Keeping up with current world events can be exhausting and overwhelming.
But it needn’t be paralyzing.
You do not need to defer or delay your thinking and planning for realizing the new life you’ve been dreaming about overseas. The world remains alive with opportunity and options for living better and retiring well.
Indeed, diversifying your circumstances to embrace them is a more important agenda today than it’s perhaps ever been.
I’m no Pollyanna. I see the troubles all around us, just as you do. But I’m working hard to remind myself to keep things in perspective.
Lief and I are spending time this week in Waterford, Ireland, with old friends and our staff on the ground in this part of the world. Yes, Coronavirus updates predominate the news cycle, but, when we switch off the radio and the TV, we see that Ireland carries on with its business.
Currently the Irish agenda has a lot to do with naming a new leader. No one won enough votes in the recent general election to come out the winner, and so far the country’s political parties have been unable to form a coalition.
“Does this mean there’s no one in charge?” I asked a friend over lunch.
“Yes, I guess it does,” he said. “I guess you could say that’s a problem, but, honestly, I forgot about it! The political situation here in Ireland is as divisive as it is in the United States these days. The difference is that we Irish don’t really care…”
While the question of who’ll be the next Taoiseach remains unanswered, the uncertainty is creating opportunity. Irish real estate markets are soft, and our contacts are watching for price falls. As I mentioned yesterday, if you’ve been dreaming of a new life in the Auld Sod, this could be your chance to act.
And, to return to my overriding point today, if you have been dreaming of living or retiring on the Emerald Isle, don’t let current global concerns keep you from moving ahead in the pursuit of that dream.
I heard overnight from friend and correspondent Lee Harrison, who wrote from his part-time home in Mazatlán, Mexico, to say:
“Ordinarily, my wife and I would be thinking of returning to the United States about now, to spend the summer with children and grandchildren. But we’re not sure we want to be in California over the next few months. We’re thinking of staying here in Mexico, where life continues as normal. Everyone is dining out, traveling around, and going to events. So far, we don’t see any sign of the virus.
“Could it come to coastal Mexico? Of course it could. If it does, we’re thinking we might move on to Uruguay, where we also hold legal residency and where so far there’s not a single case of Coronavirus.
“As we say all the time, it’s all about options…”
I spoke this morning with our friend and attorney in Portugal JoĂŁo Figueira.
“The situation is well contained here,” he told us. “We are all working as usual…”
I’m hearing the same from friends and colleagues around the world.
Now, all that said, the situation is fluid and fast-changing. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring.
But I can tell you one thing with confidence, based on more than 30 years experience at this:
The way to make sure you’re prepared for whatever tomorrow brings is to diversify beyond your home borders.
Diversify your life and diversify your investments.
If you’re searching for options right now… wondering what to do in the face of the current global landscape… I urge you to remember this critical truth.
The good news is that this is what we do… this is our beat. Here at Live and Invest Overseas, we’re all about options for diversification across borders.
It’s times like these when a diversified lifestyle and a truly globally diversified portfolio of hard assets really pay off.
So here’s my advice today…
Set the worrying aside. It won’t help. It drains your energy and slows your progress.
Focus instead on the possibilities. Because many remain. Times of crisis can present the greatest moments of opportunity for those clear-headed and brave enough to remain open to them.
We’ll continue doing what we do… and sharing our best ideas and recommendations for living better, retiring well, and thriving no matter what this complicated, complex world of ours continues to serve up.
And then we’ll provide all the support we can muster to help you follow through on the ideas and recommendations that make sense to you.
In that spirit, my team and I have spent the past week considering options for how we can retool our plant.
You should not delay and definitely you should not consider abandoning your plans to diversify your life and your investment portfolio overseas. You need to be pursuing those agendas more urgently than ever before.
However, we understand current practical restrictions. You may not, for example, want to travel right now.
So our tech team is working overtime to make it possible for us to bring the world and all it continues to offer to you in the comfort of your own living room.
Don’t want to get on a plane anytime soon? No worries. We’ll have you covered.
We’ll be unveiling plans for new virtual Live and Invest Overseas programs in each of our top overseas havens over the next few days.
Please stand by.
Yes, current world events may be exhausting and overwhelming… but they needn’t be paralyzing.
Indeed, diversifying your circumstances to embrace them is a more important agenda today than it’s perhaps ever been.
You’ve got this. And we’ve got you.
Kathleen Peddicord
