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    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
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    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
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    • Employment
    • Investing

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      Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

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    Live and Invest Overseas
    • 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
      • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
      • Offshore & Diversification

      Making Money

      • International Real Estate
      • Banking
      • Employment
      • Investing

      Follow Us:

      • Meet Our Experts
    • Real Estate

      Join our Weekly Newsletter
      Overseas Property Alert

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive expert insights on the best international real estate investment opportunities.






        We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

        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

        Upcoming Events

        • Explore Our Events Site

        Live and Invest In Spain Conference

        Offshore Wealth Summit

        Greece Workshop

        VALENCIA, SPAIN

        Sep. 17-19, 2025

        PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

        Oct. 15-17, 2025

        VIRTUAL

        Nov. 13, 2025

        LEARN MORE
        DISCOUNT
        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        • MORE EVENTS

        Contact Our Events Team

        Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
        1 (888) 627 8834
        From Outside North America:
        1 (443) 599 1221
        Working Hours
        Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

        Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

      • Store

        Unlock The World

        • Access Your Library

        Overseas Havens Reports

        • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

        Conference Kits

        • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

        Lahardan Books

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

        Services

        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

      • My Library
      Live and Invest Overseas
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        Home Lifestyle

        Suit Yourself

        by Kathleen Peddicord
        Jan 01, 2025
        in Lifestyle
        0 0
        Couple in convertible speeding.

        Mark Twain summed up behavior like this:

        “The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again.

        “But he won’t sit upon a cold stove lid, either,” Twain observed.

        The cat is reacting with his gut. You and I might think gut decisions, coming from instinct and emotions, are sometimes ill-advised. We might think we’re better off applying reason, analysis, and logic.

        But the truth is that we all make most decisions automatically, without thinking.

        Reasoning out every step along the way is hard. Revert solely to reason and you might have trouble deciding what shirt to wear or whether your tea is the right temperature.

        Thinking over every question requires way too much time and effort.

        How do you decide when to get out of bed on a lazy Saturday morning?

        You could try to reason it out. You could review what you have to do or want to do or should do. You could ask what you might gain from drinking more coffee or reading more of your newsfeed.

        Before too long you realize that just listing what you need to think about to decide whether and when to get out of bed could easily take up the day. So instead of using reason, you get out of bed when you feel like it.

        Same is true of deciding when and where to reinvent your life overseas.

        Making the right decision comes down to knowing what makes you happy… then arranging your affairs to achieve that pleasant state.

        Suppose what you most want most is to travel the world, to eat, drink, and be merry with people you meet on the road.

        You want to enjoy the adventure along the way, to savor every random moment.

        Given that, buying a big house on the water wouldn’t be a good decision, would it? It takes you away from your goal, not toward it.

        The big house comes with gardening, leaky roofs, animals, repairs, taxes, and maintenance costs. You can’t travel and chase adventure at will. You’re tied to your big house.

        Even if you think the house might be a good investment, buying it would be a mistake.

        The contrary is also true.

        When my friend Wilbur celebrated his 50th birthday, his wife asked him what he most wanted out of the rest of his life. Wilbur said, “I’ve always spent my happiest days on Cape Cod. I guess I’d like to buy a house on the water, and a sailboat. I could teach my grandkids to sail.”

        Wilbur went out and bought a villa on Bass River. He bought a small boat. He sails with friends and he teaches his grandkids how to sail. His house is in perfect sync with what he wants out of life.

        As it turned out that house went up in value. Wilbur made money in a way that improved his life.

        To make sure your investments line up with what makes you happy, you need to decide what makes you happy.

        I know that sounds cavalier. Research shows that most people have little idea of what makes them happy. Ask someone about their purpose in life or what they want out of life and they respond with a shrug or simply say they want to be happy.

        If you keep prodding and ask them what makes them happy, they are usually stumped.

        I know. I still have trouble answering those questions myself. They’re hard questions.

        So I’ve come up with a simpler approach. Instead of thinking in general about what makes you happy, think back to your most joyful moments. Think back to your worst moments. Do this over a period of a month or so, and make a list. At the end of the process, you’ll likely have a pretty good handle on how you like to live.

        In my case, I’ve decided that some of the worst moments in my life have had to do with traffic. I don’t like to waste time, and sitting in traffic is nothing but a stressful, frustrating waste of time.

        So I’ve organized my life to avoid traffic as much as possible.

        When I’m in Paris, I’m able to walk almost everywhere I need or want to go day-to-day. Within 15 minutes of our front door are grocery stores, bakeries, wine shops, cafés, restaurants, bookstores, parks, gardens, museums, and my favorite places to shop for clothes. When I want to travel beyond our quartier, I hop on the Metro.

        When I’m in Panama at Los Islotes, I have a car but I never have to sit in traffic. This coast is blissfully free of every hassle and frustration of modern life, including rush-hour traffic.

        I do have to deal with traffic when I’m in Panama City. I accept that because, while traffic is one of my least favorite things in life, building businesses is one of my favorite. Live And Invest Overseas is headquartered, needs to be headquartered, in a city. No way around it.

        In other words, maybe you can’t eliminate the things you don’t like completely. Engineering your most happy life is about compromises. Remember the 80/20 rule. I accept that maybe 20% of my time is spent fighting traffic in Panama City because I don’t have any intention of giving up on my entrepreneurial objectives. They’re the driving priority of my life right now.

        What stands out in your memory as the most joyous times of your life?

        Start there.

        Before setting off on your live and invest overseas adventures, take time to get to know yourself.

        Make choices and decisions that flow from your likes, your dislikes, your preferences.

        Suit your new life to your true self, rather than the other way around.

        Until next time,

        Kathleen Peddicord signature
        Kathleen Peddicord

        Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

        Tags: 'Expat Life'american living abroadLife Overseas
        Share83Tweet52
        Kathleen Peddicord

        Kathleen Peddicord

        Kathleen Peddicord has reported on opportunities for Americans to live, retire, and do business overseas for 40 years. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 24, established businesses in 7, renovated and built properties in 6, and educated her children in 5.

        Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets from the east coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland, then to Paris, France, and finally to Panama City, Panama, where she has based her Live And Invest Overseas business. Peddicord and her husband, Lief Simon, now divide their time between Panama and Paris.

        Peddicord was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. She opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Waterford, Ireland; Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France. Peddicord launched Live And Invest Overseas group in 2008 and has built it into a successful multimillion-dollar business. Today, she shares her firsthand experience of expat life with more than 500,000 readers of her publications, including Overseas Opportunity Letter and Overseas Living Letter.

        Kathleen has been featured often in The New York Times, MSNBC, AARP, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and more and writes monthly about expat matters, international real estate, and offshore diversification for Forbes and U.S. News.

        Kathleen has written several books including the memoirs “At Home In Ireland” and “At Home At Los Islotes” and her latest title “At Home Abroad,” all published by Lahardan Books. Her best-selling "How To Retire Overseas: Everything You Need To Know To Live Well (For Less) Abroad” was published by Penguin Random House in 2018 and her “Buying Real Estate Overseas For Cash Flow (And A Better Life)” was published by Wiley in August 2020.

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          HOME

          Top Countries

          • Spain
          • Portugal
          • Panama
          • Belize
          • Colombia
          • Cyprus
          • Mexico
          • France
          • Montenegro

          Best For:

          • Health Care Abroad
          • Retirement Living
          • Cost Of Living
          • Investing in Real Estate
          • Establishing Residency
          • Gun Ownership
          • English Speakers
          • Safety
          BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

          Budgets

          How Much Will It Cost
          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
          • Kotor, Montenegro
          • The Panama City Beaches
          • Paris, France

          Resources

          Global Living

          • Living & Retiring Overseas
          • Raising A Family Abroad
          • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
          • Offshore & Diversification

          Making Money

          • International Real Estate
          • Banking
          • Employment
          • Investing
          Meet Our Experts

          Real Estate

          Overseas Property Alert 

           

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

          VISIT SITE

          Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

           

          Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

          READ MORE

          Explore Our Latest Posts

           

          Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

          EXPLORE

          Conferences

          Live and Invest In Spain Conference

          VALENCIA, SPAIN Sep. 17-19, 2025
          LEARN MORE
          DISCOUNT

          Offshore Wealth Summit

          PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
          LEARN MORE
          PRE-REGISTER

          GREECE WORKSHOP

          VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
          LEARN MORE
          PRE-REGISTER
          MORE EVENTS

          Contact Our Events Team:

          Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
          1 (888) 627 8834

          From Outside North America:
          1 (443) 599 1221

          Working Hours
          Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

          Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

          Store

          Overseas Havens Reports

          • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

          Conference Kits

          • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

          Lahardan Books

          • Titles on living and investing around the world

          Services

          • Overseas Living Letter: Affordable Retirement Guidance
          • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
          • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
          VISIT OUR STORE

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          THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

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