“This is frontier country… You won’t find much here. Starbucks hasn’t made it, and there’s no Home Depot. But you will find an open door to immediate residency in Panama,” writes IL Offshore expert, Bob Bauman, in your May issue of International Living magazine. Bob explores an opportunity in Panama’s Darien province and reveals the ideal visa if you want to live in Panama, but don’t qualify as a retiree, or you want to avoid the process needed for an investor’s visa.
Thinking about retirement, we usually focus on money. Are we saving enough? With the cost of living ticking up and interest rates near zero, it’s a reasonable question. But preoccupied with funds, we often forget to reflect on why we save to begin with. What we’re really after, I’d venture, is an enjoyable, meaningful, comfortable lifestyle. We save, ultimately, so we have greater control over how we live. But at home today, it often feels like we have less control…and fewer options.
201 1 Live and Invest Overseas Conference Package
Las Vegas, NV – October 2011In the Live and Invest Overseas Conference Package, we’ll show you how you can make that dream your reality… for as little as $697 a month. Maybe you long for your own cottage on a quiet beach… a grand apartment in a city vibrant with concerts and cafes… a mountain villa where the air is crisp… or even your own vineyard amid gently rolling hills. Whatever you fantasize about… come with that idea in mind. We’ll show you the places in the world today where you can live your dream, for a small fraction of what you’d pay for a comparable life at home.
The idea of living better for less overseas has been around for a long time. So long, in fact, that there are a surprising number of people doing it right now. As a constant participant in International Living’s events, I notice this surprise on the faces of attendees every time we do a seminar or conference.
When it comes to living the expat life, there is only one candidate that deserves your vote: You. As your own commander in chief, you can live wherever you like and by your own set of rules. I’m Suzan Haskins and I’m writing to you this week from Cancun, Mexico, and the International Living Ultimate Event 2012.
“This is my first time,” a pretty lady named Jos confided to me. She lives in a beautiful home overlooking the ocean on Australia’s western coast. “I love my home and I have no complaints with my life there,” she said. “But my husband has been working and living in Vanuatu (a gorgeous South Pacific island) for five years…and he has wanderlust.
Where in the world shall we go today? If you’ve been dreaming of Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, or the Dominican Republic (wow!), come on—let’s go. I’d like to take you on a whirlwind tour of these countries. With only the best, most knowledgeable (and most entertaining) guides, of course. I’m Suzan Haskins, reporting to you from International Living’s Ultimate Event, going on now in Cancun.
Skeptics inquire: Are the opportunities overseas really as great as we at IL portray them to be? The short answer is “yes.” But don’t take my word for it… Listen, instead, to the many firsthand stories we’ve collected in the current issue of International Living magazine—on-the-ground reports from folks who decided to answer the question for themselves…at the beach…in the hills…in cities…or on islands…
You can volunteer at an organic farm next to the Podacarpus National Park in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, or on an apple orchard and organic bakery in Mendoza, Argentina. Help make goat cheese on an Irish farm near Ballyvaughan, County Clare in Ireland, learn about wine making on a vineyard in Italy’s Piemonte district while staying in a village house with a view of the Alps…
Five years into my expat life, I look forward to downsizing. In fact, I recently bought a small, manageable, lock-and-leave property in Guanajuato, in the Colonial Highlands. It’s a far cry from what I thought I wanted when I first moved to Mexico… Then, I’d wanted a good-sized house, instead of an apartment as I’d had in the U.S.
When my wife, Suzan Haskins, and I moved overseas in 2001, we had no idea how much we didn’t know about living abroad. But we learned quickly. I still remember trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of Spanish hardware…literally.
If you’re a U.S. citizen you’ll never be able to walk away from the dollar completely—even if you move overseas. Likewise if you’re a Canadian or citizen of another country—it’s hard to totally divorce yourself from your national currency. Here are two reasons why…
The country that takes the number-one spot in the Annual Global Retirement Index 2012 is also the clear winner in our cost of living category. A couple watching their spending here can live well on $800 a month.
Look at the right places beyond our borders today, and you’ll find you have more good choices than ever for a comfortable—even a pampered—retirement. In any one of our top 19 havens for 2012, a lifestyle well beyond your reach in the States could be yours for pennies on the dollar.
Years ago we’d talk confidently about the benefits of Mexico versus Argentina…or Ecuador versus Costa Rica. I’m finding that we don’t do that as much these days.
Old beliefs die hard—but we’re doing our best here at IL to speed them on their way. From Penang, Malaysia to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico…Dublin, Ireland to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua…from Bilbao, Spain to Mérida, Venezuela…this month’s issue of International Living magazine is packed with boots-on-the-ground revelations about destinations you may think you know…
Timing is critical when it comes to rescuing your retirement. Now more than ever, hard-working folks just like you are asking themselves: How do I do it? Do I work longer, try to save more… or do I have another option? Our response: You have lots of options.
Every week, many IL readers make the crucial decision to “just do it,” and get moving on a new life overseas. Often we’re lucky enough that they send in their stories. Here, briefly, are four of my recent favorites…
This time last year I couldn’t wait to attend the Live & Invest Overseas Conference in Las Vegas. I wanted to find out as much information as possible about my country of choice: Panama.
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.
Winner of the 2011 Global Retirement Index, Ecuador offers sophisticated historical cities…miles of unspoiled, sun-kissed beaches…fertile farmland…and temperate mountain hideaways…and all of it for pennies on the dollar.
International Living’s Retirement Index always brings back fond memories of my own analysis that preceded my first move abroad. My means of choosing a country back then was simple. I only studied the categories on the Index that were important to me and threw out the countries that didn’t score well in those areas. Cost of living was high on my list…as were climate and real estate. I didn’t particularly care about the ratings for political stability, or the ability to get half-price movie tickets.
Don’t worry, be happy…and get down to Costa Rica, the happiest country in the Americas. That’s according to a new Gallup World Poll assessing the happiness of 132 countries. The scientists behind the poll say it proves there’s more to happiness than wealth.
“I don’t like being called an ex-patriot,” my friend Jack said. He’s a former elected official and about as red-white-and-blue as they come. His wife is a former trial judge. But now that they’re retired they’ve chosen to live in Ecuador…for the adventure, the pleasurable lifestyle, and definitely for the lower cost of living.
My wife Suzan and I have been living abroad for so long in so many places now that we’ve almost stopped talking about the merits or disadvantages of entire countries.
next »1 of 5
