retiring abroad with savings worth 200k...

[ram]

There are countries where 1000$ is nowhere close to poverty but provide frugal but decent living for a family of 2 and pretty good living for one person.
You would live in a nice city with very low dangerous crime and go to the opera, theater and philharmonic and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america or high crime rate cities. You would have cheap public transportation and lots of things to see and do. You could have enough money to travel in many places. You could have access to libraries and public parks and you could travel the world.
It's not optimal, 2X that amount would better, but it's enough if you are frugal.
You would have to own a condo/house though (50-80k$). With rent it's harder.

Could you list a few such cities? Genuinely curious.

Annual per capita income in Bangladesh is $600 or $50 per month. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/b ... per-capita.
10 times that should mean "fairly rich" in most cities.

[mathguy3021]

$200,000 is too little to retire on even if you are extremely frugal. You'd have to live on almost nothing, and invest to get at least 3 to 4% annual returns on your money. The only way this can work is if you pay almost nothing for housing and spend almost nothing for food, transportation and healthcare. I doubt that you can live at this level of poverty so I recommend $500,000 of investments at the very least.

Even if you retire in Chiang Rai, Thailand, this is too risky. It may be possible in Chiang Rai if everything goes perfectly (with cheap rent, cheap food, and zero health problems) but I wouldn't take this kind of risk.

[DonIce]

Retiring in a foreign country at a small fraction of the cost it would take in the US is a fantasy, plain and simple. Today, yes, the costs are much lower in some other countries. In the future? Who knows. Many countries that used to be very cheap have become much more expensive as they develop and costs go up. This is especially true of countries that have the characteristics to be a good retirement destination: low crime, good healthcare, stable government and rule of law, good weather, etc - since these are the same characteristics that will also facilitate rapid development and "catching up" to advanced economies. Retiring in your 40s means potentially a 50 year or longer retirement. In 50 years, the world will most certainly be very different than today.

[scottinmet]

Hello.
I am a single male(intent to stay single early 40's with savings around 200k all in a savings account currently.
i am looking to move abroad and retire preferably puerto vallarta mexico and intent to live a modest simple life.
expect my monthy expenses to be around 800-1000$ per month.
wondering if have enough savings to make this happen and also how to invest this amount to get the required returns.

Thanks

If I was retiring with that much I would not add in a huge unknown by moving to another country. I would stay in the US, find a fixer upper and put a lot of sweat equity into it.

With a paid off house you could live close to the amount you say you need in Mexico, plus you would be able to find odd jobs to supplement your income if necessary. Since you've saved almost $100k in 3 years, you should be able to achieve this in about another 3 years.

[sd323232]

guys, this thread hit home for me, i also plan to retire, but in costa rica and with 600K+ hopefully. very interesting info here. im currently in progress of getting to 600K.

[anonsdca]

Hello.
I am a single male(intent to stay single early 40's with savings around 200k all in a savings account currently.
i am looking to move abroad and retire preferably puerto vallarta mexico and intent to live a modest simple life.
expect my monthy expenses to be around 800-1000$ per month.
wondering if have enough savings to make this happen and also how to invest this amount to get the required returns.

Thanks

Like most, I don't think you have enough. Most of the people here are fixating on some sort of withdrawal rate that you will take each month/year, but that is the absolute wrong way to look at this situation. You shouldn't be setting yourself up to withdraw anything, but setting yourself up to live off the income, but I dont see how you can do that with $200k. At 3%, that is $500 a month, not enough. At 6%, that is $1,000 a month, not enough. Nope, you need to save more it is that simple.

I have been planning my move abroad for 10+ years. Don't forget "setting up" money. You will need a small bucket of cash to get settled. I plan to take $10K with me for this. If you don't have this you are going to have to take that from your little "next egg" and anything you take will reduces your income going forward. There are a LOT of expat blogs and youtube channels (pick your destination) where they share real expenses and all the ins-and-outs for your particular area. Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Mexico, you name it, there are bloggers already doing this and sharing what it is like.

If you can get to $500K, and get 4%-5% (not hard to do), that is $1,600 to $2,000. Also, if it turns out you dont like it, want to move elsewhere or back, you still have the nest egg. Just keep that intact, and get yourself into a position where you can pay your expenses via dividend or interest income. I am not familiar with Mexico, but most SE Asia areas you can do quite nicely with $1200-$2000. My target has always been $1,500/month, but I am up to $1,900 and I won't stop saving until I pull the plug. Also, I am not far from SS, so that will add another $1,500 a month or so, but you are too far off age wise to count on that.

[sergio]

At the very least I suggest you do something like teach English online for 10 or so hours a week. You can easily get $10/hour which will give you around $400/month. Then you'd only need to take out $400-600/month which is a 2-3% withdrawal rate.

And I know a few people who pull in over $20/hour teaching online...

[texasdiver]

50 years is a LONG LONG time to expect things to be stable in the developing world.

Take South Korea, for example. In 1970 you could have lived decently in Seoul for the 1970 equivalent of $200,000 x 4% or $8,000 per year. Today you couldn't even afford a studio apartment in the worst neighborhood of Seoul for that amount, much less afford food, utilities, etc. You would be a homeless street person on $8,000 per year in today's Korea.

Another example is Chile where I have family. Back in the 70s properties and rent were ridiculously cheap. An American on a limited income could do fine. Today the cost of living is pretty comparable to the US. Rents in Santiago are roughly equivalent to places like Chicago. Not at NYC or SF levels, but at ordinary American big city levels.

Change is constant in the developing world. Assuming stable long-term costs of living in a place like Puerto Vallarta is an assumption I would not take.

[bada bing]

Just an aside, a work peer had been living in PV. He is married to a Mexican national, with 2 USA born school age kids. His income is ~$200K. They left PV about 4 years ago to move back to the states and I get the impression they don't miss PV all that much.

[CFM300]

There are countries where 1000$ is nowhere close to poverty but provide frugal but decent living for a family of 2 and pretty good living for one person.
You would live in a nice city with very low dangerous crime and go to the opera, theater and philharmonic and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america or high crime rate cities. You would have cheap public transportation and lots of things to see and do. You could have enough money to travel in many places. You could have access to libraries and public parks and you could travel the world.
It's not optimal, 2X that amount would better, but it's enough if you are frugal.
You would have to own a condo/house though (50-80k$). With rent it's harder.

Could you list a few such cities? Genuinely curious.

Annual per capita income in Bangladesh is $600 or $50 per month. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/b ... per-capita.
10 times that should mean "fairly rich" in most cities.

Okay, but my question wasn't just about where you can live cheaply in the world. I was curious about cities matching the general description provided by Starfish (see the quoted passage above).

I've been to Dhaka. That ain't it. Are there other specific cities you'd recommend in Bangladesh?

[AlohaJoe]

50 years is a LONG LONG time to expect things to be stable in the developing world.

Exactly. A friend's father early retired to Thailand a decade or two ago. He's Austrian and apparently Hua Hin is a popular place for German and Austrian retirees for some reason. My friend tells me that over the years a decent number of his father's friends got priced out of Thailand. I guess they retired thinking that $50/month rents would last forever. When your German pension gets a 1% COLA but rents go up by 4% eventually something has to give.

The friends who got priced out had to move back to Europe and beg family to let them stay in a spare room.

After all, the whole point of "developing" is that eventually they catch up. It might not happen in two or three decades but the gap is likely to close.

[Starfish]

50 years is a LONG LONG time to expect things to be stable in the developing world.

Take South Korea, for example. In 1970 you could have lived decently in Seoul for the 1970 equivalent of $200,000 x 4% or $8,000 per year. Today you couldn't even afford a studio apartment in the worst neighborhood of Seoul for that amount, much less afford food, utilities, etc. You would be a homeless street person on $8,000 per year in today's Korea.

Another example is Chile where I have family. Back in the 70s properties and rent were ridiculously cheap. An American on a limited income could do fine. Today the cost of living is pretty comparable to the US. Rents in Santiago are roughly equivalent to places like Chicago. Not at NYC or SF levels, but at ordinary American big city levels.

Change is constant in the developing world. Assuming stable long-term costs of living in a place like Puerto Vallarta is an assumption I would not take.

This is my experience regarding Eastern Europe too, and the time frame is much shorter. In 20-25 years real estate increased 10X or more.
I think it is still a good deal, especially outside capital cities, and one can have a decent but frugal basic lifestyle with about 1000-1500$.
There is the problem with health care. For simple check ups etc is cheap, but everything serious will be a problem.

[Starfish]

There are countries where 1000$ is nowhere close to poverty but provide frugal but decent living for a family of 2 and pretty good living for one person.
You would live in a nice city with very low dangerous crime and go to the opera, theater and philharmonic and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america or high crime rate cities. You would have cheap public transportation and lots of things to see and do. You could have enough money to travel in many places. You could have access to libraries and public parks and you could travel the world.
It's not optimal, 2X that amount would better, but it's enough if you are frugal.
You would have to own a condo/house though (50-80k$). With rent it's harder.

Could you list a few such cities? Genuinely curious.

Annual per capita income in Bangladesh is $600 or $50 per month. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/b ... per-capita.
10 times that should mean "fairly rich" in most cities.

Okay, but my question wasn't just about where you can live cheaply in the world. I was curious about cities matching the general description provided by Starfish (see the quoted passage above).

I've been to Dhaka. That ain't it. Are there other specific cities you'd recommend in Bangladesh?

My answer was Eastern Europe, Portugal, Greece, Spain, outside the main cities.

[flyingaway]

Exactly. A friend's father early retired to Thailand a decade or two ago. He's Austrian and apparently Hua Hin is a popular place for German and Austrian retirees for some reason. My friend tells me that over the years a decent number of his father's friends got priced out of Thailand. I guess they retired thinking that $50/month rents would last forever. When your German pension gets a 1% COLA but rents go up by 4% eventually something has to give.

The friends who got priced out had to move back to Europe and beg family to let them stay in a spare room.

After all, the whole point of "developing" is that eventually they catch up. It might not happen in two or three decades but the gap is likely to close.

For this particular example, had the German and Austrian retirees stayed in their home countries, would they experience the same shortage of money even sooner?

[7eight9]

Never been there but just read a novel which had some chapters that took place in Kathmandu (John Burdett's The Godfather of Kathmandu).

From the link below (interesting website which seems to have crowd sourced information about cost of living) it looks like the cost of living there ranks 331st out of 376 cities in the world. Could be interesting.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Kathmandu

[cherijoh]

With no rent, car or medical expenses, a single person could live adequately on $1k per month, even in the US.

And how did you conclude the OP would have no rent, car, or medical expenses if he moved to Mexico?

[Wiggums]

Any feedback from the OP? just curious if he has any alterations to his plans.

[AlohaJoe]

For this particular example, had the German and Austrian retirees stayed in their home countries, would they experience the same shortage of money even sooner?

I would assume so. The point is that a "low income country" isn't going to stay a low income country forever. Becoming a high income country is pretty much every single country's goal and what ever politician promises. No politician is going to come up with policies that have a goal of keeping the country poor and low income. It won't be noticeable over the scale of a few years. But over the scale of a few decades it definitely will. So anyone who tries to retire on a very lean budget is almost certainly going to be priced out, especially once they have to start paying for healthcare as a 70-year-old. (Something they probably didn't factor into their original, very lean, budget.)

[frcabot]

Puerto Vallarta is not exactly cheap. It's become something of a gay mecca and some of the real estate prices (especially in old town, the new condo development type stuff marketed to Americans) are INSANE.

[renue74]

I think you're putting the cart before the horse. I'm not sure the question should should be, "I have $X, can I retire to Thailand."

It should be the question of whether you enjoy Thailand, can afford to stop working, have a backup plan if it doesn't go well.

I've followed a NC guy who lives in Phuket on Youtube for a couple years now. I think he lives frugally on $1000-$1500 per month that he generates from his Youtube ad revenue and Paetreon gifts.

It can be quiet a culture shock. We're used to a democracy. The Thai way of doing things may be very difficult to adapt to. I think most folks suggest spending extended periods of time in-country to experience it.

That being said, if you do this, you would need a job here that gives you a large amount of vacation time and you should plan appropriately on budgeting.

Live like the locals and see if you really want to be like that.

[7eight9]

You can certainly life inexpensively in Thailand. A very cursory search turned up this rental in Khao Lak -- $591 for the month of November 2019 - breakfast included. It certainly could be an inexpensive lifestyle.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/sawasd ... #hotelTmpl

The buffet isn't going to be anywhere near as gorgeous as a better hotel (ref --- https://x2resorts.com/resorts/khao-lak --- daily complimentary champagne breakfast from 7:00 hrs. – 18:00 hrs.) but if you eat enough at breakfast other meal could maybe be optional.

[frcabot]

Why is everyone talking about Thailand when the OP’s question was about Puerto Vallarta?

You can certainly live modestly in PV on $1000 per month as a single man, but the issue is OP’s $200K won’t permit a budget of $1000 per month for the next 50 years. Moreover, the cost of living will certainly rise over time, so while $1000 per month may be sufficient (if barely so) in 2019, it won’t be in 2039 or even 2029.

[CFM300]

My answer was Eastern Europe, Portugal, Greece, Spain, outside the main cities.

Yes, and thank you!

My response above was for Ram, who was suggesting Bangladesh.

[EddyB]

Most of the people here are fixating on some sort of withdrawal rate that you will take each month/year, but that is the absolute wrong way to look at this situation. You shouldn't be setting yourself up to withdraw anything, but setting yourself up to live off the income....

Is that something you believe generally, or is it particular to the amount the OP has mentioned?

[texasdiver]

Exactly. A friend's father early retired to Thailand a decade or two ago. He's Austrian and apparently Hua Hin is a popular place for German and Austrian retirees for some reason. My friend tells me that over the years a decent number of his father's friends got priced out of Thailand. I guess they retired thinking that $50/month rents would last forever. When your German pension gets a 1% COLA but rents go up by 4% eventually something has to give.

The friends who got priced out had to move back to Europe and beg family to let them stay in a spare room.

After all, the whole point of "developing" is that eventually they catch up. It might not happen in two or three decades but the gap is likely to close.

For this particular example, had the German and Austrian retirees stayed in their home countries, would they experience the same shortage of money even sooner?

More likely they would have just kept on working at least part time into old age as most Americans do when they have inadequate retirement savings. That option is much more difficult in the 3rd world. In Germany and Austria just like in the US you run into elderly shopkeepers, cab drivers, and such who are just getting by.

The lure of retiring in the 3rd world on minimal resources doesn't really have a counterpart here at home. It's just called being poor.

[njdealguy]

You can certainly life inexpensively in Thailand. A very cursory search turned up this rental in Khao Lak -- $591 for the month of November 2019 - breakfast included. It certainly could be an inexpensive lifestyle.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/sawasd ... #hotelTmpl

The buffet isn't going to be anywhere near as gorgeous as a better hotel (ref --- https://x2resorts.com/resorts/khao-lak --- daily complimentary champagne breakfast from 7:00 hrs. – 18:00 hrs.) but if you eat enough at breakfast other meal could maybe be optional.

Not so sure about the "eat enough at breakfast" part btw, just out of curiosity looked through the reviews on your booking.com link and noticed this in one of them, "Also breakfast included is just 2 toast with jam and a few fruits. You need to pay if you want one more toast or eggs."

[7eight9]

You can certainly life inexpensively in Thailand. A very cursory search turned up this rental in Khao Lak -- $591 for the month of November 2019 - breakfast included. It certainly could be an inexpensive lifestyle.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/sawasd ... #hotelTmpl

The buffet isn't going to be anywhere near as gorgeous as a better hotel (ref --- https://x2resorts.com/resorts/khao-lak --- daily complimentary champagne breakfast from 7:00 hrs. – 18:00 hrs.) but if you eat enough at breakfast other meal could maybe be optional.

Not so sure about the "eat enough at breakfast" part btw, just out of curiosity looked through the reviews on your booking.com link and noticed this in one of them, "Also breakfast included is just 2 toast with jam and a few fruits. You need to pay if you want one more toast or eggs."

You very well could be right. I just quickly Googled to see what was cheap. Never stayed there and have no first hand knowledge. The breakfast may very well be shabby. Good hotels (which are out of the OP's price point) have very nice breakfast buffets. Agree that a couple of slices of toast and jam with fruit may not be enough nourishment for the day.

[frcabot]

Good hotels (which are out of the OP's price point) have very nice breakfast buffets.

Did OP say he wanted to retire in Thailand? Are we reading the same thread? Did I have a stroke? Why are we discussing Thai hotels and breakfast options with reference to the OP who specifically asked about Puerto Vallarta? Is there a Puerto Vallarta in Thailand I’m not aware of?

[anonsdca]

Good hotels (which are out of the OP's price point) have very nice breakfast buffets.

Did OP say he wanted to retire in Thailand? Are we reading the same thread? Did I have a stroke? Why are we discussing Thai hotels and breakfast options with reference to the OP who specifically asked about Puerto Vallarta? Is there a Puerto Vallarta in Thailand I’m not aware of?

Yes, you are confused. You seem to be the only one who hasn't figured out this is a 2018 OP post. That the OP has never responded to anything, and the OP is likely a troll.

As such, there are a lot of expats giving some good information here on their countries of interest. These threads serve more than just the OP.

[frcabot]

Good hotels (which are out of the OP's price point) have very nice breakfast buffets.

Did OP say he wanted to retire in Thailand? Are we reading the same thread? Did I have a stroke? Why are we discussing Thai hotels and breakfast options with reference to the OP who specifically asked about Puerto Vallarta? Is there a Puerto Vallarta in Thailand I’m not aware of?

Yes, you are confused. You seem to be the only one who hasn't figured out this is a 2018 OP post. That the OP has never responded to anything, and the OP is likely a troll.

As such, there are a lot of expats giving some good information here on their countries of interest. These threads serve more than just the OP.

You’re right, I didn’t notice that. It didn’t help that posters literally referenced “OP,” which means original poster. You also don’t seem to have noticed, judging from your September 22nd post. Why are we necro-ing this thread?

[frcabot]

Hello.
I am a single male(intent to stay single early 40's with savings around 200k all in a savings account currently.
i am looking to move abroad and retire preferably puerto vallarta mexico and intent to live a modest simple life.
expect my monthy expenses to be around 800-1000$ per month.
wondering if have enough savings to make this happen and also how to invest this amount to get the required returns.

Thanks

Like most, I don't think you have enough. Most of the people here are fixating on some sort of withdrawal rate that you will take each month/year, but that is the absolute wrong way to look at this situation. You shouldn't be setting yourself up to withdraw anything, but setting yourself up to live off the income, but I dont see how you can do that with $200k. At 3%, that is $500 a month, not enough. At 6%, that is $1,000 a month, not enough. Nope, you need to save more it is that simple.

I have been planning my move abroad for 10+ years. Don't forget "setting up" money. You will need a small bucket of cash to get settled. I plan to take $10K with me for this. If you don't have this you are going to have to take that from your little "next egg" and anything you take will reduces your income going forward. There are a LOT of expat blogs and youtube channels (pick your destination) where they share real expenses and all the ins-and-outs for your particular area. Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Mexico, you name it, there are bloggers already doing this and sharing what it is like.

If you can get to $500K, and get 4%-5% (not hard to do), that is $1,600 to $2,000. Also, if it turns out you dont like it, want to move elsewhere or back, you still have the nest egg. Just keep that intact, and get yourself into a position where you can pay your expenses via dividend or interest income. I am not familiar with Mexico, but most SE Asia areas you can do quite nicely with $1200-$2000. My target has always been $1,500/month, but I am up to $1,900 and I won't stop saving until I pull the plug. Also, I am not far from SS, so that will add another $1,500 a month or so, but you are too far off age wise to count on that.

Did you notice OP’s post was a year old? Apparently not.

[anonsdca]

Good hotels (which are out of the OP's price point) have very nice breakfast buffets.

Did OP say he wanted to retire in Thailand? Are we reading the same thread? Did I have a stroke? Why are we discussing Thai hotels and breakfast options with reference to the OP who specifically asked about Puerto Vallarta? Is there a Puerto Vallarta in Thailand I’m not aware of?

Yes, you are confused. You seem to be the only one who hasn't figured out this is a 2018 OP post. That the OP has never responded to anything, and the OP is likely a troll.

As such, there are a lot of expats giving some good information here on their countries of interest. These threads serve more than just the OP.

You’re right, I didn’t notice that. It didn’t help that posters literally referenced “OP,” which means original poster. You also don’t seem to have noticed, judging from your September 22nd post. Why are we necro-ing this thread?

Correct, I didn't notice it on my first post either, but once I did, I followed anyway because it doesn't matter to me that the troll never came back. I am interested in the subject regardless of what country it is because being an expat anywhere has its similarities.

[7eight9]

... Why are we necro-ing this thread?

I've never heard that term before. That said, after Googling it, I understand it means reviving an old thread.

There are threads that have been alive since 2008 (last updated in August of 2019) --- viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27707&start=1100#p4702240

There may be some older threads. I don't know. Best of luck.

[bhradbh]

With no rent, car or medical expenses, a single person could live adequately on $1k per month, even in the US.

And how did you conclude the OP would have no rent, car, or medical expenses if he moved to Mexico?

I did not conclude anything regarding the OP. I merely stated the fact that with no rent, car or medical expenses one could live adequately on $1k per month. It's a fact because I do.

[Starfish]

I lived 5 years with a similar amount, paying rent, travelling to Europe, in one of the most expensive counties in the country.
It's possible for sure, but I was young, healthy and had cheap entertainment.

[bltn]

Is part of the end goal for retirement living as a poor person? Gambling with health care? Depending on various government subsidies for subsistence?
Find a job you like and stick with it.

[CurledMoss]

Could teach English online as a side income a few hours a day, $20 an hour or so. I'd do it here in the states first to get the ball rolling and see if it's possible and that you enjoy it.

I'd think with that much free time you'd be bored out of your mind. Unless you are a writer, farming on the side, etc. I go bonkers if I'm not productive for a few days even.

[fru-gal]

I would say that 90% of "regular" Thai food is fried in a ton of oil, palm oil too since it is cheaper, they put tiny amounts of meat in there so you end up protein deficient, they often use food that is old to avoid throwing it away so you get diarrhea more often.

Palm oil is terrible, ethically. It also hides under a variety of names as an ingredient:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/worl ... m-oil.html

https://www.ran.org/the-understory/palm ... _palm_oil/

[flyingaway]

Exactly. A friend's father early retired to Thailand a decade or two ago. He's Austrian and apparently Hua Hin is a popular place for German and Austrian retirees for some reason. My friend tells me that over the years a decent number of his father's friends got priced out of Thailand. I guess they retired thinking that $50/month rents would last forever. When your German pension gets a 1% COLA but rents go up by 4% eventually something has to give.

The friends who got priced out had to move back to Europe and beg family to let them stay in a spare room.

After all, the whole point of "developing" is that eventually they catch up. It might not happen in two or three decades but the gap is likely to close.

For this particular example, had the German and Austrian retirees stayed in their home countries, would they experience the same shortage of money even sooner?

More likely they would have just kept on working at least part time into old age as most Americans do when they have inadequate retirement savings. That option is much more difficult in the 3rd world. In Germany and Austria just like in the US you run into elderly shopkeepers, cab drivers, and such who are just getting by.

The lure of retiring in the 3rd world on minimal resources doesn't really have a counterpart here at home. It's just called being poor.

I think this is a problem of some early retirees, who though they could make it in a country with inexpensive living expenses for 30 plus years with their reduced pensions.

[HomerJ]

and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america

We don't have bars or friends or beer in "rural america"?

And I'd rather be watching the sunset over a lake with my beer and my friends instead of stuck inside some smoke-filled dark European bar.

But that's just me...

[sschoe2]

$200k is really pushing it I wouldn't do it voluntarily.

I consider retiring early abroad a definite possibility. I am in a profession (chemistry) where I likely won't get to choose when I retire given how terrible the job market is. I am therefore living frugally and maximizing my savings while I still have a decent job. If and when I lose my current job I may be left with the choice of retiring early, retraining, or being chronically unemployed or settling for $15-20/hr no benefits temp jobs. The biggest impediment to retiring early in the USA is the out of control health care system. I can't afford to be paying thousands per month for insurance and then thousands or tens of thousands per year on deductibles and whenever I accidentally end up in front of someone not in my insurer's network. Unless that gets resolved in the mid future retiring abroad may be the only choice.

[HomerJ]

The biggest impediment to retiring early in the USA is the out of control health care system. I can't afford to be paying thousands per month for insurance and then thousands or tens of thousands per year on deductibles and whenever I accidentally end up in front of someone not in my insurer's network. Unless that gets resolved in the mid future retiring abroad may be the only choice.

Well currently the ACA solves that problem... If you're poor, you won't have to pay thousands per month for insurance.

But it's true no one knows the future.

[flyingaway]

and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america

We don't have bars or friends or beer in "rural america"?

And I'd rather be watching the sunset over a lake with my beer and my friends instead of stuck inside some smoke-filled dark European bar.

But that's just me...

I think that they are not talking about drinking beers in a smoke-filled dark European bar. It is more likely drinking cold beers in a sunny seaside bar in a Southeast Asian or South American country.

[flyingaway]

The biggest impediment to retiring early in the USA is the out of control health care system. I can't afford to be paying thousands per month for insurance and then thousands or tens of thousands per year on deductibles and whenever I accidentally end up in front of someone not in my insurer's network. Unless that gets resolved in the mid future retiring abroad may be the only choice.

Well currently the ACA solves that problem... If you're poor, you won't have to pay thousands per month for insurance.

But it's true no one knows the future.

I agree. For those early retirees with tight budgets, the ACA makes the healthcare excuse to relocate to other countries less of an issue.

[HomerJ]

and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america

We don't have bars or friends or beer in "rural america"?

And I'd rather be watching the sunset over a lake with my beer and my friends instead of stuck inside some smoke-filled dark European bar.

But that's just me...

I think that they are not talking about drinking beers in a smoke-filled dark European bar. It is more likely drinking cold beers in a sunny seaside bar in a Southeast Asian or South American country.

That sounds good to me too, but Starfish was talking about cheap cities in Europe. Sidewalk cafe seats are okay, but I've been inside plenty of European bars, and dark and smoke-filled is accurate.

[G12]

and spend your evenings drinking beer with friends in a bars instead of wasting away in rural america

We don't have bars or friends or beer in "rural america"?

And I'd rather be watching the sunset over a lake with my beer and my friends instead of stuck inside some smoke-filled dark European bar.

But that's just me...

I have to ask if the tick population near Osage Beach, Rocky Mount, etc is still increasing?? Nothing like finding ticks all over one's dogs and 3 deer ticks embedded in my hip. A friend's Weimeraner had a huge number. Tick population must be massive. No es bueno, beer or not.

[Wiggums]

The OP was Last active:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:21 pm

I think we can call this case closed.

[sd323232]

The OP was Last active:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:21 pm

I think we can call this case closed.

I agree Chief. Lets put this one to rest.

[Godot]

You can certainly life inexpensively in Thailand. A very cursory search turned up this rental in Khao Lak -- $591 for the month of November 2019 - breakfast included. It certainly could be an inexpensive lifestyle.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/sawasd ... #hotelTmpl

The buffet isn't going to be anywhere near as gorgeous as a better hotel (ref --- https://x2resorts.com/resorts/khao-lak --- daily complimentary champagne breakfast from 7:00 hrs. – 18:00 hrs.) but if you eat enough at breakfast other meal could maybe be optional.

Not so sure about the "eat enough at breakfast" part btw, just out of curiosity looked through the reviews on your booking.com link and noticed this in one of them, "Also breakfast included is just 2 toast with jam and a few fruits. You need to pay if you want one more toast or eggs."

I have a condo in Chiang Mai and live on $900 a month during winters. I could easily live on $500 a month (does not include price of condo, which was not expensive, or health insurance). The go-to source for prospective Thailand (and SE Asia in general) retirees is JC, former head of security for Tony Robbins. Check out his YouTube channel, which has hundreds of views on practical subjects for a wannabe retiree in that part of the world: https://retirecheap.asia

[frcabot]

Hello.
I am a single male(intent to stay single early 40's with savings around 200k all in a savings account currently.
i am looking to move abroad and retire preferably puerto vallarta mexico and intent to live a modest simple life.
expect my monthy expenses to be around 800-1000$ per month.
wondering if have enough savings to make this happen and also how to invest this amount to get the required returns.

Thanks

Yes I think this is definitely enough. Just invest it all in a 3x leverage SP500 or Nasdaq ETF and you should be good.