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    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.

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  • 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

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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
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    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

    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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THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

the 10 best places to retire in 2025

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Home Countries Colombia

Worried About Soaring Utility Costs?

5 Places To Escape Soaring Utility Costs

by Kathleen Peddicord
May 02, 2023
in Colombia, Ecuador, Lifestyle, Panama, Portugal, Vietnam
0 0
Payment of utilities for electricity and water: receipt, bills and a calculator.

Adobe Stock/ evgenii

Worried about soaring utility costs? You’re not alone. Over the past year, energy costs across the United States have increased 23.8%.  The cost of electricity, specifically, is up 15.8%. That’s the greatest 12-month increase in 41 years. Russia’s war… continuing post-pandemic economic struggles worldwide, and generally hotter summers and colder winters are to blame. But you don’t have to suffer.

I’m not talking about lowering your thermostat or investing in more blankets. I’m talking about leaving cold winters… and steaming summers… behind for good. Don’t worry over how to reduce your utility costs. Make a plan to eliminate them… By relocation to one of these ideal climate destinations where you’ll need neither heat nor air conditioning…

Cuenca, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador
Adobe Stock/mehdi33300

Cuenca is a highland historical town of 330,000 people. Found in the foothills of Ecuador’s Andes Mountains, it sits at an elevation of between 7,710 and 8,400 feet.

This altitude plus its proximity to the equator means that Cuenca’s temperatures are stable year-round. It enjoys a consistent spring-like climate where the average daily high is 69°F and the average daily low is 52°F.

Other than the occasional use of a space heater on chilly mornings, homes in Cuenca don’t require air conditioning or heating. An expat couple that rents their accommodation can expect to pay about US$1,350 per month on life expenses in Cuenca, including US$70 per month on gas (for cooking and hot water) and electricity.

Cuenca is a place where you can live comfortably on a Social Security or pension check (US$1,542.22 as of June 2022), but the fact that you don’t need to heat or cool your home enhances its appeal.

Further savings come from general lifestyle changes that living in Cuenca inspires. Take car ownership, for example. Instead of the two cars in the driveway that most expat couples had before leaving North America, most have none in Ecuador. Expats get by with public transportation, resulting in hundreds of dollars in savings per month. It’s also a great place to get around on foot.

Da Lat, Vietnam

Valley of Love park, Dalat
Adobe Stock/saiko3p

Da Lat is a former colonial hill station that the French carved out of Vietnam’s Central Highlands in the early 1900s. Sitting at an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level, its temperate mountainous climate is pretty much perfect—never too hot or cold, the temperature hovering perpetually at about 65˚F.

Da Lat’s climate is what attracted foreigners here in the first place: It served colonists as an escape from the sweat and tropical malady of the lowlands. The cool weather, misty peaks, and pine forest (not to mention French architecture and ambiance) are a novelty in Vietnam and continue to draw expats here to this day.

Vietnam is fantastically affordable for expat retirees. The Vietnamese Dong is one of the world’s least valued currencies, so the exchange rate benefit works in your favor here.

Da Lat isn’t a mainstream tourism or retirement destination. It’s priced for the domestic market, so prices for everything from rent to meals to entertainment remain low. Best of all is the cost of electricity. Thanks to the year-round temperate weather, electricity cost about US$20 per month for a couple, for a total cost of living of about US$1,000 monthly.

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Medellín, Colombia

Panoramic of El Poblado in Medellin City
Adobe Stock/JuanFernandoVelez

Medellín holds a global reputation as the City of Eternal Spring. With an average high of 82°F and an average low of 63°F (with little temperature fluctuation throughout the year) most agree that its climate is ideal. Though it’s located near the equator, it’s cooler than other cities at the same latitude because of its altitude—4,905 feet above sea level.

The second-biggest city in Colombia with 2.5 million people, Medellín’s star as an overseas retirement destination is rising, especially among Americans. Here, a couple can live comfortably here on a budget of US$2,000 to US$2,500, including rent and utilities, which, bundled together with gas, water, and electricity, should come to about US$50.

Medellín also boasts an efficient and innovative public transportation network, including the only metro system in Colombia and cable cars that reach the hillside neighborhoods. It’s easy and cheap to get around, and free bikes are readily available. This helps keep life costs down and is a safeguard against future gas-price hikes.

Boquete, Panama

Boquete, Panama. utility costs
iStock/Markpittimages

Boquete is one of the most famous overseas retirement communities in the world where expats make up 25% of its population of 20,000. It’s nestled in the folds of Panama’s Central Mountain Range at an elevation of about 3,900 feet above sea level.

On top of natural beauty, including volcano and river views plus myriad flower species that grow throughout town, expats cite the weather as their motivation for moving here.

Boquete is far from the relentless heat and humidity of Panama’s lowlands, where air conditioning is a must and can rack up a high monthly electricity bill. Temperatures in Boquete hover between 55°F and 75°F year-round.

Expats spend about US$50 per month on electricity, as opposed to about US$120 per month in Panama City. A couple can expect to spend about US$1,600 per month total living in Boquete.

Plus, if you get residency under Panama’s Pensionado Visa, you’re entitled to a 25% discount on electrical, telephone, and water service, plus other discounts and incentives.

Madeira, Portugal

Beautiful panorama over the cityscape of Camara de Lobos in Madeira island, Portugal. utility costs
Adobe Stock/cristianbalate

Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal that’s found 670 miles from the mainland in the North Atlantic Ocean. Madeira is known as “Garden Island” for its abundance of vegetation and flowering plants and has been voted the best island in the world several times.

An archipelago made up of a handful of volcanic islands, Madeira is home to many microclimates, but it’s generally known for having some of the mildest year-round temperatures in Europe. The average high is 73°F and the average low is 62°F. Being surrounded by ocean means that temperatures are stable throughout the year.

Utilities costs, including electricity, water, and garbage collection, can start at US$70 and US$90 per month. Total monthly cost of living is about US$1,500 to US$2,000.

And don’t forget that Americans have a huge advantage in Europe right now, as the euro is at a historic low against the dollar.

Your spending power in the eurozone is the best it’s been in 20 years.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord signature
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

Tags: 'Boquete''Colombia''Cuenca''Ecuador''Vietnam'Da LatLive abroadlive overseasmadeiraMedellinPanamaPortugalutility costs
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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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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
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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

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Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

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Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

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Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

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LEARN MORE
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PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
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VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
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Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

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  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

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THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

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