Bridge club? Embroidery class? Painting class? Babysitting grandchildren? No? How about a round of golf on Saturday? Tennis? Sunday roast? Still no? Park bench in a sunny spot then?
No, no, no, thank you very much, but no. Those times are long gone. Another century, another time, another life, another economy, another retirement package.
The retirees of today want none of that. Not if they can help it. They have other plans, possibilities, options, and dreams. They do not retire to retire and to stop what they’ve been doing but to start entirely new life, a new adventure, maybe even a new career. Preferably in a new, exotic place.
Today, the retirement is no longer associated with age but with new beginnings: new life chapter, new home, new adventures, new hobbies, new friends. New job? The retirees of today have no longer desire to spend time on activities associated with the traditional ‘retirement plan’ of previous generations nor are they interested in traditional grandparenting like free babysitting. The grandparents of today, or rather glammas and glampas, want to see the world, experience and explore and later, much later when exploring becomes a routine settle down in a paradise destination and live the life they choose to live.
And they do. In thousands. They are still young, independent and curious looking forward to the exciting and rewarding life ahead of them preferably in a place where the sun shines 12 months a year or where they can pursue their hobbies. After long professional careers, they are also financially independent having enough funds in their retirement plans to let them live pretty much the life they desire.
Retirement fund. Is it a must for a dream to come true? Is a dream of retirement paradise only accessible to “rich and famous“? What about ‘the others“? The ones without retirement packages? The ones with basic social security or even less.
Are you one of them? Have you also been dreaming of a retirement paradise, a new life in the sunshine a new beginning but let that dream remain a dream? How can it be anything but? Not with the little means you have? So you give up on your dream without even exploring the possibilities of pursuing it. For it is simply not possible to live a paradise life on a budget? Say, 700 USD a month? Is it?
Is it?
Yes, it is. You must never give up on dreams. Adapt instead. Find a way. Pursue your dream with whatever available means you have. You may have to do few reality checks and adjust them to your dreams (or the other way around) but that is all. Your options may be somewhat limited but they are there. It is all up to you. For 700 USD a month you can, if you put your mind to it, pretty much live the life you like and wherever you like.
Choice of Retirement Country
The more developed a country is, the more expensive it gets. The more expats a country attracts, the more expensive it becomes. 700 USD a month won’t pay the 2000 USD rent. You need to find a country where a studio, with an acceptable standard, doesn’t cost over 350. You can find them in South East Asia (e.g. Cambodia, Philippines) or Central America (e.g. Nicaragua, Guatemala).
What if your dream destination is in an expensive country (e.g. Costa Rica)? You can still make it, however, you need to look for accommodation in less hyped communities.
Choice of Retirement Community
Communities popular with expats are the most expensive places to live in. The more expats live in the area, the higher standard is acquired and subsequently the more expensive it gets. Accommodation in popular spots, e.g. on the beach, may cost more than what it does in your native country. 700 a month won’t be enough even for an Airbnb room. To find a home for the more reasonable price, you need to go inland. The further away from expats you live the less you pay. At some point, you may need to decide whether you like to live with expats or with locals. And not only for economic reasons.
Expat life in an expat community is not for everybody. For some, bringing a home into the sunshine, iow, living a very much the same type of life as back home among own countrymen as neighbors doesn’t make much sense. They’d rather live a more exotic life in a more exotic location than what expat beach resorts can offer. (Isn’t it why they have left their homes in the first place?) Hence, to better the quality of life they leave the expensive beach life behind for areas inhabited predominantly by kindred minded and/or by locals cutting the expenses by 50% or more in the process. Go wherever they go. Co-inhabit with them and “double” your money.
But if you are a free spirit and would rather integrate into the local culture and live where only locals live you can find a place for 200 a month or less. I know of people who pay only 100 a month for a two-bedroom house. Keep in mind though that the standard of your accommodation may not be quite in the parity of the Western one.
Choice of Retirement Accommodation
A studio. If you’re alone, you don’t need anything larger than that. The smaller, the cheaper. You may even find a small studio not too far from the beach if the beach is where you want to live.
If you go more inland, you may find one or even two-bedroom house for a reasonable price. Once again, it all depends on how near/far you live from ‘developed’ expat communities.
Rent for at least six months. The longer you rent the cheaper it gets per month. Many rentals are furnished. Some also include utilities. If the money is really tight, you may consider renting a room. A room in a local community, in a more remote place, will cost you practically nothing.
Choice of Retirement Lifestyle
Do you like to hang out with expats for happy hour? Go on tours? Fine dining?
The occasional happy hour will not break your bank but the other attractions might. A day trip to a volcano in Costa Rica, for example, costs 130 USD – one-fifth of your monthly budget. If you absolutely must do the expensive pastime activities – get a part-time job. Teach English, IT, art or whatever other skills you may have in local schools to make extra money.
If a pint or two in a local bar is the way you like to socialize – go to Cambodia where the pint costs 50 cents or Vietnam where the local beer costs a couple of cents. If you like hiking instead – go to … well, anywhere, hiking is free… as long as you stay away from national parks that charge hefty entrance.
Not that you should shop there, but you will not afford the imported goods from Western-style supermarkets where prices are higher than in Western countries. (Aviva yogurt, for example, costs 3 dollars and some change in the US and almost 7 in Costa Rica). Buy local products at farmers markets and you will not go hungry. At the same time, you will contribute to the local economy. And, btw, local yogurt is as good if not better and healthier.
Like eating in restaurants? Then perhaps Panama or Costa Rica, where a meal (without drinks) costs 10 USD, is not for you. Go to a country where the food is cheap. The best foodie place and one of the cheapest I know is Hoi An in Vietnam.
Get involved in local communities. You may enjoy it more than you ever thought possible.
Do your homework. There are places in the world where you can fund the lifestyle you choose. Find them.
Finding a Balance
It is all about the balance. The balance between wants, needs, and can-funds. You may even have it all – if you choose wisely. If you open up to small changes, if you embrace the new, if you revise your demands and expectation, if you create your own life rather than replicate the one you want to leave, if you can balance the old and the new – the world is yours.
For 700 USD a month, or less. So, never surrender your dreams… just find a way to pursue them.
Beautifully thought provoking article. I am still a little while away from retirement but the way you paint it it doesn’t sound so bad after all! The advice you give is practical and informative, especially pointing out how the more developed a country is, the more expensive it is to live. So true. My advice would be to not retire in New Zealand. It is so expensive here!!
Ah, New Zealand is so interesting. What a lovely place. And what a pity the country is not so very friendly for budget retirees. Oh well, the world is big. 🙂
Hello dear Eva! This blog post is really well written and I really enjoy the idea of this unusual ways of retirement. For me, that would be a great possibility in far future 🙂
Thank you Martina. When your time to retire comes it will be the most common way to retire. No doubt about it (unless wi find something new and more exciting 😉 )
I’m maybe closer to retirement years than many of those commenting here, and I wholeheartedly endorse it as the start of a great adventure. In fact, I can’t imagine not working, but instead have changed my work pattern to fit a life that’s already more free. I love what you say about being fully integrated in the community you choose. To me, that’s the attraction; why limit our adventures by sticking to the same, but with sunshine? (Although as a freckly redhead, perhaps sunshine should be a bit more sparing.) I love your thinking. The best is definitely yet to come.
You are so right Bernie, the best is yet to come. The best time to look forward to 😉
I love the way how put a different light to the term retirement. As I read through, retirement became something associated with freedom to do what you love to do and finding peace in wherever you want to be and want to do. Thank you for the inspiration. 🙂
You’re so welcome Jing. And thank you for your kind words
Such an interesting post, Eva! It reminded me of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for some reason. I am far from retirement but I can share this with my parents who will find this helpful.
I often think about retirement. We are in our late 40’s and the kids are just about out of college. We are literally two cats away from the open road. I wonder why $700/month was the magic number you picked, but you do point out two truisms. First, a densely packed ex-pat community abroad looks (and costs) about as much as it does in the US and second, your activities could eat your lunch. We are looking for ways to stay active and vital and not be activity poor. We certainly don’t want to retire to do nothing.
Thank you Jenn and Ed. Why 700? I had to draw a line somewhere and I wanted to include even those who didn’t work full time. Most retirees will double that amount providing they have worked 30 years which should be an encouraging factor. “If they (the 700 ones) can make it why wouldn’t we? In fact, we can have a great life for (say) USD 1274 which is the minimum amount for people working for 30 years.”
Many expats communities look like ‘home back home’ but in the sunshine. They are pretty artificial and don’t do the adopted country any justices nor do they enrich the retirees’ lives. Kind of boring. After a while, everything becomes a routine. I would even compare those places with “retirement homes”.
With your attitude and outlook on life, in general, you don’t need to worry. I have no doubt you’ll find your dream place. Good luck. 😉
What a wonderful article and a wonderful way of looking at retirement as the start of something rather than the end. I love how today’s ‘glammas and glampas’ are exploring more and have more options than previous generations. I hope I will be fit and able to keep exploring until the day I die.
Thank you Anna, much appreciated. And don’t worry, you will be. It is the mindset more than anything else. 😉
I love this! I am far from retirement myself, but can absolutely relate for my parents. They aren’t used to having so much time, but still want to see and learn. I’ll have to suggest an ex-pat life for them in the future 🙂
Please do. Tell them the best is still ahead of them. And things, whatever they are do have the tendency to sort out themselves. Seriously. Wish all the best to your parents from me.
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