12 Top Notch, But Low Cost, Retirement Spots Around the World (+2K Views)

Scanning the world map in 2014, 12 places stand out as top-notch retirement options and, while each place is different, all of them offer tremendously appealing lifestyles for the cost. Here’s how much it costs to retire in these 12 great retirement spots.

The above introductory comments are edited excerpts from an article* by Kathleen Peddicord (liveandinvestoverseas.com) entitled What it costs to retire in 12 great places.

The following article is presented courtesy of Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) and has been edited, abridged and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

Peddicord goes on to say in further edited excerpts:

To help you filter these choices, you need three pieces of critical data about each city:

1. the cost of living minus housing,
2. the typical cost of renting and
3. the average cost per square meter to purchase property….

1. The cost of living minus housing budget includes:

a) utilities (gas, electricity, phone, cable television and Internet),

b) groceries and

c) entertainment.

I’d call this a starter budget. These are typically your basic costs in addition to housing. You could, of course, add costs, depending on your lifestyle and priorities. Maybe you’d like to have help around the house. In many places around the world, household help can be a bargain, making full- or part-time help with the daily chores a big potential benefit of retiring overseas. The cost could be $150 (in Nicaragua, for example) to $300 per month.

a) Utilities: The utilities figure for each budget is straightforward.

b) Groceries: If you shop at local markets and stick to a basic local diet, your monthly groceries bill could be low. If you shop at U.S. style grocery stores (which exist in every place on the list below) and want to eat like you ate back home your monthly food bill could be two, three or four times what locals pay.

c) Entertainment: The budgets below include amounts for eating out once a week, going to the movies a couple of times a month or perhaps taking one in-country trip per month to explore your new home. You could, if you wanted to, and your budget allowed, eat out four nights a week and take international vacations twice a year.

None of the above budgets includes the costs of owning a car, because each of these locations is a place where you could live comfortably without one.

2. The typical cost of renting

I recommend renting first to give yourself a chance to get to know your new home and determine if it is, in fact, the right place for you…[As such,], for each of the 12 top retirement havens on my list I include an average cost for renting a:

• two-bedroom,
• one-bath residence
• in a neighborhood that would be appealing and appropriate for a retiree.

3. The average cost per square meter to purchase property

After you’ve been in residence for a while, you may decide you like the place well enough for the long-term commitment of investing in a home of your own. Buying a piece of real estate in another country can also offer the potential for return from capital appreciation over time and from cash flow if you decide to rent the place out when you’re not using it yourself.

To help you compare and contrast the opportunities on offer in each of the 12 top havens on my list, I include an average cost per square meter for the purchase of property. Breaking down a location’s property market to an average cost per square meter for a particular kind of property is the only reliable way to compare that location’s property market with the property market anywhere else.

Here’s how much it costs to retire in 12 great retirement spots:

In the Americas:

Ambergris Caye, Belize

— Monthly budget: $1,035

— Rent per month: $1,000

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,500

Coronado, Panama

— Monthly budget: $1,240

— Rent per month: $1,200

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,900

Cuenca, Ecuador

— Monthly budget: $710

— Rent per month: $300

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,300

Granada, Nicaragua

— Monthly budget: $555

— Rent per month: $500

— Price per square meter to purchase: $510

Medellin, Colombia

— Monthly budget: $1,030

— Rent per month: $850

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,050

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

— Monthly budget: $1,060

— Rent per month: $850

— Price per square meter to purchase: $2,500

In Europe:

Algarve, Portugal

— Monthly budget: $885

— Rent per month: $1,500

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,500

Barcelona, Spain

— Monthly budget: $640

— Rent per month: $1,085

— Price per square meter to purchase: $5,500

Pau, France

— Monthly budget: $645

— Rent per month: $1,285

— Price per square meter to purchase: $1,200

In Asia:

Chiang Mai, Thailand

— Monthly budget: $520

— Rent per month: $400

— Price per square meter to purchase an apartment: $1,100 (foreigners can’t own houses)

Dumaguete, Philippines

— Monthly budget: $560

— Rent per month: $350

— Price per square meter to purchase: $400

Nha Trang, Vietnam

— Monthly budget: $380

— Rent per month: $300

— Price per square meter to purchase: Foreigners can’t own real estate.

Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.

*https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/costs-retire-12-great-places-151809873.html

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