[quote=Happs]I mentioned this video in another post a few months ago on here about the topic of retiring/moving to Costa Rica. Moving/Retiring to a foreign country is not necessarily a panacea or paradise. Food for thought.
I missed this post first time around. I just watched the video and this guy makes good and valid points about living and retiring abroad.
The things he is totally spot on target is that you can’t go by what the “locals make”. Many people retiring hear that the “median income in X country is X dollars”. They hear that and they think it sounds dirt cheap and they can move here and make it.
The biggest problem is the “median income” in some countries includes tremendous amounts of poverty and the vast majority of Americans can NOT live like the typical local. No way no how. Most Americans are accustomed to a certain quality of life and it would be next to impossible for many of them expecting to get by for what a local can get by for.
Also, other misnomers that people easily mistake is they hear things like “healthcare is guaranteed and free for people in this country”. The reality in many countries is that the free hospitals are horrible and you wouldn’t want to get stuck or depend on them. And most of the middle class on up, have private medical insurance which isn’t cheap. So you have to investigate all the ins and outs of the healthcare system in foreign countries.
The biggest part of that video that I agreed with is the “Mañana Mañana Mañana” mentality that you will see in much of Latin America. Customer service simply doesn’t exist in much of Latin America and other parts of the world. At least not like the USA, where there are consumer protection agencies and tons of competition.
Cable broken? Mañana can mean 2 or 3 weeks. Gas problem in the building? It can literally mean 2 MONTHS to get it fixed. Even in wealthy neighborhoods where the affluent live. Or even having your high speed internet go out for weeks at a time. And no matter how much you argue with the company, sometimes there isn’t anything you can do.
Not everyone can deal with these sort of things. What I’d recommend for anyone thinking about permanently retiring in any certain country is going to live there for several months first and seeing how it is.
I know many people that retired to a place they vacation in year after year but they are only there a few weeks per year and that isn’t enough time to see all of the problems in that destination.
I’m not saying it’s all negatives because it’s not. But you have to be super realistic before you leave the USA to go retire somewhere else.
