Real Wealth vs Phony Wealth in North County

[desmond]

Your neighborhood must be amazing sdr with all those “wealthy” people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSTEqHxh3fI

[sdrealtor]

It is amazing but most are not wealthy. They are just lots of succesful people living a great lifestyle well within their means. The kind you dont think exist.

BTW, great videos of signs. When I cant sleep, I watch them and they cure my insomnia every time.

[briansd1]

[quote=earlyretirement] Sdsurfer,

Yes, absolutely safety is a big factor. There are some gorgeous places around the world that are wonderful to visit for a vacation of a few weeks or even a few months but living there full time isn’t the best or the easiest.

Some places the cost of living can be GREAT but there can be safety issues to deal with. Then other places the real estate might not be as expensive as San Diego but the utilities can be sky high. Some places I own I was getting $500 a month water bills!

Even in some beautiful cities that aren’t dangerous you still have a hassle factor of petty crime. I owned a house a few blocks from the beach in Punta del Este, Uruguay (“St. Tropez of South America”) and while it is VERY safe there, the summer is only the real time that it’s busy. Many houses are owned by wealthy owners that only use it during the summer. So you have to deal with break ins the rest of the season.

I had my house broken into twice even having a good security system and also being a few doors down from a police station. Both times they got expensive LCD TV’s where they are 300% more expensive than in the USA. And to make it worse, thieves figured out that they can rob people even during summer so they will go in and rob their houses while they are at the beach.

So you have things like that you have to deal with in some locations.

In other countries you have to deal with corrupt police or run away inflation. In countries like Argentina, where I own properties, you have 25% to 30% ANNUAL inflation. So your expenses go up each year typically by large amounts. Or if you have employees, you’re forced to give 25% to 30% a YEAR raises mandatory by law!

In places like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where I bought many years ago….yeah the place is worth a LOT more than a decade ago but with the horrible fluctuation in the exchange rate, things are much more expensive. It’s more expensive there vs. the USA with many things. Plus even in exclusive and expensive areas like Ipanema, you have luxury condos not far from the slums. And again you have to deal with crime.

So you just have a multitude of things to deal with vs. the USA. For as many problems and issues that the USA has…people don’t realize how wonderful it is to live in and the excellent quality of life.

In other places it just comes down to tons of red tape and not efficient to be full time. Like not getting mail or it constantly getting lost, waiting in line at the post office up to 2 hours to get a package, waiting in lines for up to 45 minutes at the grocery store, power outages, etc.

Like I said before… San Diego is paradise. Yeah, there are many pikers here but I agree with sdrealtor that San Diego North County is full of truly affluent as well that are living within their means. It’s all relative…[/quote]

Interesting post, er.

Yes, It’s all relative.

I think that if you want an American suburban life, then America is the best place. And San Diego is pretty damn good. Foreigners try to copy that surburban lifestyle, but the real deal is right here.

But having lived abroad, I must say that there are other attractions to living overseas. You live abroad for the culture and the adventure.

There’s something special about an American living abroad. As an expat, you’re cool and special. And if you take the time to learn the foreign language you can make friends that you would never meet in America so your life and experiences are richer. People are always fascinated and curious about American culture and you can be sort of an ambassador for the American way of life (whatever you think it should be).

I’d be happy to live in a one-bedroom apartment in a foreign capital somewhere in the world. My plan for retirement is to spend most of my time abroad with a base in San Diego.

[svelte]

[quote=temeculaguy]
Maybe I’m out of step with most people here because I’ve always been a bit of a nutjob about retirement saving bordering on mental illness. I plan on changing my ways. I went to a funeral of a friend this week who was far worse than me, he lived on about a third of his income, drove crappy cars, wore cheap clothes, had no children or wife and didn’t live to spend a nickel of the more than 2 million he had saved for retirement. It’s been said before, that living within your means is not about living within someone else’s means, it’s about living within your means. The person that makes 50k and gets by on 30k, bravo, but the guy that makes 100k or 200k and lives on 30k, maybe that person needs some balance to their life. As paramount just said, it’s been tried before, but you can’t take it with you. I’ve studied almost every world religion and text, none made reference to net worth or fico score in the afterlife. Plan, make sure you have enough to be comfortable, but also find a way to enjoy your good fortune along the way, regardless how much it is.[/quote]
Oh I definitely agree with you and paramount. We’ve seen too many ppl hoard their money then never get to enjoy it due to illness or death…my mother included. We are definitely enjoying our money and if the income stops tomorrow, well we can go back to pb&j sandwiches at that point with some great memories.
But first thing off the top of each paycheck is $$ for retirement, so no worries about that either.
Some piggs tend to think they are not materialistic but they tend to forget that their house is material. So is that stack of cash. If that is what makes them happy, hey I’m all for it. But don’t look down your nose at those of us who choose a different path with the resources available to us.

[NotCranky]

[quote=AN]I would count home equity as retirement asset if you don’t plan to leave anything for your heir or if you don’t have any. Since you can do reverse mortgage.[/quote]

I count it as a POSSIBLE retirement asset that I can pass along to my heirs since I can rent it out for more than what my actual housing at that time is going to cost. I would never do a reverse mortage in too much house. Anyway, perhaps one or more of my kids will just want to live on my country estate and I will move into the guest house or service employee quarters.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=briansd1]
There’s something special about an American living abroad. As an expat, you’re cool and special. [/quote]

But I am already cool and special without having to go somewhere else.

Seriously brian, listen to earlyretirement, he is the first person I’ve seen post about the realities of living abroad, not just as a tourist, but as a grown up. You are young, your experiences abroad are probably mostly about going to a cafe, nightclubs, museums and theaters with other young people. Early retirement tells of the reality of doing big boy things like raising a family, buying and owning property, paying bills, paying taxes, dealing with the government, having employees, etc. Argentina is one of those seductive places, Buenos Aries in particular is one of the places that seems perfect to a young person and as you age it will make you nuts. I have a close personal friend, not just an aquiantance, who has lived there for 25 years and also owns a summer home in Punta Del Este and tells the same stories as earlyretirement, only far worse. She’s has been more than a tourist, she has lived more of her life aborad than she has where her citizenship is. Guess what place she wishes she could live? San Diego. In fact she is even envious of my little suburb.

I could detail a hundred things about the reality of living abroad, none of it will sink in until you either see it in person or find someone close to you who has. Being the cool American guy has it’s benefits, just make friends, get the girls and move on. The grown up stuff sucks. I consider it alot like living on a boat, it looks like such a cool idea, then reality sets in and it’s probably better to just rent a boat once in a while.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=briansd1]

But having lived abroad, I must say that there are other attractions to living overseas. You live abroad for the culture and the adventure.

There’s something special about an American living abroad. As an expat, you’re cool and special. And if you take the time to learn the foreign language you can make friends that you would never meet in America so your life and experiences are richer. People are always fascinated and curious about American culture and you can be sort of an ambassador for the American way of life (whatever you think it should be).

I’d be happy to live in a one-bedroom apartment in a foreign capital somewhere in the world. My plan for retirement is to spend most of my time abroad with a base in San Diego.[/quote]

Totally agree with you Brian. The culture and adventure are really amazing. I still remember when I was telling family and friends I was going to quit my job, sell my house and properties, cars and move out of the USA, everyone thought I was crazy! To me the adventure was so exciting.

And you’re right..you DEFINITELY have to learn the language if you want a truly rewarding experience. To be honest, most of the Americans I met abroad never took the time to learn the local language. For that reason I never had any real desire to hang out with too many ex-pats that didn’t want to learn the local language. My most rewarding and long-lasting friendships I made were with the locals.

I also plan to spend a good bit of time in retirement abroad. Once the kids are out of the house and in college. I still would keep a property in San Diego but as you mentioned Brian, in a world capital city, properties are much smaller and everything is closer. You can get away with a fabulous one bedroom apartment in the heart of the city.

Traveling and getting to know the world is one of the most amazing things to me…

[The-Shoveler]

South America piff,
Just buy in Puerto Rico, is very tropical , beaches are amazing and snorkeling is first class.
Home prices very reasonable.
Asia, other countries, I think finding a rental for a month or three is a better deal.
Me personally I would not buy in foreign country , Why do you think they are working so hard to buy our RE. , trust me they still want to live here if they can.

[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.

[Happs]

I thought the original video had a good message too. I think it takes discipline and a strong mind/will power to live below your means or within your needs in North County.

[SK in CV]

[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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMKT5pGDvSo%5B/quote%5D

I’m reasonbly sure that in that video he wasn’t talking about Costa Rica. He mentioned it was the poorest country in central america. That would be nicaragua, not Costa Rica. Some of the things mentioned in the video would apply to both, but not all. They’re two very different countries. (Just to disclose my bias, Costa Rica is the only other country I’ve ever visited that I’d consider for retirement. The food pretty much sucks, but otherwise I didn’t find too many negatives.)

[earlyretirement]

[quote=temeculaguy][quote=briansd1]
There’s something special about an American living abroad. As an expat, you’re cool and special. [/quote]

But I am already cool and special without having to go somewhere else.

Seriously brian, listen to earlyretirement, he is the first person I’ve seen post about the realities of living abroad, not just as a tourist, but as a grown up. You are young, your experiences abroad are probably mostly about going to a cafe, nightclubs, museums and theaters with other young people. Early retirement tells of the reality of doing big boy things like raising a family, buying and owning property, paying bills, paying taxes, dealing with the government, having employees, etc. Argentina is one of those seductive places, Buenos Aries in particular is one of the places that seems perfect to a young person and as you age it will make you nuts. I have a close personal friend, not just an aquiantance, who has lived there for 25 years and also owns a summer home in Punta Del Este and tells the same stories as earlyretirement, only far worse. She’s has been more than a tourist, she has lived more of her life aborad than she has where her citizenship is. Guess what place she wishes she could live? San Diego. In fact she is even envious of my little suburb.

I could detail a hundred things about the reality of living abroad, none of it will sink in until you either see it in person or find someone close to you who has. Being the cool American guy has it’s benefits, just make friends, get the girls and move on. The grown up stuff sucks. I consider it alot like living on a boat, it looks like such a cool idea, then reality sets in and it’s probably better to just rent a boat once in a while.[/quote]

Temeculaguy,

You make GREAT and excellent points about living abroad. I haven’t read enough of the posts to know everyone’s personality and situation. But what Temeculaguy is saying is spot on target.

Living or traveling as a tourist and living as a “local” are two different things. Over the course of the past decade living abroad and traveling around the world on an almost non-stop basis, I’ve seen a lot of American ex-pats try to live abroad. And to be honest, many of them are the “ugly American” types. It’s sad but true.

Most don’t take the time to learn the local language, any desire to understand the country or the people or understand the history of the country.

Like Temeculaguy mentioned, they think they are cool and special because they are outside of their country and “living large”. The problem is most of them don’t have any game plan and are quickly back in the USA fairly quickly.

There is NOTHING cool about moving abroad because you think it’s cool and then blowing through your savings with no game plan. I met lots of ex-pats that THOUGHT they were cool but I just thought they were losers because they didn’t take the time to improve themselves.

Hey, at least it would have been great if they got fluent in Spanish when they moved back to the USA. But more times than not…that never happened.

To make things worse, they are still unemployed, they have blown what little savings they had, they didn’t learn the local language. They party every night.

Of course it’s not everyone but a very large majority of people that I’ve seen have been in that situation. That’s why I never had any desire to hang out with them.

And in the majority of the cases it’s Americans living illegally just renewing tourist visas over and over. They don’t have any desire or won’t take the time to do things legally. They don’t get legal residency, they don’t pay taxes in those countries or really contribute to society.

I know places like Argentina very well. And as mentioned, places like that can seem really sexy, fun, exciting. Which generally they are. However, as mentioned, most people going have no game plan there and no chance to get a job. Plus, it used to be cheap but it’s not anymore. I don’t care how cheap a place is but when you have 25% to 30% inflation each year it gets expensive fast. In fact, when I go to Argentina the cost of dinner is more expensive than the USA.

It can be deceptive. Countries like Argentina for example. It looks perfect…. You could mistake it for Europe. 75% of the original inhabitants were from Spain or Italy. Open up a phone book and you’ll see tons of Italian names.

The architecture is very European in many neighborhoods and there was tremendous wealth there at the turn of the century. But living there you figure out quickly that although the locals are friendly, they wouldn’t hesitate to stab you in the back. Cheating or conning people are a part of society there. Very normal. It can take a while to get used to if you are from the USA where there are agencies to help protect you like the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, etc. Such things don’t exist in many countries.

I’ve seen family members cheating other family members. It’s really ugly and that part of society is difficult to get accustomed to.

You really have to have a solid game plan if you want to live abroad permanently. In my experience, it’s best suited for people that are retired, have pensions or regular fixed income in dollars/euros/Sterling, etc. and living on the cheaper local currency. It’s often times IMPOSSIBLE for an ex-pat to earn income in the foreign country.

Another excellent group that living abroad will work for is people that have the ability to work from home or can work via phone/internet/emails. The cost of living in many countries is less than in the USA so if you can earn dollars and spend in pesos, etc. then it can work out.

But again, you still have the headaches and inefficiencies of the foreign country. It’s one thing to go on vacation for a few weeks/months to a foreign country and living day in and day out for years.

Some things that you are used to in the USA will be much different abroad. I’m not saying you can’t get accustomed because you can and many do. I did and had a great life. But many can’t because they drive themselves crazy comparing life in the USA to life abroad.

There are many things that sound good on paper or that you read on various blogs or internet sites. But until you live there day in and day out and experience life there and understand the history of the country….a pleasant retirement can turn into a nightmare quickly.

I’m not saying it’s all bad. Because it’s not. In some countries or locations if you have a steady stream of income/pension/cash flow, you can live like a king! Just depending on the location. I had a full time maid, a full time chef that came in every day. Things like that you will NOT have in the USA unless you are mega wealthy.

But there are many things about the USA that I really love. I could go on and on and on. Someone mentioned the food sucking in some places. So true. Or the food might be great but there is NO variety and you’re eating only one type of food or a few types but no large variety. Plus some places the fruit/vegetables suck or you can go into a grocery store and see many selling expired meats, cheeses, etc.

So much variety of food, produce and it’s all fresh. Plus with all the consumer protection agencies you are almost assured the food will be fresh and you won’t get sick or food poisoning buying stuff from the store.

Also, everyday stuff like buying things in the store here. If something doesn’t work or you just change your mind and don’t want it… places give you plenty of time to return it. In other countries, even if it’s defective, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get it fixed or exchanged. Tons of everyday examples like that.

People complain about the US government, the problems here, the unemployment, etc. But after traveling around the world and living abroad, I can honestly say that NO COUNTRY can match the overall quality of life of the USA. Not even close.

Also, something important is that for the most part the USA has a working judicial system. And there is a system of checks and balances. Such is not the case in many places around the world.

Sorry if this thread has gone off topic…

Some interesting points on this thread. I also don’t think if you’re making $200,000 + you need to act or live like you’re making $20,000, etc. I’ve known people that died extremely wealthy but didn’t really “live” life. They never went anywhere, they only worked. They died with a vast fortune. Some didn’t even have any family to pass it on to.

I don’t think that is necessary. You can’t spend money when you’re dead. I don’t think you really even need to pass on large sums of wealth to your kids. I think it’s important to live within your means but also you should enjoy life. Drive the car you really enjoy, eat the food you want to eat, see the places you’ve always wanted to see, live in a nice house. As long as you can afford it, there isn’t any reason not to do those things or not have those things IF YOU CAN AFFORD THEM.

[scaredyclassic]

I lived in France for a year. I found out I am only funny in English. However I’m not funny in England either. Since I can only live in a country where my jokes work I am restricted to the USA.

[NotCranky]

[quote=walterwhite]I lived in France for a year. I found out I am only funny in English. However I’m not funny in England either. Since I can only live in a country where my jokes work I am restricted to the USA.[/quote]
I understand, That’s why I stay here, I am funnier in Spanish than anything else. I could go to Mexico but then, staying here, my ears aren’t at too much risk of being lopped off.

[desmond]

[quote=sdrealtor]It is amazing but most are not wealthy. They are just lots of succesful people living a great lifestyle well within their means. The kind you dont think exist.

BTW, great videos of signs. When I cant sleep, I watch them and they cure my insomnia every time.[/quote]

SDR, You must be high, you thought I was serious about your neighborhood, and you don’t have to repeat yourself on my video, it wasn’t funny the first time. btw, the way you talk or post to women is pathetic, no wonder you are where you are with them.

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