They have traveled and lived in numerous locations in Central and South America.

Economic turbulence and uncertainty about the future of social programs have, for many of us, turned retirement into a dreaded punishment rather than a long-awaited reward for a lifetime of hard work. Not the case for Suzan Haskins and Dan Prescher, who have been living and working abroad for over 12 years. They know that retiring abroad makes it possible to secure a happy, healthy, affordable retirement, and in this book they provide all the details on how to make this dream a reality.

Around the world, expatriates are enjoying low costs of living, free or low-cost health care and a quality of life that matches or surpasses what they would be able to afford at home. In The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget, you’ll read countless true stories about people who have successfully relocated to places where their retirement money goes farther. These expats are saving thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars per year on insurance, medical, and housing expenses.

We work hard our whole lives so that we can enjoy the finer things when we retire, but today more and more people are finding that the finer things simply aren’t in their budgets. The strategies and suggestions in this book are intended to give readers the knowledge and confidence they need to rebuild their lives abroad, ensuring that retirement is what it should be.

Younger families can also benefit from The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget, which contains advice on expatriating with kids, overcoming language barriers, and researching foreign housing markets.

The authors have a neutral, informative writing style that clearly breaks down the pros and cons of retiring to the most desirable corners of Central America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Expatriation is not a decision to be taken lightly. Finding the right place for you, your spouse and family, and your budget is a complex—but, as the authors emphasize, not irreversible—choice. This book contains valuable information that will guide you in the right direction when it comes time to finding a new, more retirement-friendly place to call home.