Anyone looked into retiring abroad? I'm thinking about it.

[Max Rockatansky]

By the time I grow old the retirement age will be 90 and social security payments will be 1 cent per month. If the planet is even still liveable by then.

Find a job with a pension system and max pay into a 401k.

[JayhawkCO]

By the time I grow old the retirement age will be 90 and social security payments will be 1 cent per month. If the planet is even still liveable by then.

Find a job with a pension system and max pay into a 401k.

Yep, my wife is in education so doesn't pay into social security at all. Not quite at the point financially where we're maxing 401k, but getting there.

[Max Rockatansky]

By the time I grow old the retirement age will be 90 and social security payments will be 1 cent per month. If the planet is even still liveable by then.

Find a job with a pension system and max pay into a 401k.

Yep, my wife is in education so doesn't pay into social security at all. Not quite at the point financially where we're maxing 401k, but getting there.

My wife and I have pensions we've been both vested in for a decade (me slightly longer).  I'm maxed out on my 401k, she's not quite there yet.  Once I hit 20 years I'll be at my max pension benefit which is based off my top three earning years.  Considering I won't be in my 50s when I hit 20 years I kind of wonder what I'll do then?  I can probably go for the 30 years and take the retirement early without penalty.

[wriddle082]

I don't like the idea of retiring abroad for one particular reason.  All retirements come to an end at the end of life.  And when your life is over, your children may want to have a memorial service for you.  What sort of red tape would your children have to go through to get your remains back to the USA, or to settle up your affairs?  I mean that's what pre-planning is all about, but that's going to take careful research and planning with your children.  And those children may one day have their own children who you would miss out on seeing grow up if you were all in different countries.  Not everybody is going to be in that situation, but I do believe that if you care for your children and grandchildren enough, that you wouldn't burden them with end-of-life issues that would put undue strain on their own financial situations.  Or for that matter, just stay as close to them as you can.  I'm already an 8 hour drive from either of my parents, and as they get older I start to think it's just a little too far.  At least I have siblings who are much closer to them.

[JoePCool14]

By the time I grow old the retirement age will be 90 and social security payments will be 1 cent per month. If the planet is even still liveable by then.

If you're relying primarily on social security, even for those retiring now, you did it wrong.

[Max Rockatansky]

I don't like the idea of retiring abroad for one particular reason.  All retirements come to an end at the end of life.  And when your life is over, your children may want to have a memorial service for you.  What sort of red tape would your children have to go through to get your remains back to the USA, or to settle up your affairs?  I mean that's what pre-planning is all about, but that's going to take careful research and planning with your children.  And those children may one day have their own children who you would miss out on seeing grow up if you were all in different countries.  Not everybody is going to be in that situation, but I do believe that if you care for your children and grandchildren enough, that you wouldn't burden them with end-of-life issues that would put undue strain on their own financial situations.  Or for that matter, just stay as close to them as you can.  I'm already an 8 hour drive from either of my parents, and as they get older I start to think it's just a little too far.  At least I have siblings who are much closer to them.

In that line of thought, I don't have kids and not much of my family remaining.  Should I meet my demise in any capacity I can't imagine it would be much of a burden for my living family members.  Likely all arraignments would be made by my wife's family in the event of my passing.  Considering my wife has a sizable amount of family still in Mexico that's one of the primary drivers of why we are considering retirement there. 

[golden eagle]

I hear that Belize is nice.

[jgb191]

Briefly. A couple of places I've looked at are Portugal, Montenegro, and Argentina. The first two make it relatively easy for EU citizenship which would be nice. The latter has some areas that fit our lifestyle really well. We have a kid now, so that throws a different calculus into the equation, but we certainly don't ever rule out moving abroad. My job is remote, so I can work from anywhere.

I'm surprised you haven't considered India; you probably know the country very well from your travels there.  English isn't a major problem in the southern half of India so you should be able to get by, especially in the cities there.

[Rothman]

Come to think of it, I've liked the idea of buying a retirement place on that strip in Sandusky that leads to Cedar Point -- the one where residents fail to keep visitors to the park off their road. 

[JayhawkCO]

Briefly. A couple of places I've looked at are Portugal, Montenegro, and Argentina. The first two make it relatively easy for EU citizenship which would be nice. The latter has some areas that fit our lifestyle really well. We have a kid now, so that throws a different calculus into the equation, but we certainly don't ever rule out moving abroad. My job is remote, so I can work from anywhere.

I'm surprised you haven't considered India; you probably know the country very well from your travels there.  English isn't a major problem in the southern half of India so you should be able to get by, especially in the cities there.

A) Haven't been there yet. I will be visiting for the first time in June.

B) Not having English as the predominant language wouldn't be a detriment for me if I were to move somewhere. I speak relatively fluent Spanish and pick up languages pretty easily. (Linguistics was one of my majors in college.) Plus, most of the world speaks English in some form or another -- not every person, but you can get around without knowing the local tongue. When I travel, I prefer to go to places where they don't speak much English outside of tourist centers. It makes it a little more tangible that I'm out of the country.

C) I've thought about Southeast Asia, having been there a number of times and knowing how dirt cheap it is. My wife and I both like cold weather though, so that's probably a no go.

D) My ideal place to retire is in a nice town in the mountains. India has okay towns and nice mountains. There are no nice towns in the mountains however (maybe Darjeeling or something of that nature, but still not in the mountains per se).

E) I'd also like a somewhat similar standard of living as the U.S.. India is an incredibly crowded place and has far different norms than we have here. "Exotic" I like for travel, not necessarily for settling down.

[Takumi]

My fiancée and I have discussed retiring in Italy. She's from South Africa, which has a great cost of living and a lingua franca of English, but politically is an absolute mess to the point that I will never complain about the US again.

[jgb191]

My wife and I both like cold weather though

India's got you covered there as well -- the Himalayas probably?  A fact lost on a lot of people is that snow does fall in India every winter along its northern border with Nepal and parts of Pakistan.  Another fact lost on many people is the tremendous culture shock the hour they step off the plane.  For some reason, people only have visions of the five-star hospitality, the wining/dining, palaces, temples, and other neat architectural wonders (Taj Mahal); they never think of lifestyle for the vast majority of Indians there until they see it first hand.

[JayhawkCO]

My wife and I both like cold weather though

India's got you covered there as well -- the Himalayas probably?  A fact lost on a lot of people is that snow does fall in India every winter along its northern border with Nepal and parts of Pakistan.  Another fact lost on many people is the tremendous culture shock the hour they step off the plane.  For some reason, people only have visions of the five-star hospitality, the wining/dining, palaces, temples, and other neat architectural wonders (Taj Mahal); they never think of lifestyle for the vast majority of Indians there until they see it first hand.

Well aware of the mountains there; the main place I'm traveling is Ladakh. As I alluded to in my previous post, none of the cities near the mountains are particularly nice. I'll be based in Leh, and most travelers report that it's a nice enough place to base yourself for exploring the region, but it's not a particularly nice city overall.

If you want an example of the kind of town I'm interested in, check out Bariloche, Argentina.

[Rothman]

Heh.  My parents were just talking about their time in Bariloche last night.  My father lived there for a short time in about 1970, while they both visited a few years ago while living for a stint in Buenos Aires.

There's a reason the town has a strong German influence...

[JayhawkCO]

Heh.  My parents were just talking about their time in Bariloche last night.  My father lived there for a short time in about 1970, while they both visited a few years ago while living for a stint in Buenos Aires.

There's a reason the town has a strong German influence...

Yeah, sadly I looked up my last name (German) and saw there are a lot in Argentina and Brazil. I'm pretty sure I'm related to some scumbags.

[nexus73]

Overseas but still in America: Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Marianas, American Samoa. 

As for my retired self, I am happy to stay in my hometown.  From where I was born to all the various family properties/houses were are all within 4 blocks.  Home is very important to me.

Rick

[JayhawkCO]

Overseas but still in America: Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Marianas, American Samoa. 

I have an acquaintance who retired to Saipan and loves it.

As for my retired self, I am happy to stay in my hometown.  From where I was born to all the various family properties/houses were are all within 4 blocks.  Home is very important to me.

I think the fact I moved so much as a kid means that home has a different definition for me than others.

[ZLoth]

Any thoughts on retiring to a cruise ship?

[JayhawkCO]

Any thoughts on retiring to a cruise ship?

Cruises are already floating prisons to me. So, I might as well at least attempt to embezzle large sums of money first if I'm going to end up in the same place.

[SP Cook]

The "retire on a cruise ship" deal has been a cute story for a long time.  Fun with math, the cost of living there is less than either an apartment or a nursing home.  The problem with that is most cruise ships are the same trip over and over.  Same ports, same activities, same acts, same food rotation, same everything, over and over and over.   

The "retirement ship", which is dedicated to the subject, and travels around the world, has been tried a dozen times.  It generally falls through after a while. 

[CtrlAltDel]

Heh.  My parents were just talking about their time in Bariloche last night.  My father lived there for a short time in about 1970, while they both visited a few years ago while living for a stint in Buenos Aires.

There's a reason the town has a strong German influence...

Yeah, sadly I looked up my last name (German) and saw there are a lot in Argentina and Brazil. I'm pretty sure I'm related to some scumbags.

It is my understanding that there was a significant German influence in the area before the Second World War, which is why a number of people went there afterward. So, maybe you are but maybe you aren't.

[bing101]

My Family discussed about retiring in the Philippines mainly because thats where they are born and its in their home province. However their neighborhood from childhood is now being gentrified.  The Area they knew about that at one point was an American District because of Clark Air Force base is now a Korean District. It not just knowing about the culture of the Philippines and the US history of the Philippines I have to look at but also Korean Culture in that area.


https://www.kkday.com/en/blog/43716/asia-philippines-pampanga-koreatown-best-restaurants-cafes




https://jmds.upou.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Vol7_4-De-Leon_FullPaper.pdf

[Rothman]

Heh.  My parents were just talking about their time in Bariloche last night.  My father lived there for a short time in about 1970, while they both visited a few years ago while living for a stint in Buenos Aires.

There's a reason the town has a strong German influence...

Yeah, sadly I looked up my last name (German) and saw there are a lot in Argentina and Brazil. I'm pretty sure I'm related to some scumbags.

It is my understanding that there was a significant German influence in the area before the Second World War, which is why a number of people went there afterward. So, maybe you are but maybe you aren't.

Uh huh...

[J N Winkler]

I don't like the idea of retiring abroad for one particular reason.  All retirements come to an end at the end of life.  And when your life is over, your children may want to have a memorial service for you.  What sort of red tape would your children have to go through to get your remains back to the USA, or to settle up your affairs?  I mean that's what pre-planning is all about, but that's going to take careful research and planning with your children.  And those children may one day have their own children who you would miss out on seeing grow up if you were all in different countries.  Not everybody is going to be in that situation, but I do believe that if you care for your children and grandchildren enough, that you wouldn't burden them with end-of-life issues that would put undue strain on their own financial situations.  Or for that matter, just stay as close to them as you can.  I'm already an 8 hour drive from either of my parents, and as they get older I start to think it's just a little too far.  At least I have siblings who are much closer to them.

I have thought of this obstacle to retiring in a strange country, but more from the vantage point of navigating senescence with an unfamiliar healthcare system.  What happens after death is generally much more straightforward--a death certificate is issued (I think by the country of residence if you actually die abroad), and then there are procedures for it to be officially recognized in the US; human remains can be repatriated, and are often done so by air freight; pretty much every country has companies that will clean out a property so it can be sold (never mind what happens to memorabilia like old family photos)--it doesn't have to be like the last scene in Zorba the Greek; etc.  But every healthcare system (even the ones that are far more functional than ours in the US) has tips and tricks to be learned, and it becomes harder to do so in a language other than your own and with the loss of mental flexibility that often comes with old age.

In his autobiography, which he published shortly before he died, the British thriller writer Eric Ambler talks about living for decades in the US (where he worked as a screenwriter on a green card, never naturalizing as a US citizen) and then for a time in Switzerland, only for him and his wife to move back to England when they became old and started to have serious health problems.

The "retire on a cruise ship" deal has been a cute story for a long time.  Fun with math, the cost of living there is less than either an apartment or a nursing home.  The problem with that is most cruise ships are the same trip over and over.  Same ports, same activities, same acts, same food rotation, same everything, over and over and over.

Many cruise ships are in fact floating nursing homes in all but name.  When family friends retired and went on a round-the-world cruise, they discovered a fair few of their fellow passengers were repeating the same trip over and over because it was actually somewhat cheaper than being in assisted living.

I think the fact I moved so much as a kid means that home has a different definition for me than others.

Many of the people I know who have retired abroad come from what would now be called third-culture backgrounds.

[abefroman329]

I've thought about retiring to Medellin.  Solid infrastructure and it's the city of eternal spring.  But I'd have to learn a lot more Spanish (you can really only get by on English if you're within the tourist bubble) and, for safety reasons, would have to live in a high-rise somewhere rather than out in the country.