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Home Countries Ecuador

It’s Easy To Live Better For Less In Cuenca, Ecuador

Where To Retire On As Little As US$700 Per Month

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Mar 08, 2020
in Ecuador, Lifestyle, Retirement/Living
0
histroric square in ecuador

Image Source: iStock/ IRYNA KURILOVYCH

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If budget concern is a primary motivating factor as you consider your options for retirement, I want to put Ecuador dead center of your radar.

Cuenca, Ecuador, specifically, is the most affordable place we know to retire well in these Americas.

Other places may be a bit cheaper, including some places elsewhere in Ecuador, but you’d be removed from the conveniences of a city, you wouldn’t have access to certain services, amenities, and conveniences that make life comfortable, and your standard of living might be reduced.

In Cuenca, you could live well, perhaps better than you’re living now. Your life could be enriched, your breadth of experience expanded. All at an almost unbelievably low cost. Cuenca amounts to the world’s best quality of life buy for the money.

How much, specifically, do you need to live here?

About five years ago, a friend, Christian, retired to Cuenca from New York. Christian and his wife have been living comfortably, happily, and well in Cuenca for the past five years on a budget of about US$1,145 per month, including the cost of renting an apartment.

Here’s how Christian’s budget breaks down:

  • US$400 for rent (for a modern apartment in a building with a doorman and underground parking)…
  • US$150 for HOA (or building maintenance) fees (often paid by the renter in Ecuador)…
  • US$40 for transportation (Christian does not own a car but uses taxis and buses to get around the city)…
  • US$5 for gas (used for hot water and for cooking)…
  • US$40 for electricity and water…
  • US$20 for telephone…
  • US$25 for cable TV…
  • US$35 for Internet…
  • US$250 for groceries…
  • US$180 for entertainment (concerts, theater, and other cultural activities are often free in this city).

Christian’s cost of living is certainly affordable, but you could live in Cuenca for less. To cut costs further, you could rent an apartment farther from the center of town for as little as US$260 per month. You’d be in an older building with no doorman or garage. You’d save US$140 on rent and US$150 on HOA fees, as, in an older building, you probably wouldn’t incur them.

Invest in a home of your own in Cuenca, an apartment or one of the charming old Spanish-colonial houses the city is known for, and you could live on as little as US$700 a month. Assuming all other expenses remain the same, you’d have no rent and no HOA fee, but you would have property taxes (probably less than US$50 a month) and, if you bought a house rather than a condo, you might want to invest in homeowner’s insurance (about US$50 a month). If your budget allows for it, you could add US$100 per month for in-country travel. This should buy you four in-Ecuador vacations per year.

Remember, Ecuador, like Panama, uses the U.S. dollar. This eliminates the variable of exchange rate fluctuations… which can, in some countries at some times, affect your cost of living dramatically for better or for worse. Choosing a country that uses the U.S. dollar as its currency means an expat with U.S. dollar-based income isn’t hurt if the dollar falls against the local currency.

Some destinations in Asia could be cheaper, but retiring in the Americas has advantages. You’re nearer to family and friends back home, for example. Plus, the weather in parts of Ecuador, including in Cuenca, can be pleasant year-round.

For all these reasons, we name Ecuador as the #1 choice for retiring well on a modest budget.

And we invite you to learn everything you need to know to realize a comfortable retirement in this part of the world during our Live and Invest in Ecuador Virtual Conference taking place March 13–14.

You don’t need a passport or to buy a plane ticket. You can sit in the comfort of your living room, at your laptop, and enjoy a one-of-a-kind introduction to this beautiful and diverse country.

The Early Bird Discount for registration expires today.

Kathleen Peddicord

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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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