So, i am sure that some or most people here will either reitre in their home countries, be it the UK, US or Australia and some will move to the Philippines Has anyone decided on retiring eleswhere in the world or looking at other countries? I have approxomately 10 years before I finally retire and have started looking at possible countries to move to. While the US where i currently live and work is a beatiful country, it, like others is governed by madmen and I really do not see things getting much better here. I won't go to the Philippines. More than likely not the UK due to the weather so I am in the search for somewhere else. Countries I plan to look at are Malaysia Ecuador Panama France (not the big cities) Spain (if it ever recovers from it's money problems) Just curious if others are still pondering upon their eventual location Thanks
Have you remotely considered moving to Italy.............. The weather is way better than here in the UK. The rate of exchange is rubbish anywhere, so that is covered.......
I've only ever skied in Italy, not really familiar with it, not THAT I AM familiar with many of my other choices.
This is a very good question, i was in that dilemma also somewhat 25 years ago. The question should rather be actually- where do i like to LIVE. My decision fell for the Philippines out of the following nations i considered: Italy - got too expensive and that hasn't change a bit in the last decades. Spain - see Italy,due to the "Eurofication" and the associated "equalization" there are no more"benefits" Greece- was tempting at first,but then the people didn't appall to me. I considered Portugal and some med. Islands also, but my travels sort of excluded it and my interest grew in : Mexico- still a very hot place for me. Nicaragua,Costa Rica,etc.- definitely were also tempting. Thailand- great place, but they don't like "long stay" farangs ( foreigners) so i ended up in the Philippines - here is why : The "basic values" and 'Philosophies" are Christian, which makes it equal to my (German) own educational background. Not that i am a religious Person, it's just, that all our school education,values, rules are Christian based. Unlike Thailand for example. That makes it "easier" for the individual to adapt. Same applies to all "Latino" countries. Second Filipinos do not rate Foreigners as second class, rather the opposite, they are very open and mostly welcoming towards us. Money was never my concern,as i always ( and still) live of what my work brings,and that is local money. However,in the view of a"retiree"with a pension based upon "abroad" income, this is a very very important point. Not too long ago Expats from the US and UK enjoyed living in the Philippines due to the high exchange rate for their money, which unfortunately has considerably dropped recently and leads to a lot of misery among some with a lower pension.. Good advise probably would be to consider cutting his pension in half and then check, if one is financially able to survive in the country of his choice. Sounds harsh and too much- not really, because that's what happend to the people from the UK. Just a few years ago they enjoyed an exchange rate of 100 to the Philippine Peso! Similar for other Europeans. I never had that problem,but i remember well in 98 the Euro(or DM, but we already "calculated" with the Euro) was pegged at somewhat 38php to one Euro. Then it went up to 73 peaking and lots of Europeans came over thinking they were in paradise. Now its 50plus somewhere, but no illusions please, the Euro will eventually drop down to a US$ level, which is 42,43 now. Thats what they want and thats what they get. (ECB and Fed Res.) If not, be happy, but dont count on it. Considering the (mine) above very basic hints and facts, i'd advise the OP to maybe drop Malaysia (Islamic,a too diverse culture ) from the list, and think about Central America. It's in close proximity to your home ( US?) and i am pretty sure, the adaption process is a lot easier as well. Also there are many US expats already there for "mingling". Europe is nice, but expensive. However, culturally and by (western) living quality ( if this is of concern) it's the first choice. Also in medical hindsight, "medicare" is free and that could be a factor for the decision of elderly. Just my humble opinion.
huhuhu, mods have mercy and please delete the extra posts...just let the last one stand. and delete this one also..lol
Seems cheaper to buy property in USA at the moment. £ 100.000 for a five bedroom house with swimming pool. That's on a sub division next to a golf club. USA property market was worse hit than Britain's, Cheaper than Philippines, only dearer to live there. Good investment though.
I lived in the USA for 5 years or so. I would never go back there.... Murders, so much other crime, a culture of over-confidence without merit and most people have attention spans of three minutes which is about as long as the TV commercials. Lets not talk about the divorce rate and their litigious society.
I have recently visited Spain with a view to retiring there. I researched for over six months and had a town on the Atlantic coast in mind. I had been to the area in the past but not for 15 years. The reality was a let-down. The locals had lost their appeal and were visibly unhappy with their lot. The slump was fully reflected in their faces. The winters we expected to be quiet but were advised that the vast majority of exPats left the area for 3 or four months and the town became a "ghost town" from end October to March. Prices were as my research had shown but new taxes were being introduces so the advantage would not persist. The town had regular Red Cross truck deliveries of food for the local unemployed at around 27% in the under 35 age group. There were "hungry eyes" about the places where the few tourists visited. We were there mid July and cafe bars on the beach had only a handfull of customers. Quite sad to see in reality. I lived in Singapore for 5 years but one cannot retire there. It would be too frenetic for me anyway. Malay has lovely places to reside as does Indonesia. I would favour Indo. but there was always an "undercurrent" in both Countries which I felt was unwelcoming. Just my take though. Cyprus would have a great attraction but harmonization in €Land has ruined the prospect of settling in Europe for me. Beancounters in Brussels making decisions and RULES affecting real people with no regard for the consequences excepy conformity and taxes. OZ was a thought but the RULES have made that unlikely as has the increase in the "Big Brother" mentality. NZ ? ?? I lived there for 3 years but left because it was so far away from everywhere. No change there. I/we are now decided to return to our home in PI and settle there from next year. Guenther's thoughts on PI are pertinent to my thinking on PI as opposed to Malay/Indo Etc... Costa Rica is a rather well run middle class country and South America in general holds good potential in my opinion but PI it is for us. Tex's family are there. Tex will be happy there and I love our home there which we built in 2007 and "the family" are great. Foreign distractions are relatively close, as in HK or Singers, with little fuss if boredom sets in in PI. The "smiles per mile" in Pi is a great relaxant and joy for me. I even considered my home village area in Ireland, we were there last week and we love the place - for a visit , where a 3 bed home can be bought for 1/2 the likely sale price of our UK home which we will keep. Woke up to reality and dismissed that thought rather quickly. Ireland is in a very large black financial HOLE at present. Doom & GLOOM abound. Not conducive to a "happy and relaxed" retirement. IMO PI for us now but if single Costa Rica would be top of my list. Just my 3 €€€'s worth. Tom
thanks Tom, good post Kind of depends where in the States you want to live. Much as I love California it's horrible for taxes so I will get out of here when i retire and renounce my citizenship (they even charge for that now) Money is not my main concern as I will have retirement from here and the UK, just somewhere pleasant, nice climate. We are going to spend the next couple of years travelling and having a good look around the world and hopefully find somewhere nice
I'm probably still 15 years from retirement although I would like to retire early but I don't think I will get the chance, for me it will all depend how the world economy shifts over the next 15 years and on the overall performance of the markets given that my various pensions are still at the stage where they need to be invested in equities. I'm starting to think that in 15 years the Phils could be a very different place and possibly much more expensive place so retiring over there, maybe maybe not. Somewhere warm would be nice but I tend to agree with all the opinions expressed so far regards Europe and it's hard to see anywhere else that will not have developed considerably in my 15 year timespan and thus be much more expensive than today, even with 15 years my pension pot will not be large. So for me it would be the Phils if it's still affordable, otherwise I expect we will get stuck here and in that time frame things could get pretty grim here in the UK. The other thing to remember is the changes that will come about in the Phils via population pressure, the next couple of decades will see the place become even more dramatically crowded than it already is particularly in the major cities, who knows if that will have a net positive or negative effect on the economy.
Well I watched a program on TV, couples buying in Florida, treasure Island on the gulf cost. Canadians, Brazilian and Brits buying holiday homes over there, for renting and holidays. Three bedroom condo's beach front, £ 68,000, shared swimming pool, club/bar. You can't buy a half decent one bedroom flat for that over here. Yes there's a lot of murder's over there, but there is some over there in Philippines too, which is getting out of control.
It's becoming a difficult choice, it will be interesting to see if Europe can save itself although I think that is a long way off. We don't want to be out in the sticks somewhere and nor do we want to be stuck in the middle of a big city. I know a few people that have gone to Malaysia and love it there so we will visit them next year.
Have you visited Dumaguete, Negros Island. Not too big or small, airport, ferry's to other Islands. Lots of expat's moved over there, cheaper than Cebu, and plenty of resto's and bars. Great for diving on Apo island. I liked it so much, I bought some land building a house there.
