Retiring... where?

[model 10]

[QUOTE=1Sunseeker;2188872]h. Or I just ain't pretty enough.


If it's women you're lookin' for, there are plenty in Central America. You could be Captain America with that kind of money.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Mexico Baby...Bouncing back between La Paz, Mazatlan, Barra de Navidad.
That's the retirement plan.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Mexico Baby...Bouncing back between La Paz, Mazatlan, Barra de Navidad.
That's the retirement plan.

Like I wrote ealier..... Why settle for refried beans, cheap Mexican beer and worrying every day about the dinghy getting stolen? Sorry, but that isn't my idea of heaven on earth. Travel far and wide, enjoy many cultures.

[chuckr]

[QUOTE=DDup;2188555]
I'm going to look more into Eastern Europe and the Med, too. I have this preconceived notion that the Mediterranean is an exclusive club for millionaires and mega-yachts. Clearly that can't be true everywhere. I mean, the area I'm dismissing as "the Mediterranean" is bigger and more diverse than my mind can even grasp.

Now that is funny -- millionaires - I wish - we do this on social security checks and try and keep the boat in first class condition - and yes the Med is huge - bigger than you think and eastern Med is incredible -- we are currently sailing the Black Sea and just arrived Odessa Ukraine after sailing to Georgia and Russia - very inexpensive but you do have to put up with the nasty Black Sea.

And the Med is more diverse than you can imagine - ever drink horseradish vodka? we did last night and as said previous why all beans and rice when you can have the variety of the Med.

and we are headed back to Turkey for another winter.

[Kenomac]

No trick photography here. For those folks who measure their retirement wealth in Mexican beer, you're looking at a Montenegran 2 liter resealable beer that costs $1.50. Or to complete the conversion, it's the equivalent of six Mexican beers... and it tastes much better.

Only .25 cents per beer.

[El Pinguino]

Chile... between Concepción/Tome and Pto Montt/Chiloe... only one language to learn, stable government, German beer.....

Edit. and a vast array of quality rums available at a price that is sensible but won't put your liver at too much risk.... and good leaf tea..... not that teabag crap....

[rourkeh]

DDup welcome to the forum.
Where to retire is a good question. I am a Canadian Citizen who lived and worked in the U.S until 2006, I then started looking around for an inexpensive place to escape. Ended up in Costa Rica in 2008 after investigating a lot of low cost alternatives. Unfortunately the world financial meltdown destroyed the economy in CR and by 2010 crime became a major issue to the point it was no longer safe. Went back to Toronto to regroup for the summer and decided to sell all my possessions tying me down, which were in storage locker in Florida. Bought a 44' sailboat in Connecticut and with just me and my dog set off south to the Caribbean. I do not have a pension but have substantial investment income to live on, and as non resident Canadian with all my assets outside the country I do not pay taxes anywhere in the world. Huge plus for all of us who are not U.S. Citizens.
I have tried numerous islands in the Caribbean and have currently settled in St Maarten. It is one thing to travel around by boat stopping here and there, but spending any length of time in one spot required a number of must have lifestyle requirements for me. So far no other country / island has all of these except St Maarten. I want to live somewhere that has low cost of living, St Maarten has no duties. I need real grocery stores as I am a foodie this place has great access to food from the U.S. and Europe at reasonable prices. Access to a large number of good restaurants for eating out, check. Good infrastructure like good roads, power that stays on, good internet, water etc. check. This place even has real movie theater, home depot type store, costco, and a host of other places to shop. Immigration is non restrictive, as you can check in with your boat on the French side and get 6 month entry stamp automatically, and residency is easy to obtain for little $$.
My suggestions to you would be to increase you savings as it sounds like you are going to spend most or all your saved money on a boat and $2,500 Can will not go as far as you think. Central America or Mexico may be nice for some but will require a substantial lifestyle change for most of us accustomed to living with the conveniences of Canada or the U.S.
Good luck with your plans.

[DDup]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

My suggestions to you would be to increase you savings as it sounds like you are going to spend most or all your saved money on a boat and $2,500 Can will not go as far as you think. Central America or Mexico may be nice for some but will require a substantial lifestyle change for most of us accustomed to living with the conveniences of Canada or the U.S.
Good luck with your plans.

This is a serious concern for me. I'm planning to make this change in 2020.

I could instead keep working and building my savings past 2020, but I'll be 50 then and I don't want to wait anymore. I know there will be sacrifice and compromise to make a cruising lifestyle work at $2,500 CAD (~$2,000 USD) per month.

I'm going to spend 1/4 to 1/2 of the savings on a small cruising vessel, so somewhere in the $30,000 - $50,000 (USD) range.

I am not going into this thinking I'm going to live like a king anywhere. Wherever I wind up going, I'm going cautious and frugal.

I am actually resisting the temptation to do it all right now. Doing it all now would slash all of $$ amounts in half. If I work for another 10 - 15 years, all the budget numbers basically double.

[sparti]

Can someone elaborate on Schengen? Is the 90 day restriction for all European Union countries or can you stay 90 days in Greece and another 90 days in Italy etc?

[rourkeh]

DDup, I know waiting is hard and retiring at 50 would be great but the numbers don't lie no matter what your dreams may be. I spend an average of $5,000 + U.S. a month and this does not include major repairs for the boat, and travel.
I don't live a crazy extravagant lifestyle. I eat well, dine out a couple of times a week, don't drink, play golf twice a week, and travel a few times a year. If I need something or want to buy something I can afford to. The idea of trying to live on a tight fixxed income on a boat is not very realistic. You will hear from a lot of dreamers here, but the idea of living on $500 a month on a boat and be happy is BS. Unless your idea of retirement is doing nothing every day, eating crap, and living on a broken down boat where everything is broken and you don't have the money to fix it. Stress from lack of financial security is my idea of a nightmare.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by DDup

This is a serious concern for me. I'm planning to make this change in 2020.

I could instead keep working and building my savings past 2020, but I'll be 50 then and I don't want to wait anymore. I know there will be sacrifice and compromise to make a cruising lifestyle work at $2,500 CAD (~$2,000 USD) per month.

I'm going to spend 1/4 to 1/2 of the savings on a small cruising vessel, so somewhere in the $30,000 - $50,000 (USD) range.

I am not going into this thinking I'm going to live like a king anywhere. Wherever I wind up going, I'm going cautious and frugal.

I am actually resisting the temptation to do it all right now. Doing it all now would slash all of $$ amounts in half. If I work for another 10 - 15 years, all the budget numbers basically double.

You can live in CA in $2,000/month. It wont be extravagant, but it can certainly be done. Rents are relativley cheap outside of tourist hot spots. For example, weve rented places in Volcan, Panama for $300-650/month. This is for fully furnished places ranging from a small apartment to a nice 2,200 sq ft home (nice place, furnished right down to the silverware, few places in the world I think where you could rent that for $650/mo...certainly no developed countries).

[DDup]

rourkeh, that is obviously not at all what I want to hear

But I thank you for the valuable perspective.

[barnakiel]

Start in Canary Islands, then move on to whatever teases you most.

From here, you can go to the Med, to the Caribbean, to Brazil, to RSA ... without any major crossings and away from storms.

You can sail here year round too.

If you are from Canada, you will love the climate.

Prices are OK too.

Cheers,
b.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by DDup

rourkeh, that is obviously not at all what I want to hear

But I thank you for the valuable perspective.

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

Over here in the eastern Med you can live like a king on $2,500 per month. Canadian or US dollars. We don't even spend $1000 per month on food which includes eating out, and less than $300 on diesel. Our friend has been living on $1800 per month Australian for over four years full time on his Lagoon 450 in countries like Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Italy, France and Spain. Just avoid expensive marinas and have a good watermaker and generator. And I'd hardly consider our boat to be a broken down wreck.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sparti

Can someone elaborate on Schengen? Is the 90 day restriction for all European Union countries or can you stay 90 days in Greece and another 90 days in Italy etc?

For US and Canadian citizens it's up to 90 days in then you need to leave for 90 days for all Schengen countries. It's all inclusive just like the US and Canada. Think of the coutries as states in the EU. No visa required but there are penalties If you get caught and the airports do check. Some countries are more strict than others. You'll need to google Schengen for a list of Schengen countries, not all are in the EU and some in the EU are not part of Schengen.