Narrows, Va. You can buy a nice house for less than $100k. Beautiful vistas. No jobs. You can drive 20 minutes to Blacksburg and enjoy all the bennies that come with a large university.
Posted on 08/13/2010 4:26:50 PM PDT by cll
Jason and Elizabeth Pearce moved from Canada to Belize three years ago. They bought a piece of property on the sea. A year later, they built a house. Today, they live in a beautiful Santa Fe adobe-style home with gardens all around.
The pair lives very comfortably, without wants or financial worries. They've had no trouble making friends in their new community because the folks in Belize speak English. They eat out three or four times a week. They barbecue lobster and filet mignon at home. They have reliable Internet to keep them connected to the outside world.
By choice, they do not have a television. "I used to think that the news was important," Jason explains. "But not anymore." The retired couple has a maid and a gardener, each of whom visit once a week. And here's the best part. Jason and his wife are living on their Social Security income alone.
In fact, they're living on Jason's Social Security income alone. Elizabeth's Social Security check goes into savings each month. Everyone's spending habits are different, but here's a sample monthly budget for a couple living a comfortable expatriate lifestyle in Belize:
--Rent: $300
--Utilities, telephone, and Internet: $500 (Your biggest expense in this country.)
--Groceries: $150
--Health insurance: $50
--Entertainment: $100
--Car expenses: $300
One of the most appealing things about Belize as an overseas retirement choice is that it can make sense even if you're nowhere near conventional retirement age. Through Belize's Qualified Retired Persons program you can establish foreign residency as young as age 40. Belize is a beautiful little country. It's a peaceful, eco-tourist retreat home to more than 540 species of birds, 4,000 species of flowering plants, and 700 kinds of trees.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
You need to see “Locked Up Abroad”.. That’ll keep you out of the Philippines. LOL Although I’m sure of the girly bars there are nice.
The Cays are not impoverished.
Downsides to Belize:
1. No property insurance for flooding and hurricanes
2. Most of the merchants and politicos in the wealthy enclaves are Palestinian/Lebanese/Syrian.
3. THe wealthiest English landowners have sold out (Martin clan), and a swath of land the size of Rhode Island is about to be clear cut.
4. Illegal aliens.
5. The cost of building a hurricane resistant geodesic poured concrete home on the Cays is quite expensive per sq/m
6. US citizens, unlike almsot every other expat community in Belize, are still required by law to pay US Federal income taxes.
7. Anything not nailed down, and some stuff nailed down, will be stolen if you leave your house for more than a few days in most of the areas where raw land to build a geodesic home are still available.
8. Most of the raw land still available on the CAys have two drawbacks, first, no connections to electricity, water, and sewer, and the reason the land is raw is because it is a historic flooding area.
However, there are quite good medical facilities on the larger Cays, as long as they have petrol for the generators.
Which islands are you talking about? My family goes back to the old country every few years and they don’t have to worry about crime.
That is until some of the natives decided they don’t belong there and Guatemala is pretty close. Good luck to this couple.
I have been there. A quaint little slice of reality.
“PI” is shorthand for the Phillipine Islands.
I never knew that existed. One of the cover stories is about retiring in Mexico. American retirees should demand free health care served up by English speaking caregivers.
>Who can get health insurance for 50 bucks/month?<
.
Any witchdoctor will be satisfied with that fee.
Free advice from our State Department on Belize:
“The incidence of crime, including violent crimes such as armed robbery, shooting, stabbing, murder, and rape, remains high. Although Americans are not specifically targeted because of their nationality, in recent years the Embassy has noted an increase in crimes against tourists at resorts and on the roads and river ways.”
and
“A lack of resources and training impedes the ability of the police to effectively investigate crime and apprehend serious offenders. As a result, a number of crimes against Americans in Belize remain unresolved.”
Best of luck in Belize.
I plan on drafting a fantasy football team every year during my retirement. The kids promised me a satellite dish in the nursing home. :-)
Narrows, Va. You can buy a nice house for less than $100k. Beautiful vistas. No jobs. You can drive 20 minutes to Blacksburg and enjoy all the bennies that come with a large university.
I'm not sure that's any worse than what you find in many parts of Metro ATL, where I live.
Can one own a gun in Belize?
That's a dealbreaker for me if not.
Actually, yuo can get it for about $90/month (or $190/month goldplated ) if you keep your US citizenship, and exit/re-enter the expat country and the US every 17 months.
There are a host of international medical insurance companies, based all over the world, that can provide relatively cheap insurance coverage, including medivac and other contigency coverage, for a cheap price when they are not paying the US wage scale for doctors.
Works well for grandparents who want to see US based grandkids and do not mind paying US taxes instead of renouncing US citizenship.
I didn’t like the Philippines, give me the beaches of Vietnam any day.
I didn’t like the Philippines, give me the beaches of Vietnam any day.
I didn’t care for Dumaguete or Cebu, hated Manila like the plague. Puerto Princesa was nice, once you got to the beaches and islands.
LOL, or NW Atlanta?
I have a rule: No communist countries.
An excellent example. Most Freepers would probably love it a little ways from the larger cities.
I took my 401k and moved further out in the SW corner of Va. but I’ve less than 20k in my house and land ( and almost a year’s work). Just love it: comfy home, lots of ways to save money, good neighbors.
I hate to mention Appalachia on these retirement threads, but feel I owe it to Freepers.
No jobs, but hey I’m retired!
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