[quote=walterwhite]Ok u know what? Maybe America is number one after all.[/quote]
Absolutely say what you will about the USA….it’s lost it’s dominance, on it’s way down.. yadda yadda yadda. But I feel for those with no debt, savings and a steady income… it’s the absolute best place to live in the world with the highest quality of life. Hands down.
Obviously for those where finances is a factor then Central America or South America can make sense due to the lower cost of living if you do it right. One of the things wrong with the USA is it’s health care system. It’s broken. It’s expensive and if you don’t have insurance you are totally lost.
Many of these countries in Latin America the healthcare is free once you establish permanent residency. But as mentioned…you wouldn’t want to get sick or have to go to a public hospital. Most ex-pats end up getting private medical insurance which is EXCELLENT.
Both of my kids were born outside of the USA and I had private medical insurance and I can tell you the health care coverage was EXCELLENT and far surpassed the USA. I’m talking absolutely NO co-pays at all. They covered everything including medications. Private suite in the hospital for me and my wife for 2 days after she had the babies.
The quality of life can be really great if you do it right. It’s great for people that have steady income like social security, pensions, steady flow of cash like rental income,etc.
There are certain luxuries that you would most likely NEVER have if you lived in the USA..even if you had great income. Things like full-time maids that come Monday to Friday are as little as $500 US a month or less depending where in South America you go. Chefs from $600 per month to come in every day and cook breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You also have to look at cost of utilities as they drastically vary depending on country. Some places like Argentina, the government subsidizes utilities so things like gas, electricity, water are very cheap. Other places like Punta del Este, Uruguay you can spend a fortune with water and gas/electricity.
I had a 3 bedroom house that wasn’t too big and it wouldn’t be uncommon to have $600 US a month electricity bills. Water bills could be as much as $500 a month! Internet was as much as $100 a month.
No doubt you can live cheap in places like Costa Rica and other places but you have to really be realistic and see if you can really enjoy living there.
I have clients and friends that I know that live in both Costa Rica and also Brazil. But I could never live like them. One guy I know sold all his worldly possessions and moved to the middle of nowhere in Brazil. He bought some land, built a modest house but where he lives there is no electricity/gas or running water.
But life can be great. One thing I really loved seeing is the special bond between families. The Latin culture is really amazing and family is very important. Also, I’d see lots of people that didn’t make much money but they were much happier than most Americans. They didn’t drive fancy cars, or live in McMansions…. but they didn’t have any debt at all and lived within their means.
They would spend time in the park with their families on the weekend and it would be common to see kids living at home until they were married. I really loved that aspect of living in South America.
