Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about healthcare and insurance?
Puerto Rico. Key West or somewhere there. It's not the bad Florida.

What is the healthcare like in PR? Are their hospitals affected when they have those rolling electricity blackouts?

Many specialist doctors have left the island for Florida and elsewhere, so make sure you check that out if you have higher medical needs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Digital nomad visa is your best bet but most are one year (though you can try to renew); Ecuador is 2 years.

I would look into Argentina and Uruguay as well esp for private international schools.

The best private international schools in South America, hands down, are in Sao Paulo. And an investment visa is easy. Buy a property worth USD 175,000 in Sao Paulo and you are good to go. Half of that if you buy it up in the north of the country.

I work with affluent, educated Brazilians who would rather have good paying jobs in flyover country in the US than live in Brazil.

Ugh, OP is probably a USAID or USAID-adjacent person getting laid off by Musk. If that's the case, I'm sure OP has considered all this.

Panama and Portugal both offer visas for new residents with pretty low income requirements. Given the number of old American retirees in Costa Rica and Panama, it can't be too complicated to figure out residency.

Panama is hot and very humid, and much more Caribbean culturally than Central American. Panama is a bit of a melting pot, which is kind of interesting. Copa is the national airline and makes traveling to other places in the region (or to the U S.) easy. The food is OK. There's more seafood than most LatAm countries have.

Panama is fine, but I would probably go to Portugal over Panama for the cultural attractions, food, and travel.

Anonymous wrote:What about healthcare and insurance?
Puerto Rico. Key West or somewhere there. It's not the bad Florida.

What is the healthcare like in PR? Are their hospitals affected when they have those rolling electricity blackouts?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
European here. Ah, here come the "I can live abroad so easily" threads.

No. You can't.

Your list tells me you haven't thought ANYTHING through. That sort of mentality doesn't bode well for living abroad, especially if you're not even going to bother to learn the language, and if, to you, the places you listed are interchangeable. The ignorance and entitlement are MIND-BOGGLING.

This! ˆˆˆ

it’s so true. I think a lot of Americans think they can just walk into another country and start living there and it’s simply no big deal. Guess what? You won’t believe me but most other country’s have immigration policies that are actually stricter than ours here in the US.

The other thing with people who just spontaneously leave is that they don't adapt well. Having done no research, sometimes only having been to the country for one or two 1 week visits, not speaking the language and all of a sudden they are confronted with a bureaucracy they don't understand, grocery stores they can't navigate, foods they can't find, repairs that they don't know how to deal with, they get frustrated, hate the place, complain that "this isn't the way we do things in [fill in the state]" and then they leave.

I love living overseas and I will retire overseas. But it is a challenge. If you expect it to be easy and seamless, think again.

Cleveland

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
European here. Ah, here come the "I can live abroad so easily" threads.

No. You can't.

Your list tells me you haven't thought ANYTHING through. That sort of mentality doesn't bode well for living abroad, especially if you're not even going to bother to learn the language, and if, to you, the places you listed are interchangeable. The ignorance and entitlement are MIND-BOGGLING.

This! ˆˆˆ

it’s so true. I think a lot of Americans think they can just walk into another country and start living there and it’s simply no big deal. Guess what? You won’t believe me but most other country’s have immigration policies that are actually stricter than ours here in the US.

Why not just go to a southern state?

Anonymous wrote:Digital nomad visa is your best bet but most are one year (though you can try to renew); Ecuador is 2 years.

I would look into Argentina and Uruguay as well esp for private international schools.

The best private international schools in South America, hands down, are in Sao Paulo. And an investment visa is easy. Buy a property worth USD 175,000 in Sao Paulo and you are good to go. Half of that if you buy it up in the north of the country.

My friend (retired in late 50s) bought a parcel of land in Costa Rica before the pandemic and intended to move there.

He is reconsidering because the government has raised social insurance and health insurance costs.

For fun, watch House Hunters International. It will show you what housing you can afford in different countries! (Plus it’s a welcome distraction)

Baltimore is right up the rd, has cheaper col,. And some pretty nice neighborhoods

Take it to politics troll!

Digital nomad visa is your best bet but most are one year (though you can try to renew); Ecuador is 2 years.

I would look into Argentina and Uruguay as well esp for private international schools.

I have two friends who moved to Portugal. One has a DH and two kids; they moved there about 5 years ago and they settled in easily and love it. The kids became fluent in Portuguese easily and the adults struggled with it. The other is have of a DINK couple. They moved there about 3 years ago, and love it. They have had a harder time with the language and have relied a bit more on the expat community.

But like PPs point out -- you can't just up and move to another country. You need a visa or path to residency. You used to be able to emigrate to a lot of places with an "investment" that was relatively modest, like 1M or so. It isn't a "relatively modest" investment anywhere anymore.