Retire Uruguay

P.S. What else this week?

 

• Many Americans think that moving overseas will create a more complex tax situation for them in the States. But that doesn't have to be the case. Depending on your circumstances, you can keep your U.S. tax obligation (remember, it follows you anywhere in the world) straightforward.
  
  In fact, if you're an American retiring outside the United States, you'll likely find that the annual tax return you file with the IRS is not any different from the one you filed before you took off for foreign shores. If you're retired on a pension or Social Security, earning interest and dividends from your investments, or drawing down on your 401(k) or IRA, your move to another country is a tax-neutral one as far as Uncle Sam is concerned. The only change you'll need to make to your U.S. federal return is the return address...

 

• Here are four super tax-friendly jurisdictions right now...

 

• "Vicki and I visited a tiny fishing village on the northwest coast of Malaysia," writes Intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst. [Take a look.] "While we were there, a local guy named Chin befriended us and showed us around.
  
  "Chin recently retired after 20 years working in Singapore. He was a buyer for a company that makes motherboards for cell phones. But Chin says margins are too small, it's too tough a business. He decided to retire, move back to his village, and go for the big money: bird's nests..."

PLUS: From Retirement Planning Expert Paul Terhorst:

"The retiree overseas should ask himself two questions to do with currency. First, how to diversify out of the U.S. dollar or other currency? Second, how to protect yourself against currency moves where you live right now?

"First, how to diversify. I have four specific current buy recommendations for how to do this that I share with subscribers to the Overseas Retirement Letter in my column in this month's issue (in production now).

"Meantime, how to deal with currency moves where you live.

"This may be the more important issue. After all, if you live in Turkey, your main concern is what the Turkish lira does. You care little about what the U.S. dollar (assuming this is your 'home' currency) does in other parts of the world. You're concerned about the dollar in your part of the world.

"Unfortunately, most parts of the world have turned hostile for those with U.S. dollars. If you retired in Thailand, you've seen the baht move against you. Twelve years ago, you got 50 baht to the U.S. dollar. Five years ago, you got 41 baht. Now you get only 33. In Brazil, the real has gone up, and so has the peso in Mexico.

"In some cases, you have good options for protecting against these local moves. Again, I share specific recommendations in my Overseas Retirement Letter column this month...

ALSO THIS WEEK, from resident global real estate investing expert Lief Simon: It's difficult at best and often impossible to get local financing for the purchase of real estate as a non-resident buyer (or even as a resident buyer who's not a citizen) in many countries. When you can't get financing locally, what options do you have?

These days, maybe none. In the current climate, you aren't going to be able to borrow from a bank back home to buy a condo or a beach house in another country. Which means you're going to have to come up with cash. This limits your opportunities for diversification and can add risk to any foreign purchase. You're being forced to put maybe more eggs than you'd prefer into one basket at one time.

Smart developers are recognizing the dilemma as an opportunity to offer financing terms themselves. Often, though, these aren't as good as you'd get with a mortgage back home. Interest rates can be high, loan terms short.

Longtime friend David James, who has a proven development track record in Latin America, is currently building a coastal community in Uruguay called Sugar Loaf (where I am a shareholder). David contacted me this week to say that, recognizing the opportunity, he is launching a financing offer that is better than typical developer terms. David is making it possible to finance the purchase of lots in his Sugar Loaf Ocean Club & Spa community. More than that, he is offering an extremely attractive interest rate. In fact, the interest rate is as good as it gets, at least for the first two years of the loan: 0%.

As the project is well under way, with infrastructure installed to the first set of lots, three houses completed, and another four to be finished in the next week or so, developer financing in this case is not only a reaction to the realities of the current global investment climate. It's also David's way of celebrating the success of the project to date.

Lots at Sugar Loaf all have an ocean view, and the community is but 5 minutes from the beaches of Piriapolis. Piriapolis is a quaint ocean-side town with restaurants, shops, and a marina, a sharp contrast to better-known Punta del Este up the coast. My favorite thing about Piriapolis is that it is void of the high-rise towers that cover the coastal landscape of Punta del Este.

Lot prices at Sugar Loaf start at US$69,900, making the financing offer a very easy way to buy now and build when you're ready.

The down payment is 30%. The balance is paid in equal installments amortized over five years. You pay no interest for the first 24 months. Pay off the balance by the end of the two years, and you've had an interest-free loan. Continue to repay the loan over the full five years, and you'll be charged 12% interest per annum over the last three years.

Interest of 12% may sound high, but, remember, as I explained, developer financing is typically more expensive than bank financing "back home." However, in this case, when you do the math over the five years of the loan, you realize that your effective annual rate of interest is only 4.2%. That's better than anything "back home." Plus, again, in this case, you have the option to pay off the loan by the end of year two and thereby pay no interest at all.

Only a handful of lots remain available in the current phase. After these are sold, lot prices will be increased. At current pricing, you can buy with US$21,000 down. You monthly payments would be US$816.

This amounts to one of the best financing offers you're going to find anywhere right now, with a very modest cash outlay requirement.

I'm not going to try to sell you here on Uruguay. Others on our Live and Invest Overseas team are better suited to do that. I'll tell you simply that I've been spending time in this country for a half-dozen years, and I'm sold on the lifestyle that it offers. This is a safe, stable place, removed from the troubles that are such concerns in other parts of the world right now.

Montevideo is an appealing city with a European feel, and Uruguay's coast, especially in the region of the country where David is located, is beautiful.

I give this opportunity my full endorsement.

You can reach David with your questions here.