The last post ran down some cheap rent cities to live in the U.S. , but of course you can do better if you look abroad, especially if you can qualify for retirement benefits.
If you subscribe to International Living, you get an ongoing stream of useful articles with tips and real prices. (Just avoid their e-mail newsletters or you’ll get hassled to death with ridiculous come-ons for dubious newsletters, seminars, and “special” memberships.) This past September they released their 2007 Retirement Index, which runs down the best bangs for the buck (or euro) around the world.
Mexico beat out Panama for the first time in a while, mainly because all those Venezuelans moving to Panama have jacked up prices for real estate, especially in the capital. Plus the country reduced its tourist visa period to only 30 days—a really dumb move—so getting established there now requires lots of border hop trips while sorting out a residency permit and that permit has gotten tougher to achieve financially.
Mexico is no bargain if you’ve got your heart set on Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas, but other parts of the country are much more reasonable, even on the coasts. You can still find a beach house for under $100K if you know where to look, less in the interior. The news here is that foreigners can now get a retiree card, which allows discounts on everything from health care to internal flights.
Ecuador popped into the number 2 spot. “Ecuador gets 85 points in our Cost of Living category, making it one of the world’s cheapest places to live. Take $250 out of the ATM Monday morning and your expenses are covered for the week.” My kind of place.
Outside of Latin America, they recommend Italy (but as with Mexico, there are huge differences in prices between the popular and the lesser-known), Malaysia, and Ireland in the top-10.
There are certainly cheaper places to live than what’s listed here, like Nicaragua, mainland Honduras, Sumatra, rural India, or Nepal. You have to consider how easy it is to establish residency though, how sound the property laws are, and whether you can get good health care when you need it.
Due your own due diligence of course and remember that if you don’t like a place personally, it doesn’t matter where it falls on any “best of” list. Reading IL regularly helps though, as does perusing EscapeArtist.com and making good use of your closest city library. After that, there’s no substitute for spending real time in a place. Rent a house and see what it’s really like to spend time there in non-vacation mode.
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