Best Places In The World To Retire

Standard of living in Mexico is all over the map. It's ironic that you have some filthy rich people in Mexico and some filthy poor ones (using the word (“filthy” differently), and people struggling in between to try to keep things going. 

 

The economic writers are continually saying that the middle class is expanding. Maybe the lower middle class is expanding. I don't think the upper middle classes are expanding very much. There are...

Standard of living in Mexico is all over the map. It's ironic that you have some filthy rich people in Mexico and some filthy poor ones (using the word (“filthy” differently), and people struggling in between to try to keep things going. 

 

The economic writers are continually saying that the middle class is expanding. Maybe the lower middle class is expanding. I don't think the upper middle classes are expanding very much. There are still a lot of poor people. It's a cycle where you get born into a poor family, you get no opportunities to get ahead, and you grow up and are poor yourself and your children are poor. 

 

Around here in Chapala and Ajijic, one of the things that a lot of expats have been doing is helping that situation. There are a ton of charities. We used to run a list of charities in the local paper, Ojo de Lago. We had to stop because it was taking too much paper. We couldn't list them all. For example, there are two or three different charities that just focus on education for deserving students, paying their tuition, getting them into college or technical school, and so on. There are all kinds of charities that help feed the poor, help with health issues, for crippled and maimed children and adults, and so on. They never have a shortage of clients. There are always people who are identified to fill any gaps the locals have with their available resources. 

 

It's sad. One of the things that happens around here is that gringos, Canadians, and Europeans bring in their savings and their pension money and buy a house that is beyond the reach of Mexicans, but it creates a market for that kind of house. More and more of them do that. You get, for example, US $250,000 houses that somebody who sold a $1,000,000 house in the city in North America can easily afford, but a Mexican middle class family could never afford. The locals are either left to find something to rent or live in a much smaller, less attractive home in a poorer neighborhood. 

 

 

From our perspective, looking at the Mexican population, their standard of living isn't that great.

 

On the other hand, the standard of living of expats in Mexico is generally pretty good. There are few expats here who are surviving on very little. They may have a basic Social Security pension and that's about all, but they can survive on it here in Mexico. They may be living in a one-room or two-room apartment, not going out to dinner very often, and not being able to join clubs, although even a lot of those things are of very little cost, but they're surviving, whereas their economic equivalent in Mexico would have a great deal of trouble surviving because they wouldn't have that same kind of base  Social Security pension. Their pension would be a lot lower and would buy a lot less. 

 

The majority of expats around here in the Chapala and Ajijic area I call 'middle class'; they were or are working stiffs. They have decent pensions. Sometimes they have two sources of pension, either from their business and/or Social Security. They're able to come down here with their savings from their house sale up North, buy themselves a house so they don't have to pay rent. They bring down a car, too, so they have wheels. 

 

The standard of living of expats in Mexico compared to what it would be for them in the US or Canada on the same amount of money is much higher. They're going to get higher quality fruits and vegetables at much less cost. Meat is cheaper. They can buy booze. I never saw a beer sale in Canada in my 55 years of living there. Beers are on sale here in Chapala and Ajijic just about every other week in one store or another, just as an example for those who like beer. It's the same thing with other essentials for the most part. 

 

Now obviously, some people run into problems. You run into a serious health problem and you have to pay privately for a doctor and nursing care. That sort of thing adds up if you don't have health insurance. You have to compensate on some areas for others. If you want a high-end computer, that will cost you more here than it will up North. These are individual examples. 

 

Basic healthcare in Mexico compared to the US or Canada, for example a physical and a visit or two to the doctor in the course of a year, would be less expensive. I shouldn't say it's less expensive because now with Medicare, people are paying it out of their pockets and if they have to pay premiums are lower than what they would pay for basic service in Mexico if they had to fork it out. If you don't have medical insurance, you're paying a la carte for your medical care. Once you get to something more serious, for example an internal surgery, a broken limb, or something that requires major intervention, then it becomes more expensive because you're paying out of your pocket.

 

If you don't have Medicare or you're not covered by the Canadian healthcare system, I would say healthcare would be way cheaper in Mexico.  

 

(Lake Chapala Garden Club, Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)

Unfortunately, the answer to the question of what are the best places to live in the world is an example of the kinds of questions that so many websites try to answer. The answer is totally determined by the individual’s taste and what they are looking for. Honestly, it’s one of those impossible questions for me to answer for a specific person, because people are just so different.

 

Some older or retired people may want to remain within,...

Unfortunately, the answer to the question of what are the best places to live in the world is an example of the kinds of questions that so many websites try to answer. The answer is totally determined by the individual’s taste and what they are looking for. Honestly, it’s one of those impossible questions for me to answer for a specific person, because people are just so different.

 

Some older or retired people may want to remain within, let’s say, two to four hours of travel distance from their home area where they have their children or grandchildren, so they can get back there or maybe they plan to visit. If you live a seven or eight hour flight away, it may cost you US $1,500 to $2,000 for a plane ticket, which makes it difficult. That is why so many Americans or Canadians end up in Central America; Panama, Mexico and the Caribbean, because it’s easy and a quick distance. Those who go to places like Uruguay or Chile end up having to pay a lot more money and it takes a lot more time so they don’t get home as frequently. If there’s a reason to get home quickly, it’s much more difficult and expensive for them than people, for example, who live in Panama.

 

Overall, what I think you should your choice from the viewpoint of where you want go, where you want live, and the experience you want to have.  Then, look for the countries that seem to offer that and then pick one. The country that’s closest to you might not be the appropriate one.

On account of there being so many new mobile companies in Portugal, there is a lot of competition, so you can get a bundle including Internet, television, mobile phones, television, and depending on how many foreign calls you want, you can pay anything from €32 up to €78 (about $35 / £23 to $85 / £56).

 

And there are many very good people here who will do installation and setup.  There’s excellent support for that here in...

On account of there being so many new mobile companies in Portugal, there is a lot of competition, so you can get a bundle including Internet, television, mobile phones, television, and depending on how many foreign calls you want, you can pay anything from €32 up to €78 (about $35 / £23 to $85 / £56).

 

And there are many very good people here who will do installation and setup.  There’s excellent support for that here in Portugal.  

 

(A scene from Os Nossos Dias, a Portuguese telenovela, pictured. )

 
A mixed build using both wood and concrete would cost around US $75 per square foot.  A full concrete house with basic finishing would be around $100 per square foot. A full concrete house with hurricane windows would be about $125 per square foot.
 
The price of a house really depends on your taste. Belize is a very small country, so there is no economy of scale. We have 300,000 or so people, and of that, 70% are people who are younger than 22 years old. 100,000 people work in only five big industries, which are oil, tourism, sugarcane, citrus and bananas, and that together, generate about 80% of the country’s revenue. Oil doesn’t generate a lot of income, while tourism, sugarcane, citrus, and bananas are all seasonal and use low paid labor. All this means that the 1/3 or so of the population works at seasonal, low paid industries.
 
As a result, there is not a lot of big buying power in Belize, and of course, in Placencia, that justifies the availability of materials. If you are an investor, how many hardware shops and how many building supply yards can you build in this country for that population with that buying power?

 

That means that, as a consumer, you will still find a hardware store, but you will have to choose between the three toilet models that they have available, and that's it. You can go to one of the three tile stores that we have in the whole country, and they will have 10 or 15 tiles in stock. So if you like one of them, you’re lucky. Anything that you want out of the basic range that they carry here in Belize will cost you much more because, in order to buy it, you have to hire a driver, hire a truck, go get what you want in Mexico, and pay big import duties to bring what you just brought back into Belize. As a result, if you want your special tiles, they will be much more expensive than if you picked one of those 15 they have available in the tile store here in Belize.
 
If you come to Belize to build, your cost can be anything within a very wide range.  You can build a very affordable house, since we have a poor population who can build a nice house in an affordable way.  Alternatively, if you bring your US attitude and you're picky, then you will end up paying much more.