Thread: How Much Money Do You Need To Retire Overseas?

How Much Money Do You Need To Retire Overseas?

By Kathleen Peddicord Kathleen Peddicord –
Mon Jul 19, 2:11 pm ET

Don't worry about how much money is enough to buy you the retirement life you want in a new country. Instead, figure how much money you have for retirement.

Calculate the sum of your Social Security and pension income (if you have any), your 401(k) or other retirement accounts, your investment portfolio, the equity in your home, your car, and your collectibles. Tally up the value of every asset you hold and project the income that lump sum could generate for you on a monthly basis through your projected timeline for retirement.

[See 7 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad.]

That monthly budget in mind, consider the world map. Realistically speaking, a bottom-line budget for retiring overseas is about $700 a month. With a retirement income between $700 and $1,000 per month your options are limited, but you have good ones including particular regions in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Thailand, Panama, and Malaysia.

[See The World's Most Affordable Retirement Haven.]

With a budget of $1,000 to $1,500 per month, your options expand. On this budget you could retire comfortably in the five countries I've named already plus Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Belize, or France. (The French countryside offers a top-notch quality of life that can be much more affordable than you might imagine.)

[See 3 Options for Retiree Health Insurance Abroad.]

A monthly budget of more than $1,500 could buy you retirement almost anywhere. Your lifestyle would be more restrained in some places than others. In more expensive locales you'd have less available each month for things like entertainment and dining out. But if you're willing to be flexible and to learn to live, shop, and dine like the locals, a retirement nest egg of $1,500 per month and certainly income worth $2,000 per month or more puts the whole world at your feet.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas--Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20100719 ... reoverseas

7 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad

By Kathleen Peddicord
Posted: June 2, 2010

Retirement can be about elevating your standard of living and enriching your lifestyle, even if you have only a modest nest egg. And retirement can begin at any time and any age. To do this you need to shift your perspective and look beyond our own borders.

The idea of relocating to another country, in retirement or otherwise, can be intimidating. To pick a place, start by figuring out how much money you have to live on in retirement. Tally the equity in your home, the value of your IRA or other retirement accounts, your Social Security or other pensions, your car, other property holdings, collectibles, and household goods.

[See 5 Ways to Simplify Retirement Accounts.]

After you’ve taken stock of what you own, take a good look at who you are. Make a list of your personal priorities and preferences, your interests and agendas, and your objectives and goals at this point in your life. What could you not live without?

Then compare your personal priorities against the world’s most interesting, appealing, and affordable places to spend time. There are at least 25 countries where you could live well on very little. Here are seven of my picks for the world’s top retirement havens.

Panama. In many ways, Panama is the world’s premier overseas haven. It’s certainly the best choice if you’re considering launching a new business as part of your new life overseas.

[See 3 Retirement Worst Case Scenarios To Avoid.]

France. France is far more affordable in some regions than you might imagine and delivers an unparalleled quality of life for every euro invested.

Uruguay. You’ll be far removed from all the troubles of the rest of the world in this safe, stable, and welcoming country.

Belize. With both Caribbean island and inland highlands living options, this is a country where life is sweet and simple.

Mexico. Mexico is a good choice if you don’t want to move too far from children or grandchildren.

[See 5 Reasons to Start Investing for Retirement Today.]

Croatia. This is the new and far more affordable Tuscany.

Malaysia. My top pick in Asia is not only super-affordable but also, unlike most countries in this part of the world, open to foreign retirees. Malaysia has straightforward, user-friendly options for establishing foreign residency.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On- ... broad.html

On Retirement

The World’s Most Affordable Retirement Haven

By Kathleen Peddicord
Posted: June 28, 2010

One of the most motivating reasons to retire overseas is the cost of living. Living in another country can cost considerably less.

[See America's Best Affordable Places to Retire.]
http://money.usnews.com/money/retiremen ... to-retire/

Almost anywhere in the world your monthly expenses are largely what you make them. Individuals can decide, for example, whether to rent or own a home. If you don’t buy a house you don’t have the accompanying carrying costs to worry about, such as repairs, maintenance, and homeowner’s insurance. You can also decide whether to purchase a car or not. Going without a vehicle means you don’t have to pay to fix it when it breaks down, fuel it, or insure it.

Consumers make choices about whether to run air conditioning 24 hours a day or only in your bedroom at night. And you decide whether to shop for groceries at the American-style grocery store or the local farmer’s market. Individuals choose whether to hire help around the house and where and how often you dine out.

Another fundamental choice retirees abroad must make is how local to go. If you’re willing to purchase local goods your budget can be seriously controlled. Going native doesn’t mean living uncomfortably. Your lifestyle, in fact, could be enhanced and improved in many ways. Retiring overseas is all about embracing the new and the different.

[See 5 Places to Retire On Social Security Alone.]

Just how affordable could your new local life overseas be? As little as $850 a month or less. Cuenca, Ecuador is one of the world’s most affordable places to live well. Here’s how your Cuenca retirement budget could look:

•Rent: $200
•Utilities and Internet: $120
•Groceries: $240
•Transportation: $40
•Health Insurance: $50
•Entertainment: $200
Think of this as a starter budget. For a total of $850 a month, including a comfortable entertainment allowance, you could live a comfortable and interesting life in a part of the world that boasts spring-like weather year-round.

Build your budget out from there. You can rent an apartment in Cuenca for as little as $200 a month. But if you want a bigger or more modern place to live you could spend two or three times as much. If you want full-time help around the house, it will probably cost about $200 a month. If you want to keep a car, add another $150 a month or so for the associated costs. Do you like to eat out three or four nights a week? Cuenca boasts many good and international-standard restaurants.

This beautiful colonial city with a thriving theater and arts community is not the cheapest place to live in Ecuador. You could live on less in other parts of the country. But Cuenca is the cheapest place to live well, not only in Ecuador, but anywhere in the world.

[See 7 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad.]

With just over 400,000 people, Cuenca is small enough so that you always see someone you know when walking around town. Yet it’s not so remote that you can’t find the services you need. The colonial architecture, Andean markets, and heritage of the city make you really feel like you're really experiencing another country with a rich culture that provides loads of different ways to spend your time. Public transportation is great, both within the city and between cities. Retirees won’t need to invest in a car if they don’t want to. The expatriate community is large enough so that you can find English-speaking company when you want it.

Cuenca is perhaps the top choice in the world right now for living well in retirement on a super-modest budget. Other affordable places to retire abroad include Leon, Nicaragua, Las Tablas, Panama, and Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On- ... haven.html

3 Options for Retiree Health Insurance Abroad

By Kathleen Peddicord
Posted: July 6, 2010

While you can arrange to receive your monthly Social Security payment almost anywhere in the world, Medicare will not cover you outside the country.

[See The World’s Most Affordable Retirement Haven.]

Medical care and health insurance are among the most important issues to consider as you prepare for a new life in a another country. The good news is that your options for health insurance overseas can be more affordable than Medicare and can provide better coverage. The key is to make sure you can sleep at night. Here are three options for health insurance abroad.

Go without coverage. Depending on where you’re thinking about taking up residence as a foreign retiree, you could consider opting out of health insurance altogether. The cost of good medical care can be so affordable in some countries that deciding not to invest in insurance can make sense. I have a number of friends in different parts of the world such as Thailand and Argentina who have made this choice. They’re generally healthy, pay their medical costs as they go, and keep a cash reserve in case an emergency strikes.

[See 5 Places to Retire On Social Security Alone.]

This can be a reasonable approach if you’re thinking of relocating to a country where a routine doctor’s visit is $20 and you can have an X-ray taken for only slightly more. In Panama City, for example, the cost of an X-ray is currently $22.10.

But maybe the thought of no health insurance makes you sick. In that case, you have two fundamental options: local insurance or an international policy with an provider such as Bupa or HTH Worldwide.

Local health insurance. A local insurance policy in the country where you’ll be living can be super cheap—as little as $50 per month or less, depending on your age and state of health. The downside to a local in-country policy is that its coverage is generally limited by geography. A local Uruguay policy covers you in Uruguay only. This can be fine if you’re relocating to Uruguay full time and don’t intend to travel elsewhere often. The other downside to a local policy can be the cut off date for acceptance. Typically a local insurance provider will not write you a new policy after age 63.

[See 7 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad.]

International policies. If you intend to move around in your retirement or are already older than 63 you should look into an international policy. This is the safest, most reliable option for long-term global medical care. You can arrange a policy that will cover you anywhere in the world, including the U.S. But including U.S. coverage will substantially increase your premium costs. The cost of this global coverage will likely be less than your current U.S. insurance policy, perhaps even less than the cost of your combined Medicare and Medigap coverage.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On- ... broad.html

Thanks for posting.... I have friends in Australia that want me to come down there and stay for a while..... I am free to go where-ever i want...that is the BEST feeling in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just have to take the first step and quit my job

5 Places to Retire On Social Security Alone

By Kathleen Peddicord
Posted: June 14, 2010

One of the most compelling reasons to consider retiring to another country is the opportunity to reduce your cost of living, maybe dramatically.

As one American I know who retired to Boquete, Panama put it recently, “Back in Tucson, Arizona, where I’m from, my monthly Social Security check might cover the cost of my utilities. Here in Boquete, my income from Social Security is enough to buy me a very comfortable new life.â€

12 States Without Pension or Social Security Taxes

By Emily Brandon
Low-Tax States to Retire

12 Low-Tax States for Retirees
No taxes on Social Security or pension income.

http://money.usnews.com/money/retiremen ... rity-taxes