A couple of years ago a friend came to visit us in Ecuador. Once here, he realized that the biggest expense of his trip was his airfare. With nice hotel rooms priced at $30 a night (including breakfast); full meals, including beverage, for $2.50; and beers for $1 or a glass of wine for $2, he was hardly spending anything to kick around the country.
Rent overseas before you buy. That’s good advice for anyone looking to try a new country on for size. Despite its incredibly low real estate costs, Ecuador is no exception. Fortunately, rental costs in Ecuador are very affordable, too.
As far as I’m concerned, Ecuador rocks. It may be a small country, but it has more to offer than you can imagine…great cities and quiet villages….the majestic snowcapped Andes mountains…impossibly beautiful beaches…and the glorious Amazon rainforest. Importantly, Ecuador has a low cost of living and some of the world’s lowest real estate prices.
Fourteen years ago, while on a Caribbean sailing trip, I decided that some day I would find my own place by the ocean. As time went on, that dream became ever-more important. I was sick and tired of corporate greed and useless politics in the U.S. It was time to make my dream a reality and check out moving overseas.
If anyone needed a retirement rescue—it was Ron and Terresa Moore. But thanks to low-cost Ecuador, they’re enjoying a relaxing early retirement in a warm, sunny climate. They have quality health care for $133 a month. And today they “sleep like babies every night,” says Ron. Back in July 2007, Ron and Terresa were living easy. But fast forward to December 2008. After 30 years, they found themselves out of work.
I was at the International Living Live and Invest in Ecuador Seminar 2011 that wrapped up about a week ago. I wish you were there, too. We learned why Ecuador makes so much sense for anyone looking to find a way to stretch their modest savings and social security checks…and yet enjoy a high quality of life.
When Patrick Robinson lived in Hawaii, he made a snapshot list of what the perfect society might look like. The more research he did the more convinced he became that this place was Ecuador. One place in particular jumped out at him. But still, he wasn’t sure he should go off on this adventure. After all, he was more than 80 years old.
“In 2007, we had great jobs and were pulling down good money. Our retirement account was growing steadily,” says Ron Moore. “Then, it seemed like overnight, everything changed.” The car dealership where Ron and his wife, Terresa, were both part of the executive management team, went out of business. As the economy down-spiraled, so did the couple’s savings.
John and Sue live in Vilcabamba in southern Ecuador. Known as the Valley of Longevity because it’s such a healthy, stress-free place that residents commonly live to be 100 or more, you gotta figure it’s a very good thing that living there costs so little. John and Sue, who are right around 50 and have been retired for more than four years now, have a very long life ahead of them.
We tell you often about the low prices in Ecuador and how a couple can live the high life for as little as $940 a month. Well, we’ve recently been in contact with lots of North Americans living in Ecuador right now. Turns out the cost of living isn’t as low as we thought…it’s even lower!
If you’re moving overseas, perhaps the most important number for you is property price. Of course, you’ll want that number to be low so that you can afford your new life overseas.
One country above all others on our beat is a great place to try out your entrepreneurial side: Ecuador. The Spanish guild system is still at work here, so each town and village specializes in one craft—leather work, ceramics, silversmith, guitar making, etc.
Along Ecuador’s Pacific coast, $50,000 buys you a beachfront condo. Expect to pay no more than $100 per month to cover your property tax, condo fees and other holding costs.
Mike spent a lot of time since then looking for somewhere that reminded him of those beaches in Southern California—including Guatemala, Mexico, and Costa Rica. But it wasn’t until he discovered one particular stretch of Pacific coast in Ecuador that he felt like he’d “come home to 50s California…”
Not only does Ecuador have one of the world’s best climates…lowest costs of living…and top-notch medical care at up to one-tenth the cost of the U.S… But it also has a little-known retirement program that could save you thousands of dollars a year.
International Living has been covering this beat for more than 30 years, and each Global Retirement Index we put together just gets more interesting. I’ll give you a little example… what do you think are the top five best places to retire on this year’s Index?
Jack and his wife, Debbie, had it made in the States and they could have retired anyplace they chose. But when it came down to quality of life and value for money, they chose to retire to Cotacachi, Ecuador.
Douglas Willis didn’t come to Cuenca, Ecuador, with the intention of retiring. When he arrived in 2007, it was with his wife Lisa, and their two children and they came as part of a volunteer program.
The Annual Global Retirement Index is 12 months in the making. Rivers of data, facts, figures, and numbers are crunched, analyzed, and distilled to a perfect list of, this year, the 23 best places to retire in the world.
Not long ago, Ron and Terresa were having a tough time back in the U.S. They’d both lost their jobs and were watching their hefty nest egg evaporate before their eyes, thanks to a global economic downturn. So they pulled up stakes and moved to Ecuador.
We’re constantly on the lookout for those countries around the world where you can live cheaper, enjoy better weather, pay less tax, be healthier, happier… where you can start a new life, start a business, retire…
Our second visit to Ecuador last year found us on a short road trip from Quito. We asked our guide where the best place in the country was for ranchers to buy land. His choice was Zuleta Valley. When we got there, we quickly agreed.
Times were good until the economy began its downturn, crashing the real estate market. We were concerned that our retirement savings wouldn’t see us through, so we began looking overseas for a place where our ever-shrinking nest egg might last longer.
Flowers bloom everywhere, and not one but four rushing rivers bubble over rocks to feed the lush vegetation. In Ecuador—the country that tops this year’s Global Retirement Index—nature is ever-present. And you can enjoy it fully in the city of Cuenca, where those rivers trail amid mountain surrounds.
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