Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cheapest Places to Retire to

ShelterOffshore.com recently asked the question, 'Where are the Cheapest Places to retire?' It's a big world ut there and when thinking exclusively about being cheap you're likely to end up in Africa somewhere. But, Shelter Offshore has done a great job of balancing quality of life with affordable living to uncover the best and cheapest places to retire to.

Panama!
Yes, you know I've been singing the praise of Panama for year snow and Shelter Offshore thinks it's a pretty cool place to live too. Here's what they say about Panama, "You can live like a millionaire on a millionaire’s salary or you can enjoy a comfortable, modest and decent standard of living on a modest amount of money in Panama."

Again, blowing my own horn here, like I've said - get away from the flashy condos in Panama City and stay away from the American marketed 'Gated Communities' especially the few that offer grand and expensive to maintain Golf Courses. Take a short drive into the 'interior', and that doesn't have to mean far away from the ocean, and you will find Panama Property is much cheaper and so is the cost of day to day living. One thing the article does say that I have to disagree with is, "learn how to haggle and shop like the locals". I've always found that most Panamanians don't like to haggle. When you eat with the locals you get charged the same low price they pay. Again, stay away from the Gringo hang outs and you'll pay local prices.

Here's a quick list of other places they mention as Cheap Places to Live Abroad in Retirement:
Belize
Turkey
The Philippines
and Argentina


The article concludes by reminding us that 'Cheap' is a relative term - relative to you, your budget, your savings, your expectations. With TV and the Internet we are now all coming to realize that 'third world' may just be a term to keep us put. There are numerous country on this planet that are civilized, clean, interesting, comfortable and cheap. If you're ready to retire it can be especially so as more and more nations develop incentive programs to entice you and your retirement nest egg to join them. All the more reason to consider investigating places to live abroad.

No comments: