Places Where You Can Retire on $200,000 and Feel Rich

[anacapaisland42]

[How are you doing recovering from the hurricane ?
Bill





QUOTE=tkeithlu;2909570]Carrabelle. 0.92% on cost of living relative to the nation, WAY below Florida. Easy access to the golf, a vibrant community of people with very little money. Useable building lot within walking distance of everything available for less than $15K. Mobile homes and RVs welcomed. Details if you want them.[/QUOTE]

[astokel]

I'd like to know more about the $200K thing. If you live 10 years that's $20K a year. Unless you are 80 years old, I don't think that is enough unless you have some other form of income. You decidedly will not feel rich.

I see a lot of businesses selling the dream, but how about a little reality? If you live like you are rich in many of the countries mentioned you may be a target. In the original list only in Spain and Portugal will you not be rich but have some form of security.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by gwaynel

About 3 years ago I did some preliminary investigation towards living in Spain. Good climate and food, still generally affordable, and a great base to explore Europe. However, a requirement to live there was to have health coverage. If memory serves, a quote from an health insurance provider came in at about $800 per month; I can't remember if that included coverage for my partner. I'm in my 70s and have some health issues which, while not being life threatening, are chronic so health coverage costs for me are a big budget item and, as such, a major factor in making life plans. I notice that the article, 'Places Where You Can Retire on $200,000 and Feel Rich', didn't really dwell on health costs.

How to manage health care costs when retired in a third world country

This is our approach, and we don't really know how viable for others it is:

We live outside of the USA (Mexico) and we manage our own medical costs. Local, US trained and english speaking, doctors are competent and very inexpensive. We have found this in other countries as well. Medicine is very inexpensive. Our out-of-pocket expenses for medical care is extremely reasonable. Our GP says that if we have a medical emergency we are to call him or his 24hr clinic and they will dispatch an ambulance to the correct hospital based on the circumstances, at local cost rates, not tourist rates. We have not tested this process.

If we need long term medical treatment of a non-emergency nature we will travel to the USA and seek Medicare covered treatment. If we have a real emergency, such as heart attack or stroke, we may not be able to chose the USA-Medicare option and we know this this can be financially devastating, we know that, and we are simply, I have to say, hoping for the best, but we have financial reserves which we think would get us the care we need, even though they would likely be exhausted. After that, who knows?

We are in our 70's and this has worked for us for years, long before we got to Mexico, and it has been good. One surgery which was needed cost us $4600 in Asia and would have been near $30k in the US.

[KTP]

Some things like a long cancer treatment (they are doing remarkable things right now) can be upwards of $500,000. That is a tough nut to do without some sort of health insurance. It is also probably not something you will get done in Uzbekibekistanstan

[Augi]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

We have been to the DR 3 times in the 90's (my windsurfing phase), We liked it there, felt safe, and not too much like the rich gringos. And we met an American who'd retired there; he learned Spanish and integrated well, with Dominican friends, and was very happy.

I guess one question I would ask is - of the listed countries, which ones are easy to integrate into, and which ones require you to hide in a gated community, and your only contact with the locals is ordering your servants about?

It depends on the individual. Of the many places I have lived and visited (where English is not widely spoken), that was the most easy to integrate into was Guatemala. Even without being able to speak Spanish when I first arrived I found Guatemala an easier place to live than the USA. That might not be true for everyone but it was for me. For example I found Rio De Janerio more difficult to integrate into. Rio is a hell of a lot of fun but harder to integrate into. Guatemalans are reserved, extremely warm, have a live and let live approach to life, a great sense of humor/quick to laugh and smile, could care less if you butcher their language. Guatemalans love Gringos.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by astokel

I'd like to know more about the $200K thing. If you live 10 years that's $20K a year. Unless you are 80 years old, I don't think that is enough unless you have some other form of income. You decidedly will not feel rich.

I see a lot of businesses selling the dream, but how about a little reality? If you live like you are rich in many of the countries mentioned you may be a target. In the original list only in Spain and Portugal will you not be rich but have some form of security.

$200K.
Carefully invested (diversified and with a balance of growth and income investments) can realize you up to $10,000 per year. If there are two of you and you collect Social Security and or have any pension or 401K income, added to the investment, you can live well enough in many low cost countries. You would not expect to use the $200k capital amount; that is the disaster emergency fund.

To live on the resulting income you will need to carefully manage your expenses (meaning monthly and annually budgeting) but it need not be onerous.

Or you can work longer and accumulate more capital.

[KTP]

Of course $200k a little more aggressively invested can yield a bit more than $10k per year:

(this was actually the gains on a $150k account in 2018)

annnnnd...I spent it all on the #$#@ boat

[stewie]

My health care in Spain in is 140 Euros a month and it is top notch with modern well equipped hospitals and well trained staff. Apart from being polite there is no need to be fluent in Spanish, well in the south of Spain and the Balearic islands anyway.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I would add The DR to that list. The travel advisories are a bit overblown. In the DR 2.7 million Americans visit as tourists each year and this year a few if them have died from apparently drinking from minibars at a couple or resorts. Not exactly a scourge of violence.

An interesting financial note about the DR is that if you deposit U.S. dollars into a bank, you'll receive around 4% but if you convert it to the native D.R. currency you'll receive 8%! A friend of mine has U.S. and DR citizenship and has a bank account there. He is quite happy with his 8% return.

[YARGESOL]

Originally Posted by KTP

Some things like a long cancer treatment (they are doing remarkable things right now) can be upwards of $500,000. That is a tough nut to do without some sort of health insurance. It is also probably not something you will get done in Uzbekibekistanstan

Don't be so sarcastic about Uzbekistan-this is ancient Khorezm...great histiric culture. Real fruites and veges. You may even try sailing on Aral sea. And get emergency treatment for free. Real treatment (central cites)for a fraction of american cost. And,you will feel reach with 200grands!

[Dsanduril]

Interest rates are not the only thing, especially if you purchase imported goods (as do most retirees). While current DR inflation rates are low, the central bank has a target inflation rate of 5.5% for the next several years. That really cuts into the 8% return. Of course, for all the math to work you have to buy into the heavily manipulated equations for inflation rates.

A lot of people have been burned playing the currency exchange game, it is not for the faint of heart, particularly when playing in a lower tier currency where political decisions both local and global can have tremendous impact. It wasn't that long ago that the DR had >10% inflation.

[Squanderbucks]

200k total savings for I assume two people probably won’t go too far. I’m mean if your in your 80’s and relatively healthy and stay put where you locate then maybe 200k will keep you going a few years. But if your both in say your 60’s with no other annual retirement income such as pension, much social security just your nest egg then I think you are going to run short.
Need to run a theoretical plan for how long you can stay afloat at various spending rates and see how long it will last.
It’s true it may stretch a little further in some places than others but if you venture away from whatever you find is the cheapest place to live you will get hit with the cost of living and travel to those other places. Ultimately the most desirable are the higher expensive places and they will eat away at your principle.

[SailOar]

Originally Posted by YARGESOL

Don't be so sarcastic about Uzbekistan-this is ancient Khorezm...great histiric culture. Real fruites and veges. You may even try sailing on Aral sea. And get emergency treatment for free. Real treatment (central cites)for a fraction of american cost. And,you will feel reach with 200grands!

I think "try" is the operative word! Here is a photo of the Aral Sea from last year. The yellow border is where the lake shore was in 1960.


https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/wo...e/aral_sea.php

[john61ct]

This thread topic should not IMO be "how much is enough?"

But for those with that amount saved or less, where to go live, a new place that lets you have a better quality of life than where you've lived before.

Only 19% of USians have a net worth of $200K at 65,

42% have under $10,000, and 14% percent are at zero or lower.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by john61ct

... Only 19% of USians have a net worth of $200K at 65,
42% have under $10,000, and 14% percent are at zero or lower.

Source?
I didn't dig very deeply, but it doesn't gibe with my finding (admittedly shallow).

American’s Median Net Worth (2013) [includes home equity]
55 to 64 years old: $164,498
65 to 69 years old: $193,833
70 to 74 years old: $225,390

From ☞ https://wallethacks.com/average-net-...age-americans/