expats
 

Having been an expat for the last 18 years, I fully expect to retire in a country that is not my "birth" country. Or, more precisely, I expect to retire in travelling mode for as long as that's physically possible. Maybe that will change when my kids have kids - but they have been expats their whole lives, so the likelihood that they will have those kids in a settled "home" that equates to my birth country is not high, anyway. At least for AmCits, pensions are portable :thumbup1:. It's already the case that close family is spread across 3 continents - no reason for that to change! :D

I`m under 40 - and cant talk about the life as pensioner :eek3:

But - i like the standard we have at home (switzerland) in any kind. Democracy, Quality of Food, Restaurants, cultural stuff, Healt Care, Income, Security and safety, public services, technical services and and and and....

I like to travel, like to overland, can life in easy environment for a while - but - would always go back 2 switzerland - that is my (also) beautiful homecountry.

Surfy

You got it in one, I am a bitter little ranter who is not only quite, but very old and have no sense of humour as anyone who knows me will confirm. However, I will take one thing that you said very seriously, I will have a beer when I get to Cuba, in fact I have already started practising. Finally, despite all of my apparent social problems, identified courtesy of your long distance psychological profiling, some things cannot be denied:

1. I have a BMW and you don't.:innocent:

2. I am travelling and you aren't.:scooter:

3. I already have my pension and you don't.:clap:

4. Next week I will be in Cuba and you won't.:Beach:
5. Our beer is better than your beer.

It truly is a hard life but try not to weaken, just hope that the world economy will not continue so far down the tubes that it screw up everyone's pension plans

Ride safe

OK I'll concede the first 4 but not the 5th!
Nice to see appropriate use of emoticons!
Enjoy cubabier

I agree retiring in a foreign country is something that appeals very much to me.



We are all from different walks of life and have opinions a plenty although the binding factor here is travel, regardless of your chosen mode. Being fortunate enough to travel many a country really opens ones eyes to the world economy. What one may perceive as good value at home is often a very different case elsewhere. It's not hard to see why so many people are becoming expats, don't quote me on this but I heard some 80,000 Ozi's are leaving our sunny shores yearly and I for one fully intend to join their ranks.


I'm not bitter or twisted but have my opinions and love my country but think there is so much more to life and lets face it is short enough. I don't intend to wait for retirement and have lot stock n barrel on the market. The quality of health care is an important factor to be considered although for me I'd like to keep on the move, spending time here and there where one finds friendships, countryside and an economy where bend over, spread your cheeks and not too deep please ...... isn't the norm!

?c?

Yay! You, sire, have a admirer in Sweden. :thumbup1:

One thing that I´ve noticed is that it´s always the ones with very small penises and no bike that is complaining about what everyone else is riding. ;)

Comment below
 

?c? has been requested.

A common factor in this thread appears to be the idea of emigrating from a "westernised" highly developed country (for which you can read, over-drawn on both personal and national debt) in order to live in one or other of those developing countries that aspire to join that group; along the way those developing countries face the problems of avoiding the mistakes of the countries which they aim to emulate; personally, I think their chances are not good, international capitalism being what it is nowadays since the demise of communism as a creed that tended to maintain a balance.

Blessed are the youth for they will inherit the national debt (or another round of world war, or both). Individual national governments struggle with this issue IMO, having no answer except, perhaps, to try to replace those people who choose to leave their home country with other, "less fortunate souls", who in their own turn wish to leave very poor, destitute countries for a better life; the churn of economic migration.

Just a thought.

Very true although my ramblings were not country specific, for example it's cheaper to live in Europe or the USA than it is to live here in Oz!

Er, no it ain't, mate!

It's all about the same in the G7, from my experience; what you don't spend on heating you spend on air con; what you save on gas here (Canada) you spend on food; in the states what you save on food and gas you spend on healthcare etc etc.

Oh yes it is my learned friend!
 

Ok then I will be specific, it is cheaper than living in Darwin!

Maybe, but I bet not by much..... it's usually the accommodation that's a killer....

argument solved Cost of Living Index By Country

Australia is god damn expensive!

oh and to remain on topic. i do think about retiring to a much cheaper country. but i am only 28 so the world will be a different place by then. maybe indo, Malaysia is nice too.

I wish, hold all bets, a couple of facts!


Average house rental, $600 Per Week which will get you a 3 br dog box, in a great suburb, not! Thankfully Im not in that boat. Power and water up by a whopping 40% so far this year! That's about $800 a quarter just for minimal sparks no water! $5 for an avocado $8 for a lettuce WTF? $762 to rego my bike for a year! Every single item is trucked in thousands of miles and its dear as poison. Seriously mate, it's well out of hand and sadly getting worse by the minute!

Australia they say is the lucky country, I recon were lucky KY was invented!

Isn't that cost of living index and some comments here saying any country is expensive is only from the point of view of those living and earning there?

Plenty of Brits have moved to Spain because of the climate and cheaper housing only to find the law gets re-interpreted and suddenly their life savings sunk into their retirement home have been taken away :(

Some of my family have moved to SE France to retire. One hard working couple sold their Dagenham terrace 2up2down for about £160,000 and bought a lovely rural cottage for €52,000. The others bought a 300yr old bakery in a quiet small village for about €80,000 and are doing it up, leaving a big wedge just from selling their UK house let alone pensions. Ace healthcare, space, empty roads, nice :)

I looked into moving to NZ and Canada a while back but decided the UK was better. I like the footpaths :) Miles and miles that you can explore all sorts of history :)

Maybe today the UK is getting a little too full though, so somewhere warmer in the future? :scooter: