Retirement in a Foreign Country By Timothy V. Gatto

[Demeter]

OpEdNews.com

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_timothy__061128_retirement_in_a_fore.htm


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November 28, 2006

Retirement in a Foreign Country

By Timothy V. Gatto

I have been looking at different countries to move to in case this one asks me to leave. It could happen. Every time I look at one country or another, it seems like everyone on the internet starts passing around notes that I can't see, and telling each country that I'm looking at, that I am interested in coming there to live. The reason I say something as crazy that, is because when I spot a great place to retire too, the very next week, or even the next day, Time, or Newsweek or National Geographic Adventure publishes an article on why that country is a great place to retire to and how easy it is to live there.

The next thing you know, everybody and their mother-in-law is scrambling to get there, so that country raises the minimum requirements on how much you have to bring with you when you go there, ups the percentage of how much of your pension has to be directly deposited in their banking system, lowers the amount of household goods you can take with you, and generally makes it too much of a hassle, and suddenly it doesn't look like such a great deal anymore.

I started doing this in 1997. Belize was my first choice. Nobody had ever heard of Belize in 1997. All of a sudden, everyone was moving to Belize. Then it was Costa Rica, and then Honduras, then it was Nicaragua and then Panama joined the club of nations seeking US ex-patriots. Mexico was a great place for ex-military and other pensioners, but when they took a whole town away from American retired people because some lady came up with a deed that said it was her land, not many Americans were too keen on moving there.

There are good points and bad points about moving out of the country and living somewhere else. If you are on a fixed income, you can probably live much better for less. You will meet some interesting people and learn a new language and culture and could probably live by a tropical lagoon until it's time to go to bed forever. You could do things you can't do here like walk through a real rainforest and see thousands of varieties of birds. The pace of life is slower and you could conceivably live years longer unless you are an alpha male or female. You wouldn't have to hear what the "Threat level" is for the day, and you probably wouldn't have to worry about a dirty bomb going off in your city. People would probably leave you alone, and even the governments would respect your privacy more than our government would.

There are bad points about it too. If you want to see your Son or Daughter or your grand kids a lot, forget it. You can't afford to go home every week-end (unless you're rich). You can't see a Broadway play or even an Off-Broadway play. Steely Dan or The Rolling Stones aren't going to show up at your neighborhood concert hall. You might see Hall and Oates or Kansas though. You could still get on the net and get an album sent over. You wouldn't shop at Winn- Dixie or Piggly Wiggly or Publix around the corner. You would shop at a local bodega and get what's in season. It's a choice that I've been trying to make for a long time.

The one thing that I have learned from trying to pick a spot to retire too, is that the longer I wait, and the older I get, the more I don't want to go. Maybe that's why so few people really go through with it and move to paradise. For me, I know that happiness is usually found in my head, and not in the things or places around me, and sometimes, if I'm in the right mood and the sun warms my face just the way I like it, and I look out on the grass, and my big dog is barking at the dog down the street, and our little corgi is chasing our cat, until the cat whirls around and chases our little corgi, who runs away as fast as her little legs will take her, I can find paradise in my own backyard.



Authors Website: http://liberalpro.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Former Chairman of the now-defunct Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.

[Uben]

1. Remember what Dorothy said

(Wizard of Oz) The next time I go looking for happiness, I needn't look any further than my own back yard!

I have found happiness in retirement right here in the U.S. of A! A gated lake community in Texas where I can play golf everyday (no fees) and catch all the fish I want (one of the best fishing lakes in Texas!)

The only drawback.....it is smack dab in the middle of Republican hell! Although, I have found even republicans are nice people, one on one. I don't discuss politics with my neighbors.

For $200/mo, I get all the golf I want to play, 24 hr. security patrol, and we have Texas Holdem tourneys twice a week! We have a new beautiful lodge with a restaurant and bar, and houses are very reasonable. We spend $5-$10,000 a year stocking fish and building a trophy bass lake. You can catch a limit of crappie every time you go out!

How did I find this paradise? I was born, and have never lived, more than ten miles from it. It was in my own backyard!

There's no place like home!

[antigop]

2. A good reason to consider retiring to another country...

H-E-A-L-T-H-C-A-R-E.


Unless something is done SOON, retirees are going to have an awful time here in the good ol' USA.

Retiring to a place with universal health care is starting to look pretty good.