A Worldwide Search for a Perfect Place to Retire - Pt. 2

 

Of all the South American countries, the most eligible for a retirement home for us would be Uruguay. Most people don't know much about Uruguay, so it probably wouldn't come to mind as a choice for a retirement home location. Heck, most people couldn't even place it on a map of South America. There's a very large ex-pat population there … Brits, Europeans, Americans … who enjoy the “tranquilo” nature of this little buffer country between Argentina and Brazil. There's easy access to the rest of South America and heading back to the States is a breeze and accomplished in a day. Part of the issue, I guess, is that we don't want to be part of an ex-pat neighborhood, we want to belong to the country, not to a community of folks just like us who are ex-patriated. Yes, we want the good life, but we don't want to be insulated from the locals.

If we retire some place, we really need to be able to call it home. We're at a disadvantage in some respects. We've been out sailing for the past 14 years. There is no “old neighborhood” to which to return. There aren't the scads of old friends that we've summer vacationed with for decades or played cards with every Saturday night for an eternity. Our friends are scattered throughout the world in Sweden and St. Helena Island and New Zealand and Australia. Home has been Nine of Cups and we have changed our neighborhoods as often as most people change their underwear.

So, how about a South Pacific island like Tonga or Fiji? We loved both places for the time we were there, but again political unrest in Fiji and a complicated cultural strata in Tonga were stumbling blocks for us. Plus an island is a small, small place and it's not easy to have family or friends over for a quick visit.

New Zealand and Australia have lots of allure. They speak English (of a sort) and share many of the same customs and culture, so what's the problem? They don't want us! That's right, they don't want us. And really, who can blame them? Let's be realistic. We're getting older and won't be contributing to society like a young professional would. What do we bring to them? Not much, I'd guess.

New Zealand offers an on-line test to determine if you're “immigrant” material. It's a point system and they give you X amount of points for each positive answer you provide. We both got points for our university degrees. David got extra points for being an engineer and having a Master's Degree. We racked up extra points for experience levels and I got a few for having been an English teacher. At the end, we had a gazillion points and were pretty proud of ourselves until the last question. “How old are you? Over 55? Lose a gazillion points … plus one. Do NOT pass GO; Do NOT collect $200 “… unless you have in a million dollars or so to invest, the Kiwis don't want us except as temporary visitors. Hmmm!

Australia's rules are similar to New Zealand's. Australia is wonderful and the people are friendly, but it's an expensive place for Americans to live. And once again, if you're older than 55, you must invest in order to get residency. This is fair and realistic, just not possible for us. Not enough loose change in the kitty. If one of these places is your goal for retirement, consider it early (before you're 55) and make your plans accordingly.

So … the best place to retire in our humble opinions? We don't know yet. We haven't explored all the possibilities. We know where we don't want to retire, but we're not sure exactly where we do want to retire. Rest assured, we'll definitely let you know when we find Utopia. Till then, we'll keep sailing to new neighborhoods.

A Worldwide Search for a Perfect Place to Retire - Pt. 1

 

We're asked over and over again why we choose to live on a sailboat and cruise around the world. It seems so obvious to us. Travel, adventure, seasickness … why wouldn't you? Sometimes we answer, tongue in cheek, that we're trying to sample all the wines, beers, lobsters or epicurean delights of the world. Sometimes we answer that we're trying to figure out where we ultimately want to settle down and, said with a smile, folks are never sure if we're serious. We are. We're always looking for that Utopian kind of place where we'd like to live when we're too old for sailing around on Nine of Cups. Where's the best place in the world to retire?

According to International Living (IL) magazine, Central and South America hold six of the top ten spots for most desirable places to retire in 2013. The major criteria seem to be quality of life, climate, healthcare, cost of living, real estate prices and retirement infrastructure. Certainly, all of these things are important to us, but they're not the only criteria. The top spot has been held by Ecuador for several years running.

Over the years, we've lived in Ecuador on and off a total of nearly two years … on the boat, on land and in different locations. We liked it there … very much. We traveled extensively. It's a small country with diverse climate and topography … seashore, mountains, tropical rain forests. We know several ex-pat Americans who have built homes and settled there, but we wouldn't want to live in Ecuador. We actually considered it briefly. For sure, the cost of living is low. It's easy to get residency. Some areas are extremely beautiful. We speak passable Spanish and could learn more.

Political stability does not seem to be a criteria for IL, but a country that's had over 20 constitutions since it's independence in 1830, is bound to have political issues. Laws in Ecuador change frequently, sometimes without notice. Some call this a “fluid” environment; we call it unsettled and risky. The medical care ranges from very good in the larger cities, to poor and nearly non-existent in the smaller ones. It's a poor country where the rich are very rich and the poor are very, very poor. There is no middle class. It's not our kind of place. We don't want to be the “rich gringos” in an exclusive, securely fenced, high security neighborhood.

We've spent time in Chile. Chile is not on the top 10 list. It's #19. We liked Chile, especially the Puerto Montt area, the gateway to Patagonia. David had emergency major surgery in Chile. We refer to it as “first world/third world medical care”. We received excellent medical care and paid 1/10 of what the same surgery and associated services would have cost in the US. We charged it to our Visa card … frequent flyer miles for surgery … what a deal! Still … it didn't seem like home to us. We know folks who've settled there and call it home though. It's just not right for us.

More thoughts on possible places to retire tomorrow … tune in.