Nov. 11, 2009
San Rafael, Argentina
PLUS:
- The Falling U.S. Dollar And The American Retiree Abroad...
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Less Than 48 Hours Left To Save Nearly 25%!
The World's Cheapest Retirement Havens...Are Also The Most Exotic...
Amongst vistas of nearly indescribable beauty, you can pay US$100 a month for rent, spend only 1% of the usual cost of health care, and eat a full lunch for only 50 cents.
The world doesn't get any cheaper.
This land of ancient kingdoms, emperors, explorers, adventurers, traders, and pioneers is also beautiful, safe, welcoming, and, in some parts, completely at peace.
Special Pricing Expires Friday
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Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
San Rafael serves up the best Old World-style country living you'll find in the Americas on the doorstep of the best wine routes in all
Argentina. This is a charming, friendly, safe, walkable town with a lively central square and a small but established expat community.
Could all this beauty, service, and quality of life be affordable, too? Yes. Your gardener's salary? US$100 a month. Grandchildren coming to visit? A full-time nanny costs US$350 a month; a full-time maid the same. A round of golf is US$4; a cup of coffee is 95 cents.
A party of four can enjoy a complete steak meal, including salad, a couple of bottles of wine, sparkling water, coffee, and dessert, for about US$8 per person. You can buy a good table wine for 6 pesos (US$2) or a bottle of reserve for 15 pesos (US$5).
Movies are US$2 for seniors, and many theaters show double features that are a few months old for US$1.20. You can see live music for US$1.50.
Other expenses are similarly low. Gas for the stove will run you about US$5 every two months; Fibertel cable modem service for the Internet is about US$55 monthly. Cable TV is US$24 a month, electricity US$22 per month (for an apartment, assuming use of an electric oven and electric clothes dryer--although most people hang their laundry to dry).
In total, here's how your monthly cost of living would break down, depending whether you rent or own an apartment or a house:
| |
Renting |
|
| |
Apartment |
House |
| Rent |
US$ 500.00 |
US$ 700.00 |
| HOA Fee |
US$ 20.00 |
-- |
| Transportation |
US $ 70.00 |
US$ 70.00 |
| Gas |
US$ 2.50 |
US$ 2.50 |
| Electricity |
US$ 22.00 |
US$ 50.00 |
| Telephone |
US$ 25.00 |
US$ 25.00 |
| Internet |
US$ 55.00 |
US$ 55.00 |
| Cable TV |
US$ 24.00 |
US$ 24.00 |
| Household Help |
US$ 350.00 |
US$ 350.00 |
| Food |
US$ 200.00 |
US$ 200.00 |
| Entertainment |
US$ 200.00 |
US$ 200.00 |
| Property Taxes |
-- |
-- |
| Home Insurance |
US$ 25.00 |
US$ 40.00 |
| |
|
|
| TOTAL |
US$1,493.50 |
US$1,716.50 |
| |
Owning |
|
| |
Apartment |
House |
| Rent |
-- |
-- |
| HOA Fee |
US$ 20.00 |
US$ 70.00 |
| Transportation |
US$ 70.00 |
US$ 70.00 |
| Gas |
US$ 2.50 |
US$ 2.50 |
| Electricity |
US$ 22.00 |
US$ 50.00 |
| Telephone |
US$ 25.00 |
US$ 25.00 |
| Internet |
US$ 55.00 |
US$ 55.00 |
| Cable TV |
US$ 24.00 |
US$ 24.00 |
| Household Help |
US$ 350.00 |
US$ 350.00 |
| Food |
US$ 200.00 |
US$ 200.00 |
| Entertainment |
US$ 200.00 |
US$ 200.00 |
| Property Taxes |
US$ 80.00 |
US$ 100.00 |
| Home Insurance |
US$ 25.00 |
US$ 100.00 |
| |
|
|
| TOTAL |
US$1,073.50 |
US$1,246.50 |
Note that "Transportation" includes the costs of taxis and buses, as, living in San Rafael, you could forgo the expense of owning your own car.
Also note that you could reduce your overall cost of living by a full US$350 a month by going without full-time household help.
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. Your new life in San Rafael would be comfortable, safe, interesting, affordable...
And healthy.
Thanks to the altitude, the fresh air, the year-round sunshine, and the relaxed way of life, San Rafael offers good, clean living. And Argentine wines are considered among the healthiest in the world. The reds, especially, boast the greatest antioxidant content of any wine anywhere.
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"Thank you so much for all the informative articles and reports. So far, I've purchased your Panama and Asia reports and subscribed to your Overseas Retirement Letter service. I will be moving overseas as a single retiree by early spring next year on US$1,300 a month fixed income and plan to rent.
"My concern is one that all Americans on fixed-U.S.-dollar incomes probably share. As the dollar continues its slide (I believe it could lose a further 25% to 50% of its value), how will this impact the spending power of the U.S. dollar-holder in Panama or Ecuador?
"In other words, we're stuck with the dollar. Does that mean we would be better off, thinking long term, in a dollarized economy than in a country where we'd have to convert our dollars to the local currency?"
-- Brian W., United States
If your income is in U.S. dollars, yes, you can be best off (thinking purely from a budget point of view) in a country that uses the U.S. dollar for its currency (for example, Panama and Ecuador, as you suggest). This way, your expenses aren't greatly affected by the changing value of the dollar. Certainly, the costs of local services and products wouldn't increase as result of a changing currency exchange rate, for there isn't one. Imported goods could become more costly, as they would in a non-dollar
country.
Perhaps the most important thing, though, for someone in a fixed-income situation, is to maintain flexibility. You say, for example, that you intend to rent in your new home, wherever you decide to make it. That's smart. It helps to keep you mobile. That way, if one country you choose becomes too expensive, you can move to another one.
This kind of open-ended approach to moving overseas doesn't have to be intimidating. Settle where you can afford and where you're happy now. But try not to close your mind to the possibility that circumstances could change. If living one place no longer makes sense...move someplace else.
Intrepid Correspondents Paul and Vicki Terhorst have become masters at this move-where-the-living-is-best-and-most-affordable approach to retiring overseas. Paul and Vicki lived in Paris when that city was affordable...they moved on to Buenos Aires when Argentina was super-cheap...then, a year-and-a-half ago, they relocated halfway around the world to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to take advantage of the best budget living on earth.
Of course, the countries in this part of the world don't use the U.S. dollar, so you have a currency-exchange risk. Still, the cost of living is so low in some spots throughout Asia, that your Greenbacks go a long way.
Full details here.
