I’m about 15 years away from retirement age. So I have been looking at where to retire. Staying in US would be nice - someplace warm in the south. However, looking at the cost, I think it is cheaper in other countries. I have been looking at Asia(Thailand), South America(Portugal, Costa Rica, Mexico). The cost of living is so much cheaper and lifestyle is much more exciting in those countries - so it seem.
My retirement money would go much farther outside USA in my opinion.
There is a fellow I am familiar with who lives in an expat community on lake Chalapa just outside of Guadalajara. He is approaching elderly status and lives on Social Security and modest savings. He is quite happy, pays for his medical care out of pocket and says it is as high quality as he got in the DC suburbs and cheaper than his co pays with insurance.
I have also heard that Uruguay is worth looking into.
That’s one country I would enjoy for retirement. And it doesn’t look like they make a fuss about health insurance there if your friend is paying out of pocket.
The most motivational reason of where I’ll choose to locate is family. I want to watch those I love, mature into the people I hope them to be. I also want to share time with those that I’ve gone through my time of maturing with.
I’d love to have a drive that leaves the road and goes back a long way to my residence…where I own all the land in between. I love calling hoot owls and listening to the sounds of nature around me. I don’t like the noises of the city. I also have a lovely wife who wouldn’t like that so…I’m in a slight quandary there.
As far as weather goes, I can buy warm clothes or I can go naked? That isn’t that important to me. My lovely wife on the other hand says, the weather must be warm, most of the time. Again…that’s fine with me.
I’ve been to a number of places around the world and found many to be very nice but…I’m happy here in the US being with family and friends and don’t want to trade that in for something else. I wouldn’t mind though, spending a lot of time on a cruise ship just exploring the world, coming home again to pick up where I left off.