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Retirement Abroad
updated: Sep 12, 2012, 3:35 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

does anybody have any experience on retiring overseas? any feedback would be appreciated......or maybe i'm watching those travel shows too much.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 319097	2012-09-12 04:15 PM
From personal experience make sure you are adequately covered for all medical contingencies including the dreaded Alzheimers. A close relative is dealing with two parents living abroad with the beginnings of dementia. They are in denial and not cooperating. They are not rich and she has no idea what she is going to do when they need full time care. It's a nightmare for her.
SEEDLADY	2012-09-12 05:20 PM
This is not a comment on yourself specifically, but in general. Do you thrive in uncertain environments? Have a sense of adventure? Are you able to make fun of yourself? Do you know good, thorough first aid? Living abroad, you would be "on-your-own", as Americans very seldom ever experience. Unsettling in an emergency, even if you are prolific in the native language. Not recommended for those who want everything their way, or for life to be "fair". For the hardy, the amenable, the flexible ONLY. You would need a very good stateside attorney (preferrably a native speaker) to take care of your affairs, a health care network, and contacts in the states. If you have a place in mind, it would be good to spend six months there at diff seasons to see how you cope, before ever committing to full time living offshore.
COMMENT 319147	2012-09-12 06:30 PM
^^^ true
COMMENT 319151	2012-09-12 06:39 PM
It depends on where you are going but England has national health care and although I think it is not as good as medical insurance in the states, it will cover them. I bought a book a while back on amazon called "The Grown-up's Guide to Running Away from Home" and it is all about moving to another country. Check it out, it is really great :)
COMMENT 319179P	2012-09-12 08:14 PM
No, but I would like to be experienced in retiring here in the US.
COMMENT 319189P	2012-09-12 08:50 PM
England may have a national health care system but it's typically not free to overseas visitors. Check out http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/uk-visitors/Pages/accessing-nhs-services.aspx. Also, there are long waiting times for some appointments and procedures. Good luck.
COMMENT 319192P	2012-09-12 09:38 PM
I would miss my dentist...teeth are a wonderful thing. A good dentist is still hard to find and I have a great one here.
COMMENT 319195	2012-09-12 10:27 PM
I know of one person who retired in Scotland after living in Uganda for two years. She is an American. She loves it there and she is in a beautiful area. She married a Scot and that is why she settled there. Another lady I know had pre existing medical problems so retired to Costa Rica where she now is under their health care system after a waiting period of a year and a half. She also loves where she retired. Every year while living and working in the US she took a trip to a place she was interested in and she decided she liked Costa Rica best. I know of another couple who retired to the mountains of Mexico. Their retirement income goes much farther there, they send messages about the fun adventures they are having. I don't think they ever want to go back to the New York area they were from. My advice is do your homework find out everything you need to know about finances and health care and learn the language where you want to be. Take trips
LALALALA	2012-09-13 05:21 AM
Seedlady, great advice!
COMMENT 319211P	2012-09-13 06:37 AM
I hear Thailand is nice. No complaints from a friend who retired there. He had about $200K saved in total, is 63 ( was 61 when retired) and says so far so good. He needed some surgery (hip, teeth implants, and eyes I think) and said no problem, about $5000 cash. Doesn't care about govt healthcare. Has house near beach, caretaker and monthly nut about $600
COMMENT 319216P	2012-09-13 06:56 AM
Medicare is only good within the borders of the U.S., which can be an issue depending on the quality and cost of care in the country selected. For almost 30 years I lived and worked outside the U.S. in 9 countries and am now retired in the U.S. even though I expected to retire to somewhere in Latin America and still might. Excellent dental and medical care is available in many countries and is generally reasonably priced compared to the U.S. Friendships, family, cultural differences (language?), etc. all need to be considered.
COMMENT 319217	2012-09-13 07:03 AM
I am semi-retired living in Sicily.....love it.....they are still about family here....and smelling the roses...is it perfect? far from it.....but growing old in the US is too scary for me.....we have a national health system here...again not perfect but acceptable.....20 euro buys me enough fresh vegetables and fruit for 2 for one week...and if you are lucky to have land. and we are....we grow a lot Gas and electricity is expensive...small cars and turn lights off. Summer last from mid April to October when it starts to cool. It helped that my husband was born here...but interesting fact.... after 40 yrs out of Sicily he had to apply to be a citizen again :) Thankfully they accepted him back!
COMMENT 319229	2012-09-13 07:48 AM
Considering the poor rankings for US health care while costing twice as much as any other country anywhere, one should never use the US health care system as a model for expectations when considering other countries for retirement. Less is more when it comes to "health care". France and Italy run circles around the US for better quality rankings and far, far lower costs. Consider much of what gets called "disease" in the US are in fact life-style conditions and often only incidents of over-treatment and overly broad diagnostic metrics --- all of which ultimately contribute to the US poor health outcome rankings when compared to all other countries in the world.
COMMENT 319232	2012-09-13 07:54 AM
Op here...thanks for all the info...life is too short..living in another country and living different experiences particularly if financially advantageous sounds like an adventure. the internet, skype, etc...to communicate with family here has made living/retiring abroad much more of a possibility than years ago. as perfect as SB is, there is a lot of world out there.
COMMENT 319243	2012-09-13 08:37 AM
Agree with what Seedlady says. Also makes me question how we waste some of these things every day. I think moving abroad is a great idea, I find that a lot of the sentiment in the US has gone away from appreciation for whats available, and gone towards excess everything. Food would be a great example, there is really no food insecurity here. It sounds like a good thing, but I think its things like this that make people complacent and lazy. Of course many don't really see that as a problem. I guess they are afraid to speak up and risk losing their false sense of security.
MTNDRIVER	2012-09-13 09:05 AM
Seedlady has great advice. There are huge differences of course between retiring in France or England and retiring in Thailand or Mexico. What kinds of services do they think are essential? How much can they spend each month? And all those questions Seedlady raised, about personality. Things are done differently everywhere, and if you move somewhere, you have to be willing to adjust to the local ways. "When in Rome," etc. And as the OP said, Skype and email and cheap phone service make communication so much easier than even fifteen years ago. It is nice to see your friends and family in person, though.... Great idea to try it out first, six months at least, before committing.
COMMENT 319315	2012-09-13 10:25 AM
Great advice from everyone....MTNDRIVER advised you to try it out for 6 months, I agree and would add try it out for 2 years to really get a feel for wherever you choose. I would also suggest keeping a small condo in SB just in case you ever want or need to return. As a senior citizen good healthcare is essential....doctors you can trust, good clean sanitary hospitals and clinics and good dentists are all going to become more important to you as you age and we have the best in SB. Explore, enjoy, but keep a safety net in your home town close to family that you may need to depend on one day.
COMMENT 319401	2012-09-13 02:03 PM
Punta del Este or Piriapolis, both on east coast of Uruguay. Lots of British retire there. Everyone speaks English. Gov't is stable.
AQUAHOLIC	2012-09-13 02:44 PM
While most all these comments are great advice, particularly SEEDLADY's, have you ever considered just spending time traveling to other countries for extended visits? My folks, who were not rich by any means, spent 25 years traveling the world after Dad retired early from a civil service job and was still relatively young (55). They did it frugally, purchasing a VW camper van, camping and staying with relatives, friends and new friends made along the way. Their vagabond lifestyle suited them, and they stayed as long or as little as they liked in countries all over the world...still having the safety net of returning home to the USA whenever they needed a break from the road. I dont know, maybe it's just me, but I love SB, and the USA... I would have a hard time leaving, I rather like the idea of just visiting and exploring the world, it's people and cultures...I sure hope I can do it one day too!
AQUAHOLIC	2012-09-13 02:47 PM
BTW, my mother did have some very serious medical issues later in her life and would never have been able to receive the care and skill she needed to address her health problems in a foreign country.
COMMENT 319556	2012-09-13 05:12 PM
We had a friend that received an inheritance and moved to New Zealand to retire. He was back in 14 months due to health issues and has stayed here. Do your research. Try before you buy. If you have a home here; don't sale it; rent it. Once you totally leave the US, it is extremely hard to start up again. GQ Magazine article on foreign retirement said to never, ever distroy your passport. 2.)get used to the idea of bribes 3.) get used to the idea that you may be expected culturally to hire help.

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