5 Reasons You Should Retire Overseas

Let’s face it, this isn’t your parents’ retirement.

The laid-back fast-track to Florida is probably not going to work out for you.

Cut-and-dry retirement options are becoming less and less optimal for most Americans in the wake of continual 401k value losses and dubious guarantees about the future state of Medicare. On top of all this, your generation is a little more adventurous than the last.

While an exciting retirement seems less and less of a financial possibility in the United States, such can be achieved economically by many if they choose to retire to a foreign country.

Here are five reasons why Americans should consider expatriate retirement options:

1. Living can be cheaper

Despite the seemingly diminishing value of the American dollar, it still remains a strong currency relative to the majority of world economies. Therefore, in many countries your American savings and Social Security pension will take you far. For instance the dollar currently equates to 12.5 Mexican pesos. While American taxes on your American income will always apply, many countries have lax tax laws regarding retirees. Belize for example won’t tax retirees on their first $75,000 of income. But the cost advantages rest mainly on the affordability of foreign housing on an American budget.

2. You can retire earlier

Due to the reduced cost of living in many countries you can conceivably retire much earlier than you otherwise would if you choose to remain in the United States. In some countries retirees can manage to live happily spending less than $2500 a month, which means way more bang for your retirement buck. Retiring early to a foreign country is great because you still have the energy to enjoy the full extent of exotic luxuries. In contrast, in the United States retiring earlier often entails a utilitarian lifestyle.

3. You can provide your family with a cheap yet amazing vacation destination

Depending on the size of your chosen home in a foreign destination you may be able to accommodate visitors. This means you can provide family members with an exotic vacation for a sliver of the cost. Even if you don’t have enough room for your child’s family to visit, you can still be the invaluable local authority on the best places to stay, eat, and have a good time. Either way, you provide an economic portal for the rest of your family into an otherwise inaccessible foreign experience.

4. Healthcare is in your control

Many countries that are otherwise inviting to American retirees do not have highly-rated healthcare. With that said, the United State’s healthcare as ranked by the World Health Organization is surprisingly low on the pole to begin with. Spain, Greece, Chile, and Costa Rica are four destinations ideal for retirees that in fact have higher ranked healthcare. Regardless, the unresolved issues of the American healthcare system mean you want to go somewhere that allows more patient control on care. Even if you’re in a country with less-than-stellar healthcare the power of the dollar will get you the best care possible, even if that means flying to another nearby nation for superior treatment.

5. Retirement can actually be what you dreamed it’d be

We all dream of that ideal retirement – where we get to withdraw to whatever particular environment and way of life we consider picture perfect for the rest of our remaining years. Yet for many Americans the ideal retirement is slowly slipping through their fingers so long as it’s projected to occur on American soil. The rising costs of healthcare and the faithlessness of 401k type investments without reasonable alternatives will certainly infringe on high hopes of happy retirement in this country. Taking your savings and pension elsewhere allows you the chance to make good on those retirement promises you made to yourself when you first decided to start saving for it.

Whether you decide to live in the United States or choose to leave when you retire, your retirement experience is going to be drastically different from that of your parents. By staying you will struggle in a way your parents had to. But by leaving the United States and settling down elsewhere you’ll get to experience a unique retirement that’s sure to encompass some of the best years of your life.

Ryan Sandberg is an Internet Marketer working for Growth Partner Capital with a passion for entrepreneurship, efficiency and ice hockey. He enjoys spending his free time sharing his opinions/findings on finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and current tech trends. You can find his writing on Moolanomy, Retirement Calculator, as well as many other similar sites.

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