… as compared to anywhere else.
I was reading this articlewith amusement, as two Central American locations are mentioned as great retirement places. The truth is back home the population of immigrants -semi permanent residents, floating surfers, self employed business people- from the US is staggering, most young/middle aged. Retirees? Where?
Anyways, they mention the conditions that make Malaysia a great place to retire. What is your knee-jerk reaction? (maybe as mine):
[quote]Penang, Malaysia
Peddicord called Malaysia the best option in Asia for full-time retirement living, because it’s the only country in Asia that makes it easy for foreign retirees to gain full-time residency.
Income from foreign sources is tax-free, and foreigners are allowed to buy real estate (which isn’t a given elsewhere). Malaysia is also determined to become a “first world” country by 2020, which means it’s investing in infrastructure, including modern divided highways and convenient airports. Health care is considered good as well, with a thriving trade of “health tourists” who come to save money on surgical procedures and other treatments.
“This country is a melting pot and very international, with good infrastructure and great food,” Peddicord said. But Penang is the cheaper of the two big expat centers (the other is Kuala Lumpur). About $1,200 a month “buys a comfortable life here,” covering an $800 rental apartment and $100 each for food, utilities and entertainment, Peddicord said. Full-time household help would set you back $130 a month.
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Compare, say, Panama:
[quote]If you want oceanfront living, check out Las Tablas, which Peddicord said is a nice little beach town on the Pacific coast of the Azuero Peninsula.
Panama has significant advantages for expats, including the fact that it’s a tax haven (even Americans can live there tax-free), the country encourages foreigners to settle there by making it easy to acquire residency, and its infrastructure is well-developed. Those advantages have led to an influx of expats that have helped drive up the cost of living in the nation’s biggest city, Panama City, but Las Tablas is still relatively undiscovered.
“There’s an emerging community of expats living here, and (Las Tablas has) all services and resources you’d need to live very comfortably,” Peddicord said. “Your budget could be as little as $1,000 per month. . . . You can rent a little two-bedroom house within five minutes’ walk of the beach for as little as $350 a month.”
Utilities average $200 a month and food $300, while $80 is a reasonable entertainment budget. Full-time household help costs $150.
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I was calculating that I may legally retire from my job like in 2038 -if I’m still around and this island is too. My retirement plan back home want kaput with the financial tsunami -literally, they sent a letter saying your savings are gone, period- and the one here in Taiwan was acquired by a local financial company and sort of “reorganized”… meaning basically I’ve lost what little faith I had in formal investments and plans and mutuals and whatevers.
So, aside from making sure I buy a home in a building with an elevator -I do not like first floors- and keeping my insurance up to speed -rooms in hospitals here start at 5K after NHI care runs out-, I foresee little can be done to make retirement here on The Island more comfortable. Ironically, costs back home are skyrocketing due to “retirees” from abroad, US, UK mainly, practically the same to buy a home here or there, and I am too old already to find a job home. Hence, stuck here for the duration. Anyone joining me? Old atoga geezers in Taiwan, unite! Aside from a few priests and nuns, I know no one who’s retiring here.