10 Countries where Retirees are Living Large

From International Living Magazine:
Panama
Mexico
Malaysia
Colombia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Spain
Thailand
Honduras
Ecuador

Well it's nice to see 5 other countries just south of us. I am surprised that Costa Rica is not on the list.

Ha! My daughter is a kiwi now! If I could sell my house I might consider looking into it. I hear if you have the money it's the place to be.

Many of these countries do not have the great climate that we enjoy here in Mexico. Many are much too hot and humid. Some are actually cheaper to live in than Mexico.

Here's link to the story; gives Lake Chapala a nice mention:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-countries-where-retirees-live-large.html

Somewhat surprised that Belize is not on that list.

I used to subscribe to International Living magazine and enjoyed it somewhat but eventually dropped my subscription as it became increasingly obvious that they were really all about selling you more and more rather than providing really useful information. Between the extra cost "Special Reports" and their conferences and "investment opportunities" I was getting hit up every other day with some sort of offer to open my wallet.

Their articles were interesting but often left important questions unanswered to encourage you to buy the "special report".

binky wrote:Here's link to the story; gives Lake Chapala a nice mention:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-countries-where-retirees-live-large.html

binky, Thanks for posting this. I got mine from The Street which is mentioned by Yahoo. I didn't know how to provide a link.

A few years ago, Mexico was at the top of the list.

Panama would be the first one to strike off the list due to heat and humidity. We had someone renting here who lived in Panama for several years, was going to buy there, but got fed up with green algae and mildew growing in their closets and shoes.

I have heard that Costa Rica has no Army to keep out the cartels which I have heard is their next stomping ground. Heard is hearsay, so I dunno.

CanuckBob wrote:Well it's nice to see 5 other countries just south of us. I am surprised that Costa Rica is not on the list.

Costa Rica is too expensive anymore.
Nicaraqua has replaced Costa Rica.
Z

Axixic wrote:Somewhat surprised that Belize is not on that list.

I used to subscribe to International Living magazine and enjoyed it somewhat but eventually dropped my subscription as it became increasingly obvious that they were really all about selling you more and more rather than providing really useful information. Between the extra cost "Special Reports" and their conferences and "investment opportunities" I was getting hit up every other day with some sort of offer to open my wallet.

Their articles were interesting but often left important questions unanswered to encourage you to buy the "special report".

Belize has pretty poor health care. While running around the world looking at expat communities we liked Belize but the old glass syringes
and such are scary to me. This is common to many places and not unique to Belize. We saw the same thing in Saint Lucia. We folks here
have it good medical wise.

Z

One consideration is getting there from here. I have 2 large dogs and we are a package deal. Any ideas?

Zedinmexico wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:Well it's nice to see 5 other countries just south of us. I am surprised that Costa Rica is not on the list.

Costa Rica is too expensive anymore.
Nicaraqua has replaced Costa Rica.
Z

Yes, I have heard similar reports. I would like to visit Nicaragua one of these days.

Axixic wrote:

I used to subscribe to International Living magazine and enjoyed it somewhat but eventually dropped my subscription as it became increasingly obvious that they were really all about selling you more and more rather than providing really useful information. Between the extra cost "Special Reports" and their conferences and "investment opportunities" I was getting hit up every other day with some sort of offer to open my wallet.

Their articles were interesting but often left important questions unanswered to encourage you to buy the "special report".

I agree. They sell article space to the highest bidders and recycled a lot of reports to sell subscriptions and more reports. Light reading and nice pictures but not a source of valuable research if you are seeking a country to retire to IMHO.

johninajijic wrote:

I have heard that Costa Rica has no Army to keep out the cartels which I have heard is their next stomping ground. Heard is hearsay, so I dunno.

Costa Rica abolished the army in 1948 and has been the most stable democracy in the region ever since,it's also had one of the highest living standards in the region.How Honduras got on that list is beyond me.

Grizzy wrote:I agree. They sell article space to the highest bidders and recycled a lot of reports to sell subscriptions and more reports. Light reading and nice pictures but not a source of valuable research if you are seeking a country to retire to IMHO.

Well put - totally agree.

If I read one more article by Kathleen Peddicord, I thought I was gonna puke.
They (Kathleen and hubby who, I believe are the owners of International Living) promote countries in which they have a vested interest...i.e. property to sell.
I wouldn't believe anything they wrote because they usually have an ulterior motive.

They seem to be associated with escapeartist.com which the admin of the Chile Forum calls escapeartist.CON for the obvious reasons.

ferret wrote:If I read one more article by Kathleen Peddicord, I thought I was gonna puke.
They (Kathleen and hubby who, I believe are the owners of International Living) promote countries in which they have a vested interest...i.e. property to sell.
I wouldn't believe anything they wrote because they usually have an ulterior motive.

I remember when Kathleen used to visit here (Chapala) frequently and loved us (and me) in her high handed way.
But then she fell out of love with us and moved on...never looking back. Oh my
Bill's mother even owned a house here at one time...20 years ago or there abouts.

I just did some research to find out more...this is the link...my info is outdated.
http://www.kathleenpeddicord.com/

I used to like Escape Artist too but I just delete it when it comes via e-mail now...boring.

Still, for someone just setting out on their own adventure, both sites are interesting sources of info. They used to be the only game in town. Now, with the advent of boards like this one, you can get info first hand from people with (usually) nothing personal to gain. I like no strings attached.

I know of three couples, and one single lady who have mentioned that they're planning to visit Ecuador, to scout it out for possible future living. Apparently the cost of living is very low, and the scenery and weather is reportedly on a par with Mexico.

I've stayed in Panama and Costa Rica, and no thanks.
Much as I enjoy Mexico, I might look at Ecuador, if I feel in need of a change.

Well let us know what they report back with.

Something that one doesn't really think about is the cost of airfare from Ecuador.
I can fly from Seattle To Guad. for less than Seattle to Alaska for example. We
found many nice places on the list had very expensive air travel or very long
distances to airport.

Z

I seriously looked at the Domincan Republic for a LONG time. There is this great little city in the Domincan Alps called Jarabacoa with many similarities of climate to the Lakeside area and low crime rates but absolutely no support network for English speaking ex-pats. Large ex-pat communities in Punta Cana and especially Puerto Plata but those places are, of course, sea level and get quite hot and humid.

But the corruption in all levels of government in the DR is horrendous - Mexico is a utopia by comparison. Also Dominican food is bland and generally not to my liking.

What tipped the balance was my partner, who grew up on an island and said: "If you can't pilot a boat or fly a plane and the sh!t hits the fan, how do you get off that rock? Mexico - at least you can drive."

Not that I think it is likely that the sh!t will hit the fan but that struck a chord with me.

Never did Belize but knew about it as a tourist place from the mid 60's when I was stationed in Panama. The one thing I can remember, at a much later time and on a trip to Costa Rica , was the military look (British)of the airfield. Sand bagged military bunkers etc.

The reference to Costa Rica got me to googling an old acquaintamce who I visted at his hotel in Playa Naranjo (Oasis del Pacifico) and at his bar in the Hotel Balmoral on central ave in San Jose (Luckys Piano Bar). This was mid to late 80"s . Beware of what you google for.

Lucky (Percy Wilhelm, a retired sea captain, mostly tankers) was murdered iin 2003 at his home in Playa Naranjo. Apparent home robbery.

Costa Rica had always been my place to retire but my next to last trip there I was staying at the El Presidente accross the street from the BalMoral.
Lucky called and said he was bringing a boat over to Golfito and would I like to join them. I jumped at the chance and put most of my luggage in the hotels storage room. I returned 4 or 5 days later. El Presidente was under new management and my room which had been $29 a night was now $82 a night. Thats when I decided that Costa Rica was to expensive for me. Later medical problems had me looking closer to home.

Honduras........Went mainly to La Ceiba with Jose, a friend of mine. Those were my Flor de Cana days. Great rum. I think the last time we went down for a month was 1995. Jose knew the owner of the local hotel and we had air conditioned rooms for $9 a night. La Ceiba weather would make Puerto Vallarta look like a summer cool spot but my friend had a long time girl friend there and property on one of the smaller offshore Bay islands (Guanaja not Roatan) and anyway those were Flor de Cana days and all we did was drink and take Norma (Jose's girlfriend) and her two kids out to eat or whatever the kids wanted to do.. Boy Juan Carlos, girl Yammi.
Talked to Jose on Saturday. Norma had called and told him that Juan Carlos had been car jacked and killed for his battered old taxi.

I can't imagine anyone retiring to Honduras unless it was the Bay Islands and that is expensive territory.

The rest of Honduras is the murder capital of the world.

The Bay Islands are Honduras's only attraction for me I stayed at Robert's Hill Hotel on Roatan for about a month in 1978,fifteen bucks a day 3 great meals included and some of the best diving in the world.

How about the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. At least it's high enough to get some cooling. It has an elevation between about 3,300 to almost 4000 feet I was there once maybe 8 years ago for a few days. It looked nice. What I don't know is anything about the expat community down there