Best Places In The World To Retire

Over all these years, one of the first things people want to know is what are the carrying costs, like property taxes (about US $250 per year for a US $250,000 property) and homeowner’s insurance. I often say, “I’ll tell you what, with regard to home owner’s insurance, for $1, I will insure your home against earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and all the other things we don’t have here.”

 

People accustomed to...

Over all these years, one of the first things people want to know is what are the carrying costs, like property taxes (about US $250 per year for a US $250,000 property) and homeowner’s insurance. I often say, “I’ll tell you what, with regard to home owner’s insurance, for $1, I will insure your home against earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and all the other things we don’t have here.”

 

People accustomed to houses in the States, in Canada, or somewhere else made of materials such as wood and sheetrock, worry a lot about the damage that can be caused just by water. We do get some heavy rain here, but I joke that if you have a roof leak here and neglect fixing it for millions of years, maybe you will grow a stalactite! 

 

In addition to being greatly water damage resistant, with construction materials consisting of stuff like steel, brick, cement, and stone, you’ve basically got like a rock house, so even fire isn’t a much of a risk here, other than maybe grass or brush fires, or perhaps kitchen fires, but really no structurally threatening type of home fires. 

 

Although emergency services providers like the fire department and Red Cross may not have to contend with natural disasters here, to point out a potentially disastrous risk that can exist here, they do occasionally respond to propane gas tank and heater related incidents. One of the things that you need to be careful about is to make sure that your gas tanks and hot water heaters are appropriately positioned and vented. Almost every year, particularly during winter months, there are maybe one or two fatalities attributable to propane gas fumes, usually from improperly ventilated heaters. This is not a common occurrence, but it does happen occasionally.

 

(Interior patio, San Miguel Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

If you’re retired or a senior citizen, the cost to go to the movies in Portugal is €4 (about $4.20 / £2.80). If you are not a retired person, it would cost you €5 (about $5.30 / £3.50). 

 

Sometimes we have concerts here directly from the Royal Opera or from the ballet for €10 (about $10.60 / £7.00), whereas in England you’d pay £45 (around $64 / €68.) for it. 

 

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If you’re retired or a senior citizen, the cost to go to the movies in Portugal is €4 (about $4.20 / £2.80). If you are not a retired person, it would cost you €5 (about $5.30 / £3.50). 

 

Sometimes we have concerts here directly from the Royal Opera or from the ballet for €10 (about $10.60 / £7.00), whereas in England you’d pay £45 (around $64 / €68.) for it. 

 

We’re very fortunate because the language of the film will always stay in the language of the country of origin, and they’ll have titles. So all the movies for English-speakers, whether they are from the States or from England are all in English with subtitles. The same is true for all the movies on television as well.  

 

(The movie poster for Lisbon, starring Ray Milland in 1956, pictured.)

There are a variety is issues which could give rise to avoid retiring overseas.  Of those reasons, herein are my “top 3” worst reasons to retire overseas:

 

HEALTHCARE

 

While some jurisdictions may, in fact, have superior healthcare facilities to those in the United States, the healthcare services of many countries are far inferior to those in America.  Consistent access to quality medication at affordable...

There are a variety is issues which could give rise to avoid retiring overseas.  Of those reasons, herein are my “top 3” worst reasons to retire overseas:

 

HEALTHCARE

 

While some jurisdictions may, in fact, have superior healthcare facilities to those in the United States, the healthcare services of many countries are far inferior to those in America.  Consistent access to quality medication at affordable rates can, surprisingly, be more challenging than you may realize.  Also, when you are of retirement age and experience a serious medical challenge, it can be extremely expense, if not life threatening, to travel (or be transported) to a neighboring country which has qualified physicians needed to properly treat your ailment.  While you may do your best to choose a favorable jurisdiction for your golden age, countries which boast low-cost retirement havens often lack proper medical facilities.

 

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

 

Assuming you have children, you may find yourself missing out on watching your grandson’s first baseball game or granddaughter’s communion.  Lifelong friends, who are also of retirement age, may not have the resources to come and visit you but once every few years.  Unless you are part of a small community to provide you with the emotional support needed to maintain a healthy emotional state of mind, it is easy to become increasingly depressed living isolated from family and friends.  Are you mentally and emotionally prepared to communicate with your closest of friends and family via video or social media?  When you no longer wish to travel back to the United States, there may be extended periods of time when no comes to visit you either.

 

FINANCES AND EXCHANGE RATES

 

Lack of finances ranks among the primary causes of tremendous stress.  Unless you have reasonably substantial savings for your retirement, you may find yourself in an extremely uncomfortable position overseas.  Adding insult to injury, if you wished to work part-time to generate some additional income, most retirement visa’s do not allow for any formal work to be undertaken by a retiree as it places unnecessary burdens on the local community whom often struggle with finding work for their families.  Additionally, currencies and exchange rate are subject to slow degradations as well as massive swings.  Meaning, you may have moved to a country wherein you enjoyed a favorable exchange rate when you arrived but find yourself getting far less ‘bang for your buck’ as time moves on.

Recently, many people are scared of the Zika virus, which is a virus that is carried by mosquitoes. You might have to be careful of that by using some insect repellents or something to protect you from getting bitten by mosquitoes.

 

It seems that recently, there are a lot of infections that are being transmitted by mosquitoes all over Latin America, and Nicaragua is not an exception. It also depends on where you are going. If you are going outside of the...

Recently, many people are scared of the Zika virus, which is a virus that is carried by mosquitoes. You might have to be careful of that by using some insect repellents or something to protect you from getting bitten by mosquitoes.

 

It seems that recently, there are a lot of infections that are being transmitted by mosquitoes all over Latin America, and Nicaragua is not an exception. It also depends on where you are going. If you are going outside of the city or to a mountain or a volcano, you might have to use some protection from mosquito bites, but if you are in the city, it is not a big deal at all. We don’t worry about it. Malaria and Yellow Fever is from the past. It is not common any more, even here in Nicaragua.  

 

(Volcán Masaya, Nicaragua, pictured.)