Another "Where to Retire Cheap Abroad" article

Though this one was a big surprise!

What say you Canadians about this pick; i.e., why are so many of you HERE at Lakeside when the cheap venue of Vancouver is right under your noses?


6 cheap places to retire abroad
By Michael Foster • Bankrate.com


Vancouver, British Columbia

While it doesn't have a reputation as a retiree destination, Vancouver remains a viable option for Americans who want to stay close to home while living the cosmopolitan life across the border. The biggest hurdle for Vancouver-bound Americans is real estate. With the most expensive housing prices in Canada and some of the most expensive property in the world, Vancouver is not an investment option for many retirees.

The average house price is $857,400, according to CanadianBusiness.com. Renting is a possibility: One-bedroom apartments in downtown Vancouver start at around 1,400 Canadian dollars (nearly $1,398). Food and entertainment cost about the same as in Seattle, which is less than three hours away by car.

While Americans may not save much on rent or living costs by moving to Canada, one expense is considerably lower up North: health care. "I save over $400 per month on medicine, and I never have to wait to see my doctor," says Betty Segel, an American who has lived in suburban Vancouver for five years. Retirees in Canada have access to the country's public health care system, which provides free care to residents, including expats with a permanent residence in the country.

For Americans concerned about health care costs, the added premium of Vancouver property just might be worth it.

As a former Toronto resident I find the article whacky? Vancouver is veeeery expensive overall.

The latest copy of Tornto Life magazine headlines "HOUSE WARS....too many buyers....too few homes for sale"

If we'd waited til today instead of last Sept to sell our Toronto home and move down Lakeside we'd probably have another $50-75 thousand in our pockets.

Life's a gamble....c'est la vie.

SunFan

The article does state the high costs however it didn't seem to be about the money. Vancouver real estate prices are on the way down. Current sales are at 10 year lows and prices are down about 16% in some areas from this time last year. We were very luck to have sold last summer.

This is the title of the piece, which is why I was amused that Vancouver made the list. Lovely city to visit, but would have never ranked it as a 'cheap' place to retire!

6 cheap places to retire abroad

The article should resonate with Seattleites... similar prices for housing, food, entertainment but health insurance included!
Something the USA could easily offer to its residents if they didn't spend an excessive amount on defense.

WOW, Vancouver is one of the most expensive places in all of Canada! Rentals and housing prices have always been very expensive, so as Canadians.................we come here! Strange article, not factual!

lunateak wrote:The article should resonate with Seattleites... similar prices for housing, food, entertainment but health insurance included!
Something the USA could easily offer to its residents if they didn't spend an excessive amount on defense.

Not sure now but Vancouver prices were above Seattle prices.
Did something change?? I thought Vancouver was hot? Seattle
prices rose 1.5% last month. Portland went up 2 to 3%.

Z

Zedinmexico wrote:

lunateak wrote:The article should resonate with Seattleites... similar prices for housing, food, entertainment but health insurance included!
Something the USA could easily offer to its residents if they didn't spend an excessive amount on defense.

Not sure now but Vancouver prices were above Seattle prices.
Did something change?? I thought Vancouver was hot? Seattle
prices rose 1.5% last month. Portland went up 2 to 3%.

Z

Is Washington State home sales doing well with not so many foreclosures?

I have heard that prices of houses in Vancouver are going down but they are still very expensive.
The article also says that you can find reasonnably priced houses in France if you look outside of Paris...another dream if away from Paris , if away from any plavce where the sun shines, away from rivers, away from the coast , away from anithing desirable you probably can find a place but who would want it?

Without any speculation, there happens to be an article USA TODAY (8/29 edition) that spells out the status of 20 home markets for June (USA):
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-08-28/case-shiller-home-price-index-june/57364966/1

When one sees Phoenix rising 13.9%, it must be considered just how far their prices had fallen.

johninajijic wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote:

lunateak wrote:The article should resonate with Seattleites... similar prices for housing, food, entertainment but health insurance included!
Something the USA could easily offer to its residents if they didn't spend an excessive amount on defense.

Not sure now but Vancouver prices were above Seattle prices.
Did something change?? I thought Vancouver was hot? Seattle
prices rose 1.5% last month. Portland went up 2 to 3%.

Z

Is Washington State home sales doing well with not so many foreclosures?

John only where people want to live. I quoted the numbers for Seattle or Portland.
Other parts of the states are not doing quite so well. In Califonia Stockton, Bakersfield
is still in the pits and will be. If they still have lots of Condos for sale that will hold
things back. Seattle and Portland (or) sold off there backlog of Condos a few months
ago so things are coming back in some areas not so in other areas. Remember Seattle
and Portland economies are not as bad as some others. Some areas never fell. My
Mom lives next to Microsoft in Bellevue and while prices came down sales still continued
because of Microsoft being 1/4 mile away so you can walk. It all depends.

Z

June home price index
City June index Change from May Chg. from June 2011

Atlanta 91.74 4.4% -12.1%

Boston 154.43 2.5% 0.0%

Charlotte 114.45 1.0% 0.8%

Chicago 113.61 4.6% -1.7%

Cleveland 101.58 2.2% 0.9%

Dallas 120.15 1.3% 3.7%

Denver 131.06 2.0% 4.0%

Detroit 71.18 6.0% 2.5%

Las Vegas 93.94 1.5% -1.8%

Los Angeles 168.57 1.7% -0.6%

Miami 145.62 1.6% 4.4%

Minneapolis 118.74 4.8% 5.7%

New York 163.4 2.1% -2.1%

Phoenix 114.68 2.5% 13.9%

Portland 138.51 2.5% 3.0%

San Diego 154.76 1.1% -0.2%

San Francisco 139.01 2.8% 3.0%

Seattle 139.89 1.8% 1.8%

Tampa 132.84 1.9% 3.4%

Washington 189.75 2.1% 3.9%

Composite-20 142.21 2.3% 0.

Read about the women from FallingINLovewithSanMiguel forum finding a house to buy in Phoenix very recently which had originally sold for 283K, and they bought it as a repo for well under 100K. Needed work....but still.

In Santa Cruz, CA and San Francisco, the "bottom" was still high, but the prices are supposedly rising quickly.

LOCATION? yep.

Forget about Vancouver as a "cheap" retirement destination.

Quite simply, it is one of the most unaffordable cities on the planet.

But here's an interesting tip for a retirement destination: Uruguay.

Check this out:

Why Uruguay Is The Ultimate Retirement Destination

Knowing what I know now, it’s possible that Uruguay may be the best retirement destination you could treat yourself to. Not the cheapest…but the best. (And still at about half the cost of living in North America these days.)

Uruguay offers the very best of Latin America and Europe all rolled up into one surprisingly appealing package.

Unlike much of Latin America (and even parts of Europe these days), it comes with a stable government, a strong economy, and a well-known reputation for personal safety. Its people are warm and welcoming…as is its government.

The process to obtain residency in Uruguay is easy — perhaps that’s because no one in Uruguay is a “local” — everyone can trace their roots back a generation or two to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, Germany…

And all of those immigrants learned what I recently learned: That Uruguay has it all, from a rich coast and a bountiful sea full of delectable seafood…to fertile farmland where you can easily grow everything from greens to grapevines (Uruguayan wine rivals those produced in Chile and Argentina). Uruguay also produces record wheat crops and is well-known for its tender, grass-fed beef.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dailyreckoning/~3/rSdkzzHOyI0/#ixzz2525MXueT

John what's your take on Uruguay for retirement?

Zed - what does this mean?

Boston 154.43 2.5% 0.0%

gringal wrote:Read about the women from FallingINLovewithSanMiguel forum finding a house to buy in Phoenix very recently which had originally sold for 283K, and they bought it as a repo for well under 100K. Needed work....but still.

In Santa Cruz, CA and San Francisco, the "bottom" was still high, but the prices are supposedly rising quickly.

LOCATION? yep.

In So CA, they're still giving away foreclosures they have so many. 650 - 700 K homes are selling for 325 K to 375 K in beautiful clean, well kept areas. But CA is in such a mess they are losing population. Cost of Living extremely high.

viajero wrote:John what's your take on Uruguay for retirement?

No more foreign countries for me. I'm an American. Why don't you try Uruguay and let us know how you like it.

I hear Ecuador is good, cheaper than Mexico and as good or better health care. Everything is lower priced than Mexico.

Then there's Panama for high heat and humidity where mold and algae grows in your shoes in your closet.

Come on John! I provided a link to the article that Zed was quoting from. Had you not been so lazy - you would have seen the chart with the headings:
[img][/img]

CheenaGringo wrote:Come on John! I provided a link to the article that Zed was quoting from. Had you not been so lazy - you would have seen the chart with the headings:
[img][/img]

I guess I don't what the June Index figures mean.

johninajijic wrote:Zed - what does this mean?

Come on John, yes we all tease each other here. But you of all people living in the area should know about Uruguay, unless all that stuff you wrote on your Facebook page is an exaggeration. Remember it was you who sent out a Friend request, and to show that I like you, even though we tease each other, I Friended you back.

Go to your Facebook page, it’s all there. And you say your page is fake, if it is go in and change it. Or open up a new one. It's even simpler than sending a tweet.

Seriously John.

Pete - You know I don't have a FB page. It's a fake and I cannot get into it.

Seriously, if you think I'm lying, come over to my house and you can try to get into FB from my computer. How much more can I offer than that to PROVE that I cannot get into it?

johninajijic wrote:...come over to my house and you can try to get into FB from my computer. How much more can I offer than that to PROVE that I cannot get into it?

Uh John, that wouldn't prove anything.

Axixic wrote:

johninajijic wrote:...come over to my house and you can try to get into FB from my computer. How much more can I offer than that to PROVE that I cannot get into it?

Uh John, that wouldn't prove anything.

Yes it does. You may be able to get into it from your computer, but I can prove that I cannot get into it from my computer. Mystery solved.

No John, all you need do is deny knowing the password and Pete won't be able to get into the page - that doesn't prove that you DON'T know the password.

And John, even if you forgot your password, you can post there, just like your other friends have,

If it really isn't you, that's too bad because this person sounds interesting and well educated. I saw one post from a friend in German and another in Spanish, but most were in English.

And no one is angry with you there. Everyone is pleasent (spelling). I know it's your picture