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Retiring Abroad May Not be Paradise

There are often lots of questions on PBH about retiring abroad. Today's Wall Street Journal has a good article on the front page of the Personal Journal, for those considering the move.

No examples of anyone retiring to Colombia, but they interviewed couples that moved to Uruguay and Panama.

Article discusses banking and finance, health and social security, housing, taxes and legal issues to consider.

By houstongal (Trustee board) on Feb 5, 2008, 18:20 in Friendly Talkzone.

houstongal (Trustee board) says on Feb 5, 2008, 18:24:

Excerpt:
Banks are trying to make some of these processes easier. HSBC PLC has revamped its Premier Account to help customers moving overseas arrange for bank accounts and mortgages in their new country. The bank also provides documents necessary for obtaining services such as a mobile phone, which often requires a local credit hisotry. Charles Schwab & Co. has begun allowing its overseas customers, located in more than 200 countries, to establish standing letters of authorization so they can request with just an email that money be wired to an account abroad.

"It is now official: there's no place on earth where you will not find a Peruvian band." David Sedaris

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houstongal (Trustee board) says on Feb 5, 2008, 18:44:

Thanks Roc! You must get the online version of the WSJ. I still prefer paper.....

"It is now official: there's no place on earth where you will not find a Peruvian band." David Sedaris

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miamimike says on Feb 5, 2008, 18:56:

Mexico curently has the Lock on American Expat Retirees! Close Proximity to the US is one big reason,,, In my Ex-Wife's hometown of Guadalajara, there are 70,000 + NorthAmericans living there. More move in every day,,, If you stay in the Typical Mexican Barrios, housing is still pretty cheap, $20K condos, simple Houses ect. . Not sure how many more 1000s are in San Miguel de Alende, Cancun, Acapulco, Ajiic, Chapala but these American Enclaves are expensive as you get soaked on housing. Who wants to live in a Tourist Trap city anyways? . Their Visa system for Retirees is pretty straight forward and transparent not to mention Retirees can join the NSS(National social security) Health Insurance system for aroundd$30 monthly. And its pretty good benefit wise. Mexico has put forth a Lot of Effort in attracting Retiring Americans, Canadians to their Country and it has paid off. These Retiree Dollars are great sources of hard Currency with little downside to the Host Countries,,,Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua has had these Pensionada Visas in effect for over 10 years where you are allowed to Import all your household effects tax free(initial move trip) as well your boat, Car and Motorcycle. You can repeat this process every 2-3 years with the Car/cycle/boat Import.

No hay Peor Ciego que el que no quiere Ver o Sordo que el que no quiera Oir--Soy Yo, Sarah Palin, Wasilla Alaska.

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Gator says on Feb 5, 2008, 19:00:

Ünless you are willing to FULLY integrate and forget about, "THIS IS THE WAY DID IT BACK HOME, FORGET IT.

"Bene, cum Latine nescias, nolo manus meas in te maculare" .

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houstongal (Trustee board) says on Feb 5, 2008, 20:25:

Smart of you to track down the author's blog! Back to reading my paper......

"It is now official: there's no place on earth where you will not find a Peruvian band." David Sedaris

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CatGirl says on Feb 5, 2008, 20:30:

HG & Roc - thank you for the info. this has been quite the topic of discussion. Interesting no "actual" studies have been done. I wonder where one could pull this data from to look at a large enough sample size?

Possibly tracking it through our new US Passport System? Tax Returns? any thoughts

Hard for me to believe that a marketing company would be able to track this with a better and more reliable sample size...hmmm

Roc: Excellent feeling.....I think you may be right on target...Purrr

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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christobeldawg says on Feb 5, 2008, 20:50:

very interesting but I keep thinkin where is the direct info on living in Colombia, as this is what most here are interested in

traveling hopefully is always better than arriving

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CatGirl says on Feb 5, 2008, 21:11:

Dawg: You mean direct info from people that have retired in Colombia (from the US?). Kitty is just clarifying...

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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christobeldawg says on Feb 5, 2008, 21:15:

si, pretty much, or those not retiring but thinking of living there part of full time

traveling hopefully is always better than arriving

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CatGirl says on Feb 5, 2008, 21:41:

Maybe that could be a good post question?

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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scotty says on Feb 5, 2008, 23:56:

Houstongal, interesting post, gives one something to consider before making a move.

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

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Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2008, 04:43:

When I moved to Colombia the peso was running 2600-2800 to the dollar. Now it’s 1900 and change so the cost of living has risen dramatically in a few short years. Apart from that things like banking and health insurance are easy. Both require a cedula which you will get that within a few weeks of arrival with a temporal ts visa. If you are a city dweller life couldn’t be easier. You’ll have no need for a car since taxis and buses are extremely cheap (by US standards) and a “tri-moto" or “carretilla" will deliver whatever you need to your house. Rent in "stratas" from five on down is way below what you would pay in most of the US and you can have a non full time maid and cook for about ten or twelve dollars a day. And of course in most Colombian cities you’ll have summer or spring all year long and never see the freezing point.

Country living on the other hand is more complicated and basically you have two choices as I see it. One: you can have a “finca" worth ten or twenty thousand dollars on the outskirts of a poor village where you produce something you sell. If you have a vehicle at all it will be a fifties era Willys to haul the coffee, platano etc. that you produce. If you don’t produce something and the land is idle then you will be seen as suspiciously rich and be a kidnap or at least extortion target. In fact no matter how poor your “finca" is you will be suspected of being rich just for being a foreigner, especially so if “americano“. The other country living option is just the opposite. You live on a “finca" with an expensive home costing somewhere between eighty to three hundred thousand US on the outskirts of a city. The property has a lot of flower gardens but no income generating product. To keep the property up you have a “mayordomo“. This is a full time employee and his family to whom you not only pay the minimum salary and health benefits etc. but for whom you also supply a rent free house on the property including electric gas and water. The property is usually in a “parcelacion" or subdivision that contains other like properties and has security measures like a “portero" and locked gate. Typical transport would be 4x4 pickup “doble cabina" or SUV.

I’m generalizing of course and your mileage may vary.

https://sites.google.com/site/colombianaturesite/nature-images

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houstongal (Trustee board) says on Feb 6, 2008, 10:17:

Cdawg: "very interesting but I keep thinkin where is the direct info on living in Colombia, as this is what most here are interested in"

Did you check the escapeartist.com website mentioned in the article? There appears to be info on Colombia there.

CatGirl: The article mentions that no one tracks such info. The US government has multiple huge databases that could be mined for all sorts of research, but I bet it's nearly impossible to conduct such research. Tapping into the various databases would be a data miner's dream.

"It is now official: there's no place on earth where you will not find a Peruvian band." David Sedaris

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Robert Jorge says on Feb 6, 2008, 10:22:

Good post Atrevido.

"You can not take the barrio out of the girl you really can't." Oneforamillion

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miamimike says on Feb 6, 2008, 10:53:

Atrevido--the Current CP:USD exchange is still a great deal for Americans even at today's Rate.My first visit in the mid 90s, the exchange was 600:1 USD so everything is reletive.We thought that was great! LOL

No hay Peor Ciego que el que no quiere Ver o Sordo que el que no quiera Oir--Soy Yo, Sarah Palin, Wasilla Alaska.

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nine inch nails says on Feb 6, 2008, 11:16:

Excellent link. Thank you. I have a couple more pointers for my 3rd trip to Colombia next week (3 days CTG y el fin en Medallo)! Muchas gracias.

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Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 6, 2008, 13:34:

miamimke if you started paying an employee minmum wage say four years ago and his salary has risen 6 point something percent every year but the value of your dollar has dropped almost a third things aren´t so hunkydory. In ´96 or ´97 can´t remember, I got 975 to the dollar at a money exchange so the peso must have been worth around a thousand. I think somebody here posted a historical peso/dollar chart once. Don´t remember who though.

https://sites.google.com/site/colombianaturesite/nature-images

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Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 7, 2008, 14:42:

The last time the peso was in the six hundreds was 1992.

https://sites.google.com/site/colombianaturesite/nature-images

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miamimike says on Feb 7, 2008, 15:20:

Gator posted that Chart and it showed the CP even at much lower exchanges,,,

No hay Peor Ciego que el que no quiere Ver o Sordo que el que no quiera Oir--Soy Yo, Sarah Palin, Wasilla Alaska.

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Gator says on Feb 7, 2008, 16:53:

1991 January to December 578.96 588.63 598.46 608.45 618.61 628.82 639.37 652.11 667.18 679.30 694.70 638.61

1992 January to December 644.27 636.54 641.59 653.83 664.37 697.57 705.14 691.68 702.81 716.88 725.45 737.98

Now back in the "good old days."

1982 January to December 59.84 60.63 61.40 62.21 63.02 63.84 64.69 65.55 66.42 67.68 68.97 70.29

The really, really good old days, read it and weep: 1950 January to December 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96 1.96

"Bene, cum Latine nescias, nolo manus meas in te maculare" .

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miamimike says on Feb 7, 2008, 17:37:

Thanks for the history Gator! Interesting numbers,,,

No hay Peor Ciego que el que no quiere Ver o Sordo que el que no quiera Oir--Soy Yo, Sarah Palin, Wasilla Alaska.

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bufalo says on Feb 7, 2008, 17:38:

1. don't see Montevideo as cosmopolitan - I lived there a few years back. Great place, but cosmo?????

2. Not all ATM fees add up, I've lived off of mine and have never paid a dime, nor peso for it's use.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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Lowell says on Feb 8, 2008, 05:26:

exactly correct. seems like everything is still on the rise here.

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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borat says on Feb 8, 2008, 12:49:

don't forget, it's hardly in the interests of clients of the wall st journal for nationals with cash to spend to take it and spend it elsewhere.

what you believe is not important, it's what you do that counts

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CatGirl says on Feb 9, 2008, 10:49:

HG: "The US government has multiple huge databases that could be mined for all sorts of research, but I bet it's nearly impossible to conduct such research. Tapping into the various databases would be a data miner's dream."

Yes I agree. Many times this type of data is collected in mass that can be quite helpful if looked at and collected correctly. Problem is how it was collected at the time and/or trying to find something that can interface with what you have and pull this info so it will make sense or be of any use to anyone. Then there are those internal Dept problems jaja we cant do anything about that jaja

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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lpdiver says on Feb 9, 2008, 17:22:

Atrevido...Thanks for the information. It confirms my casual personal observations. I do have the homefield advantage of being married to a paisa so many of the problems (banking, doctors, etc) other gringos encounter are solved (less problematic).

I am especially appreciative of the insights on finca living. I am leaning towards a small "working finca" fairly close (100 km) to a major city. I have no hopes of making money but rather of maintaining appearances. I have hit it off well with a brother in law that would kill for the opportunity to run it.

I am especially intrigued with bamboo construction and would fancy myself as a cross between Buckminster Fuller and Simon Velez.

t

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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