How To Retire Overseas

How To Choose The Overseas Retirement Haven That’s Right For You

Sept. 7, 2009
Panama City, Panama

PLUS:

Does Expedia Owe You Money?...
"You Make Everything Sound So Wonderful And Inexpensive...It is Very Deceiving"...
Best Buys On Roatan For US$199,000 Or Less...

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Unsurpassed Luxury
In A Beautiful, Exotic Beachfront Setting

In this oceanfront resort, hidden amongst lush tropical coco palms and cooled by the South Atlantic breezes, you can buy pre-construction for zero down and monthly payments of less than US$1,000.

Plus you're guaranteed rental yields of at least 6% for three years.

This is an exclusive offer for Overseas Opportunity Letter readers only
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Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,

Economies collapse and then recover...values--of real estate, of stocks--fall and then rise again...financial meltdowns come and go...

When the living becomes intolerably difficult in one place...move to another!

I'm not being flippant. I'm giving you the secret to realizing the retirement of your dreams, current global troubles notwithstanding.

The first move is the hardest, I understand. You need help. And you need options. We're here to deliver both.

Let's start with this: The situation is far less desperate than you may fear. You do not have to resign yourself to reducing your standard of living during this important phase of your life. You do not have to plan for two or three decades of scraping by and making do.

But you've already figured this out. By signing on as a reader of these daily dispatches, you've opened your mind to the possibilities. You've allowed yourself to begin to think outside the box and beyond your own borders. As you read this, because you're reading this, you are launching a new phase of your life...maybe the best phase.

For, in places like Leon, Nicaragua...Montevideo, Uruguay...and Languedoc, France, the concerns and struggles in the States and elsewhere about the cost of living, the cost of housing, and the cost of health care seem far away. These and the many other beautiful, safe, sometimes sunny, and often super-affordable places I introduce you to in these dispatches offer alternatives, viable, appealing options if you're at or nearing retirement age and trying to figure out how in the world you're going to make it.

Where could your explorations and considerations lead you? This is where things get interesting.

Panama or Uruguay? Argentina or Mexico? Croatia or Malaysia? Nicaragua or Ireland? France or Belize? The sunny coast of Spain...or maybe the sandy beaches of the Dominican Republic? The good choices are many.

As are the considerations necessary to making your decision. Once your interest has been piqued by colorful descriptions of the shorelines and the mountainscapes...once your attention has been grabbed by anecdotes about just how sweet the local living can be...then the real work begins.

To choose the retirement haven that makes most sense for you, you need current and complete details on everything from foreign residency requirements to how to open a local bank account...from how much to expect to spend on groceries each week to how to get a telephone line installed.

Specifically, here's a checklist for comparing and contrasting every potential retirement paradise on your list:

The cost of living...including a fully detailed budget of monthly expenses you'd incur...

The cost of real estate (for both sales and rentals)...and reliable advice on how to navigate the local purchase process...

The climate...which can vary greatly from one region of a country to another...

The standard of in-country medical care and local options for health insurance...

The infrastructure...how reliable is the electricity and the Internet...

Accessibility to your home country...could you return home quick if you wanted to...

The language...would you have to learn a new one...

Culture, recreation, and entertainment options...how would you spend your Friday nights...what would you do on a Sunday afternoon...

Taxes...what local ones would you be liable for...

Special benefits for foreign residents...are there any...how would you qualify...

Options for establishing foreign residency...what's required to qualify...

Safety...perhaps most important if you're a single woman making the move on your own...

Already-established expatriate communities...you may see them as a plus or a minus (maybe you want gringo neighbors or you don't)...either way, you want to understand the level to which they exist or don't...

The Third World Factor...also known as the Manana Factor...also known as the Hassle Factor...

Most of the countries I recommend to you day by day qualify as "developing," but some are more Third World than others...what's your tolerance for Third World living...mine has fallen considerably over time, and I know that now I couldn't make it in a truly Third World country like Ecuador...

As I said, this is where the real work begins. Here's the good news. You don't have to do it. We're already carrying it out on your behalf. We're researching and reporting on every one of these important issues for the world's top retirement havens in each issue of our Overseas Retirement Letter. Full details here.

Kathleen Peddicord

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101 Things You Should Know Before You Even Think About Living, Retiring, Or Investing Overseas

Shipping your belongings across international borders...moving with your children...or a pet...obtaining residency...getting a visa...opening a bank account...getting the best international phone rates...learning a new language...using VOIP...obtaining an international driver's license...working with an overseas real estate agent...shopping for international health insurance...

This is everything we wish someone had told us before we set off on our own live and invest overseas adventures. And it's available to you right now Free.

Details here

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TODAY:

If you've ever booked a hotel room or a vacation through Expedia, you could have some money coming your way.

Expedia has settled a Class Action Lawsuit claiming that it overcharged on hotel rooms from January 2001 through June 2008. If you booked a hotel or trip during those years through Expedia, you may be eligible to participate in the settlement.

Expedia doesn't admit it ever did anything wrong but has agreed to pay more than US$120 million in fees and refunds to consumers.

More here: www.blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2009/01/expedia_suit.html

MAILBAG:

"Kathleen, I would love to know where on Roatan you can buy a 'two-bedroom, two-bath home with a private pool on nearly an acre of land with just a 60-second stroll to a mile-long private beach for US$199,000,' as you suggest in you recent letter. We have been looking on Roatan for quite a long time, and there is no way you can get that unless the home is a dump and you are way out where the utilities are very undependable.

"You make everything sound so wonderful and inexpensive, but everywhere we go, this is not the case. It is very deceiving."

-- Jackie M., United States

Roatan is one of the handful of non-North American markets that boasts a Multiple Listing Service, meaning it's possible to research current listings according to specific parameters.

Here's the link to the MLS site

Type in two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a budget of US$199,000 or less. You'll be presented with 21 current options (as of this writing), including a brand-new 2,700-square-foot house with a pool in a beachfront development. Edit your search to two bedrooms and one bathroom (same budget), and you've got 33 current properties for sale to consider.