Retiring in Central America

[deadeyededric]

It's still about 15 years until I'm 55, but I think I may like to retire in Puerto Vallarta or something like that. Does anyone know any ex-pats living in Mexico or other countries in Central America? How do the pros match up with the cons? I know Belize is popular too.

 

[BoxsterCy]

It's still about 15 years until I'm 55, but I think I may like to retire in Puerto Vallarta or something like that. Does anyone know any ex-pats living in Mexico or other countries in Central America? How do the pros match up with the cons? I know Belize is popular too.

Do you speak Spanish? Belize has the advantage of English as the official language.

 

[deadeyededric]

Do you speak Spanish? Belize has the advantage of English as the official language.

I don't. That's why I figured it would be best to live in a tourist type place or one where there happens to be a lot of ex-pats like Ajijic. I'm willing to learn though.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Everything I have read and heard is that you can get some great deals on housing and cost of living in some of the central American countries. Just remember a few things, choose a country that has good relations with the US, and you can speak enough Spanish to get by. The draw back is few friends or family are going to ever visit you there. It might be paradise to you, but that does not mean it will be for everyone.

 

[Bipolarcy]

I've thought about retiring in Thailand. The reason I've been thinking that way recently is two-fold. I LOVE Thai food. I watch a lot of Mark Wiens videos. He's an American who lives in Thailand, but travels the world doing food videos, but lately, he's been doing a majority of his videos from Thailand.

If you've ever watched a Mark Wiens video, he eats a TON of food and he's a skinny guy. He must get 5-6 dishes at every restaurant he stops at and he sometimes does 4-5 restaurants a day.

What convinced me that Thailand might be the place for me is that he shows how much all this food costs him. He will eat 5-6 dishes at a sitting and the price tag will be like $4.99, if that. So a normal person (a person who eats one dish per meal per sitting) could probably live very comfortably in Thailand on $10-$15 a day, including rent, transportation, etc.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

I've traveled quite a bit around LatAm so I'll throw in a few thoughts. I'd tend to investigate Costa Rica and Panama before Mexico, mostly out of concerns for safety. Narco-violence has spilled over into Acapulco and Cancun. I haven't heard of this happening in Pto Vallarta but it's not out of the question that it could; it's not so far from some of the states where the cartels have power.

I also believe that I have read that property rights for non-Mexicans are limited in Mexico so I'd look into that.

Costa Rica has developments that are mostly expats. Not a lot of violence there and it's a stable democracy with some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. Cost of living is reasonable (higher if you want to live close to the Pacific).

Panama sort of mirrors CR and has good infrastructure but it's a dollarized economy so prices tend to be a bit higher. A lot of condos in Panama City are bought by expats; I have the impression that in C. Rica, most expats are in more rural settings. I suspect that those two countries have better conditions for foreigners to own property outright than Mexico.

 

[dosry5]

I've thought about retiring in Thailand. The reason I've been thinking that way recently is two-fold. I LOVE Thai food. I watch a lot of Mark Wiens videos. He's an American who lives in Thailand, but travels the world doing food videos, but lately, he's been doing a majority of his videos from Thailand.

If you've ever watched a Mark Wiens video, he eats a TON of food and he's a skinny guy. He must get 5-6 dishes at every restaurant he stops at and he sometimes does 4-5 restaurants a day.

What convinced me that Thailand might be the place for me is that he shows how much all this food costs him. He will eat 5-6 dishes at a sitting and the price tag will be like $4.99, if that. So a normal person (a person who eats one dish per meal per sitting) could probably live very comfortably in Thailand on $10-$15 a day, including rent, transportation, etc.

People move to Thailand for hookers and blow.

 

[LincolnWay187]

I don't know much about it, but I would think the quality of healthcare might be a downgrade from the US, prob not by much though. Definitely something to consider when you'd be living there in old age.

 

[Rural]

You want to leave here when we’re on the verge of third world hellhole status ourselves?

 

[nfrine]

I have a son that was robbed at gun point in Belize 20 years ago. He said you need to stay on the beaten path as things have not improved over the years. Not my idea of a retirement community, but some may like the "adventure".

 

[deadeyededric]

I don't know much about it, but I would think the quality of healthcare might be a downgrade from the US, prob not by much though. Definitely something to consider when you'd be living there in old age.

I've heard healthcare is actually really good if you have money and it's considerably cheaper. Just what I have heard. I think the reason it has a bad reputation is because most Mexican's probably don't have access to it.

 

[deadeyededric]

I have a son that was robbed at gun point in Belize 20 years ago. He said you need to stay on the beaten path as things have not improved over the years. Not my idea of a retirement community, but some may like the "adventure".

I suppose it just depends on where you go. I have no doubts you probably need to be more aware of your surroundings in many places there.

 

[Rabbuk]

I have a son that was robbed at gun point in Belize 20 years ago. He said you need to stay on the beaten path as things have not improved over the years. Not my idea of a retirement community, but some may like the "adventure".

My GF lived there for a year and she said that she saw a plane that had landed on a highway that was stuffed to the gills with cocaine, being protected by cops and soldiers until some cartel could pick it up and traffic was at a complete standstill. This would be like 2010ish. My understanding was it was on a main highway.

 

[Cyched]

 

[Farnsworth]

I'm nowhere near retirement but have thought about where we might want to go for 10 or so years when we do. Central America seems to be getting more expensive as it's so popular. I'd probably think about the South Pacific more, but travel to the states would be substantially more.

 

[GTO]

Why not Venezuela?

 

[deadeyededric]

Why not Venezuela?

In 15 years maybe? Buy there cheap now!

 

[BCClone]

Why not Venezuela?

Antarctica. But buy on the good side.

 

[dafarmer]

If you want to live in a foreign country for less money, go for it. Just remember that if you go and the government is overthrown, don't look for the U.S. and my tax dollars to come bail your ### out.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

If you want to live in a foreign country for less money, go for it. Just remember that if you go and the government is overthrown, don't look for the U.S. and my tax dollars to come bail your ### out.

That's right. Our taxes go for subsidizing farmers.