“I’m a 57-year-old woman with a small fixed income (about US$30,000 per annum). I’m a retired attorney; now a fine art painter and a rather young 57. No children.
“I’ve lived in Los Cabos, Mexico, for three years and in Melbourne, Australia, for one year. However, it seems impossible for me to get a permanent resident visa for Australia. I’ve been living in Boca Raton, Florida, but I’ve had it with living in resort areas.
“Do you have any suggestions for me? I’m looking for a city with some culture and a sizeable English-speaking expat community (though I can get by with either Spanish or French).
“Right now I am looking to rent. Again, I prefer a city of some size with good mass transit and neighborhoods where you don’t have to drive to go to the food market or a cafe or a restaurant, etc.
“Does such a place exist anywhere in the world?
“Also, your emphasis seems to be on Central and South America, although I saw something about France. Are you global?”
— Lisa S., United States
Take a look at Buenos Aires, Argentina, dear reader. I’d say it offers just the kind of city life you’re looking for.
Your ideal retirement home could hide in Buenos Aires…or maybe just across the river in Uruguay, Montevideo, where you could enjoy the distractions of a smaller but still interesting city. (The advantage to Montevideo is that your cost of living here could be much lower than in Buenos Aires.)
And, yes, we’re “global.” We give a lot of virtual ink to countries in Central and South America, because they offer affordable sunshine that’s easily accessed from North America (from where a majority of our readers hail).
