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    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

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    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
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  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
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    • International Real Estate
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    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

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    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Argentina Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    Learn More About This Event
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
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    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
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    From Outside North America:
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    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

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    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

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    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

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    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

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Home Countries Colombia

3 Types Of People Should Live Or Invest In Colombia—Are You One Of Them?

Lief Simon's Admission Will Shock Your Family This Thanksgiving

Buildings and Mountains in Medellin Colombia

Adobe Stock/Victoria

I want you to conduct a little test for me…

This Thursday, when you’re sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with your family, tell them you are considering a visit to Colombia.

If you’re feeling feisty, tell them you’re going to Medellín…

I bet you a bottle of rum that their shocked response will have something to do with cocaine, plata, plomo, cartels, or Pablo Escobar.

Maybe they’ll mention kidnapping… the CIA… or make a wise crack about Agent Jack Ryan.

If you’re able to speak hombre a hombre, maybe the conversation will turn to the women here.

Indeed, even throughout Latin America, Colombia is famous for its beautiful women…

And I should point out (lest I be accused of a discriminatory perspective) its handsome men.

In fact, an Overseas Retirement Index once named Colombia, and especially the city of Cali, as the #1 Best Place In The World For Single Men.

Regardless… and back to my original point… I urge you to make this a topic of conversation over turkey this week.

The reactions you’ll get from family, neighbors, and friends should only encourage you to spend your time and money here.

That’s because two facts about Colombia right now are helping to make this country one of the world’s greatest bargains…

Colombia’s New Image

First, the image of Colombia as a dangerous land run by cartels is decades out of date. Pablo Escobar died in 1993, and Venezuela’s instability has led to the best U.S.-Colombia relations in recent history.

It took nearly two decades for the mainstream media to catch on, but, starting around 2015, The New York Times began including Colombia on its “Places To Go” lists.

Harvard has jumped on the bandwagon more recently by granting Medellín its Award for Urban Design, and many others have followed suit with their own honors.

The Times is far from being alone in suggesting Colombia as a place to live or invest… Jim Rogers and Sam Zell, among many others, have recently invested relative fortunes in real estate here.

Finally—and this one’s the clincher for the scared and uneducated masses—even the AARP suggests checking out Colombia, calling it an “energetic land” with a “vibrant urban fabric of food, art, and local traditions.”

What’s This All Mean?

It means the stigma once chugging along in North America and the rest of the world is losing steam. It’s almost gone, but not completely…

Until then, you’re still ahead of the crowd…

Meaning you still have a chance to take advantage of positions in this country that will be more expensive once the rest of the world fully catches on… and prices surely rise as a result.

I invested myself years ago, in 2011. While I am way ahead in that investment in Colombian peso terms, it’s only a modest gain in U.S. dollars…

Why is that?

Well, this is the second reason you need to pay attention to Colombia—now…

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Currency Discount

The Colombian peso is currently at historic lows against the U.S. dollar.

Creating what I like to call a “currency discount.”

With 2015 as a baseline, Americans who convert their dollars to Colombian pesos have 55% more buying power… again, thanks to today’s favorable exchange rate.

When it comes to a property purchase, for example, that condo that was US$100,000 in 2015 will cost you just US$64,000 today.

The property discounts are significant.

And, of course, this “currency discount” also applies to all your other costs in this country… from groceries and property taxes to rent, HOA fees, and everything else you might spend money on…

The upscale dinner that cost US$50 a few years back is now just US$32 right now.

It’s a huge advantage… but it’s only one of the reasons why we’re so enamored with Colombia.

Indeed, colleague Lee Harrison has long insisted that Colombia be at the top of the list of easy backup residency options. Lee was able to obtain Colombian residency quickly, efficiently, and without the help (or expense) of an attorney.

The information on the government website related to the process and the required paperwork is clear and accurate (which, believe me, is not always the case with government websites).

In addition, visa requirements here do not include a police background check. This eliminates the need for an American to get an FBI report, which can be one of the biggest delays for an American trying to establish residency.

The thresholds for Colombia’s retirement and investment visa options are competitive…

You can qualify for the pensionado visa in Colombia right now with US$810 a month. If you’re not retired and are looking for options for full-time or backup residency as part of your Plan B, you can invest as little as US$27,700 in the country and qualify for an investment residency visa.

As I see It, Here’s Who Should Be Focused On Colombia Right Now:

1. The Retiree

The City of Eternal Spring (Medellín) is rapidly becoming a popular destination for the North American retiree. Medellín enjoys one of the world’s best climates, is home to 8 of the top 35 hospitals in all Latin America, offers a great selection of restaurants and cafés, and boasts an exciting cultural scene, with theater, orchestra, and events all year… all starting at less than US$1,000 a month.

2. The Digital Nomad

Those who can work remotely from anywhere have been called Digital Nomads. Young and old, they’re heading here in droves due to the affordability, fast internet speed, café culture, and quality of life (especially when earning income in dollars or euros).

3. The Global Diversifier

Colombia is hard to beat when it comes to the ‘Residency Flag” of my 5-point diversification strategy. Getting a permanent visa here is quick and cheap, and it doesn’t require a lengthy wait, a lawyer, or a big pile of papers. Even pensioners with Social Security income south of US$1,000 can qualify, while investors can get in with less than US$30k.

In other words, I’d say that everyone should be paying close attention to Colombia right now.

Lief Simon
Editor, Offshore Living Letter

Tags: ColombiaColombia Expatscolombia visaLive in ColombiaMedellinMove to ColombiaRetire in Colombia
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Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents and traveled to more than 75 countries. His real estate investment career began with a $5,000 down payment on a three-flat building in Chicago. Less than three years later, Lief sold the building for a leveraged return of 3,000%—$150,000 in profit after closing costs and commissions.

From there, he turned his attention overseas and has bought property in 24 countries including France, Croatia, Portugal, Ireland, Belize, Spain, Argentina, Cyprus, Romania, and beyond. Thanks to his decades-long career as a global property investor, Lief has built a multi-million-dollar portfolio that includes rental properties, significant land holdings, and 7 personal residences.

Lief has established residency in 3 countries and acquired a second passport from Ireland.

In 2008 Lief and wife Kathleen Peddicord made the most important investment of their lives—a 215-acre oceanside finca, known as Los Islotes. There, on Panama’s largely undiscovered Veraguas coast, they’ve installed underground electricity, water, and internet and built a forever family home that sits at the heart of their ultimate vision: a gold standard private residential community for those in search of a true safe haven escape.

Lief’s latest book, “Cowboy Millionaire—The New American Pioneer,” collects all the wisdom he has learned in three decades of living and investing outside America.

He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches. For real estate investment opportunities, check out his monthly Global Property Advisor service.

If you’d like to meet Lief in person, join him for one of our upcoming in-country conferences. You’ll find further details here.

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To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
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  • The Panama City Beaches
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