You’ve got your list. (If you missed yesterday’s issue, catch up here.)
Now you need another list, this one of destinations that might support the lifestyle you seek.
How do you choose your ideal retire-overseas haven from among the 200+ countries in the world?
Take a look here for a short list of top options… our favorite places on Earth to think about living, retiring, and investing overseas.
OK… so now you’ve got two lists—one detailing what you’d like your new life overseas to look like and a second naming places where you could embrace that lifestyle.
Now here’s the problem…
I can’t take this conversation much further.
Should you retire to the Algarve… or to Panama’s Pacific coast? To Medellín… or to Cayo? To Barcelona… or to Chiang Mai? Las Terrenas… or Paris?
I have no idea.
You’ve got to do the work of considering the destinations on our World’s Top Havens list in the context of your personal preferences and priorities yourself.
You’ve got to connect your own dots.
For example:
If you’re looking to retire on a limited budget, look closely at Ecuador, Nicaragua, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the world’s most affordable places to live comfortably.
If you want a temperate climate year-round, put Cuenca, Ecuador, and Medellín, Colombia, at the top of your list. If you want four seasons, think about Argentina, Chile, Croatia, France, or Italy.
Get the shakes at the thought of life without reliable internet? Take Nicaragua off your list and parts of Ecuador, too. If top-tier infrastructure is a deal-breaker for you, I’d recommend reconciling yourself to city living in Latin America and Asia in general. You can’t count on regular, reliable internet in the “interiors” of most countries in these regions.
Don’t like bugs? Don’t retire to a tropical beach.
Get sad without sunshine? Don’t move to Northern Europe.
Want to start a business? Come to Panama, the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the world today… or Malaysia, if you want to be on that side of the planet.
Travel a lot? Come to Panama in the Americas or France in Euro-land. From Tocumen you can get anywhere in North or South America with ease… and from Charles de Gaulle you’re no more than a couple of hops away from anywhere, period.
Value regular nights of culture? Consider Buenos Aires, Paris, or (more budget-friendly) Medellín.
Want to be far away from the troubles of the world? Think about Cayo, Belize, where life continues safe, simple, and separate.
“Retiring” with children? Education is your number-one priority. In this case, consider France, Panama, or Argentina.
If you have an ongoing health concern, medical care facilities are your top priority. Put, again, France, at the top of your list if budget is not another of your key criteria… and consider Panama, Malaysia, or Colombia if it is.
Foreign ownership of property is restricted in Thailand, if that matters to you.
Argentineans enjoy drama—in their politics, in their economic policies, in their cocktail party conversation. Much new drama to follow in this country’s post-Cristina age. Will you find that entertaining or unnerving?
France is one of the most legislated places on Earth. The French, though, simply ignore the rules and the restrictions as suits them. Could you?
Taxis in places like Belize City and Granada, Nicaragua, often come minus things like door handles, air conditioning, and tail lights. Will that bother you?
Latinos live life loud and in the street and don’t value their own time let alone yours. The French are reserved and formal. Asians don’t have the same ideas about personal space that North Americans do.
Which of those things make you uncomfortable?
OK, over to you. You’ll have to continue this line of thinking for yourself, but you get the idea.
My overriding point is that there is a lot you can be doing right now, even while borders are closed and planes are grounded, to push your live and invest overseas plan forward. You do not need to put your new life overseas plans on hold.
We’ll continue doing everything we can to support your connect-the-dots efforts.
Keep reading. We’re just getting started.
Kathleen Peddicord
