Here at Future Expats Forum, we focus on two main topics: portable careers and what I call “prepping the move.”

Prepping the move is anything you have to do to prepare for moving overseas, from getting rid of stuff you don’t want to move or store, to telling your friends and family your plans, to arranging the sale or rental of your current home.

It also includes more general considerations, like how to determine where you want to move, whether to learn the language in your new country, and technology that can help you along your way.

At the conference I attended recently in Orlando, Live and Invest Overseas publisher Kathleen Peddicord divided “prepping the move” into seven categories:

1. Planning and getting your finances into shape
2. Buying (or not buying) property
3. Visas and residency
4. Funding your new life (where I spoke about Portable Careers)
5. Taxes
6. Health Care
7. Nuts and bolts of getting established overseas

Here at Future Expats, we talk mostly about #1, #2, #4 and #6.

Financial planning, of course, is very important. It costs money to move and to get set up in your new home, so no matter how much you figure you’ll save once you’re there, you need funds to move yourself. And, if you’re retired and planning to live on investments, pensions and the like, you need a realistic budget.

Other kinds of planning involve questions like:

• Where will you move to
• What’s your time frame
• Will you move household goods
• If not, what will you do with them
• Will you learn the language before you go
• How will you handle your day-to-day expenses and other administrative tasks in your new country
• How will you handle any remaining administrative tasks in your home country
• What kinds of technology will help you stay in touch, work, or take care of administrative tasks
• What about schools for the kids, if you still have children at home

There are many more items that could go on this list.

Along with Health Care, these are the basics of what I include under the broad heading of “Prepping the Move.” I don’t get into taxes, visas and residency — there are plenty of experts in those areas to consult.

Here are some links that will take you to popular articles on Prepping the Move.

Narrowing your Country Search
Health Care
Learning the Language
Technology
Househhold Goods
Selling, Renting or Buying a Home
Quality of Life

And, of course, if you’re looking for something not on this list, you can always search the site using the Search box in the upper right-hand corner.

Are there other elements of Prepping the Move you’d like to see here? Let me know in the Comments

photo by Katie Tegtmeyer on flickr

Every year International Living publishes its list of the top ten retirement havens. They’ve just sent out their September issue, and it includes their take on the best spots in the world to retire.

I’ve been known to take issue with their findings in the past (for example, in their 2011 Quality of Life list). This time, though, they’ve come up with a list that makes a lot of sense.

Of course, any time you’re relying on number crunching, your results depend on what you feel is most important. Here’s how IL weighted their results:

• Real Estate, 15%, with top marks going to the least expensive locales
• Special Benefits, 20%. This category includes governmental benefits for retirees like discounts, duty free imports and property tax rates.
• Cost of Living, 20%, with a higher score indicating a lower cost of living
• Culture, 10%, includes factors like literacy rates, number of UNESCO sites, and a “subjective rating of the variety of cultural and recreational offerings.”
• Health Care, 20%, includes an individual’s health care costs and the quality of health care available
• Infrastructure, 5%, including transportation and technology (internet and cell phone availability and usage)
• Safety and Stability, 5%
• Climate, 5% gives highest marks to countries with temperate climates and low risk of natural disaster (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)

What does this mean for you? If your idea of the ideal climate is one where you can ski nine months out of the year, or if you prefer to live where it’s hot and humid, you may not like their picks. So keep your own preferences in mind as you read. . .

International Living’s Ten Best Countries to Retire in 2011

#1. Ecuador

IL loves Ecuador, and it’s no surprise it tops their retirement index again this year. With super-low real estate costs (they gave it 100 on that score), good special benefits, a nice climate and low cost of living it’s a great bargain. The country also scored well on culture, although at 26 their infrastructure leaves much to be desired.

#2. Mexico

Only one country scored higher on climate, while Mexico came in at 93 in the culture category, lagging only behind France, Italy and Spain. Cost of real estate and living are low, and the country offers good special benefits to retirees.

#3. Panama

Panama beat out the competition in the special benefits category, with its well known pensionado visa offering significant discounts in travel, health care and more mundane purchases, and granting full-time residency to retirees who can prove $1,000 monthly guaranteed pension income. Real estate is inexpensive, the cost of living is relatively low, and health care is good. The climate, hot and humid throughout most of the country, lost it some points.

#4. Spain

Spain, along with the next three countries, scored 100 in the safety and stability category, 92 in health, and well enough in the others to put it in fourth place.

#5. New Zealand

Safety and stability, health, cost of real estate and culture accound for New Zealand’s fifth place position. Sadly, you can’t get a permanent visa here as a retiree so unless you qualify in some other way you’ll only be able to enjoy their beaches, beautiful mountains and quality of life for part of the year.

#6. France

France is the only country on the list to score 100 in multiple categories — culture, health and safety and stability. Climate was rated 88, but the cost of living there is quite a bit higher than the first five countries.

#7. Uruguay

Little Uruguay, nestled between Argentina and Brazil with its mild four-season climate, made an excellent showing, scoring 94 in both real estate and climate.

#8. Costa Rica

Despite big increases in real estate costs in Costa Rica in recent years, it scored a very good 95 in that category. An infrastructure score of only 29, however, dragged it down.

#9. Malta

International Living gave Malta a perfect climate score of 100. Not familiar with this Mediterranean island country? Read more about it here. The country scores high marks for culture and safety and stability, and boast no property taxes.

#10. Italy

Italy’s cost of living and real estate are a bit higher than the European countries that scored better in the list. Climate, culture, health and safety and stability are all top notch.

Read International Living’s article and outline of their selection criteria here. You can also see some real-life budgets of expats in Ecuador here.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, International Living is a glossy monthly publication that’s been delivering quality information since 1979. While I often find the intensity of their rose-colored glasses to be too much for me, they do provide interesting, factual information and are a good starting point for anyone considering moving abroad. You can get more information here.

Have you picked out your retirement destination yet? What’s your top choice, and what do you find most appealing about it?

It’s time for another peek in the expat mailbox.

I recently received an email from Matt. Matt’s a medical professional who’s starting to research a move to one of the Central or South American countries. He’s not sure how transferable his professional credentials are and asks:

“Thank you once again. I really want to get this project off the ground, and I’ll take all of the help I can get.

“Which leads me to another question: how can one get started in this without much money?”

When Money is Tight, Get Creative

Matt, you’ve come to right place. We were pretty much wiped out by the financial crisis of 2008-2009, so we’re making our move on a shoestring.

However, you really do need to have a little money or at least usable credit.

Matt didn’t explain what “without much money” means to him. Does he mean he doesn’t have $100,000 to invest in the country, or that he doesn’t have a few hundred dollars for a plane fare?

Either way, the first thing Matt should do is narrow down his list of countries from six to no more than three. Then he needs to figure out how he can visit the countries on his short list.

It doesn’t matter how great a place sounds on paper, until you’ve had your boots on the ground you can’t possibly know whether you’d be happy living there. Once Matt narrows down his country choice, he’ll be in a better position to figure out what he needs to actually move there.

When funds are really tight, you need to get creative. What can Matt do to get himself to one of his country choices?

As a medical professional, it’s quite likely he could take some time away without worrying too much about finding or returning to a job when he gets back.

My recommendation to Matt: explore possible volunteer opportunities. Look for something that will pay expenses of transportation, food and lodging in the country and arrange to stay as long as you can. Rent out your home or apartment while you’re gone.

Ideally, Matt could arrange back-to-back volunteerism so he could try out two or even three of his countries during a six-month period. At the end of the six months, he should have a pretty good idea of where he wants to live.

Then he can return to the US and go back to work for a bit while he maps out his next step.

How to Narrow Down Your Country Choice

There’s an almost limitless number of factors that can influence your country choice. Some of the more obvious include

• climate
• language and culture
• work or business opportunities
• cost of living
• health care
• ease of travel to “home” country

To weigh out what’s really important to you can require some deep soul searching.

And, if you’ll be moving with a spouse, partner or children, the equation becomes even more complex.

It’s certainly possible to step through this exercise on your own, or with free help from websites and online forums.

There are lots of good country-specific forums out there. I’ve been hanging around the Panama Forum quite a bit in recent months, for example, and there are some good country forums on Yahoo as well.

If You Can Afford Some Shortcuts

If you have a bit of discretionary income to invest in the process, though, there are a couple of resources I recommend.

The first is 52 Days to Your New Life Overseas. As its name implies, it’s a 52-day (or longer, depending on how much time you have to put into it) series of thoughtful and thought-provoking materials to get you from wherever you are now to your new country. (You can read a review here. For contrast, here’s a review of a program I found to be nothing but fluff.)

The second is not a program for expats as such, but was designed by a life coach to help you really understand what makes you thrive. Called Live Bold & Bloom, it promises to help you create a life that is fun, adventurous, peaceful, exciting, challenging, engaging and meaningful.

You can read more about Live Bold & Bloom here.

photo by paul-simpson.org on flickr

Future Expats, what can I do to help you move closer to your expat goals during the coming year? Please choose up to three topics below to let me know what you’d find most helpful.

I’ll let this poll run for a couple of weeks, then share the responses with you.

You can also contact me to share your thoughts, or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

I’ve found it!

Earlier this year, I wrote about my disappointment in a product that promised to be a roadmap for expats.

Instead, it was a bunch of fluff — mostly recycled fluff, at that.

I haven’t given up the search, though, because we future expats need something that will take us, step by step, from our home countries to our lives abroad.

Now the solution is available.

Kathleen Peddicord has used her 25 years of writing about the expat life, and 13 years of living as an expat in four different countries to create just such a guide.

Don’t Let Another Single Day Pass You By– Launch Your New Life Overseas Now (Here’s How)

How it Works

Every day for 52 days, you’ll receive a lesson in your inbox. This is a focused program, not
a collection of anecdotes like the “program” I was so disappointed in.

The first step starts with identifying where in the world you’d like to go, what’s most important to you, and what limiting factors you need to account for (health problems and schools for the kids are two examples). Next you figure out how much money you’ll have to live on and prepare a budget.

Every day, you have an assignment to complete and loads of information to work with.

Kathleen recommends spending one hour per day on the program for maximum benefit.

You don’t have to complete the program in 52 days exactly — in fact, if you need to pull together financial information and such, it will probably take longer.

But the bottom line is, this program can get you from Point A (your home country) to Point B (your new overseas life) in a very short time. If you’re serious about enjoying a more affordable lifestyle in a new culture, 52 Days To Your New Life Overseas is a fantastic investment, which I can happily recommend.

Find Out More Here

What do Brazil, India, Costa Rica, Thailand, Panama, Singapore and Hungary have in common?

They’re all medical hotspots for Americans seeking procedures they can’t afford in the US, according to travel website Boots ‘n All.

International Living adds Mexico, South Korea and Turkey to the list.

If you’re considering living in a country known for medical tourism, you can be pretty confident that the quality of care is top notch.

But what about health care as a resident?

That’s a question more expats and future expats — especially from the US — will be asking.

US Healthcare is a Mess

The United States has a high level of medical technology. We also spend more on health care than any other developed country. The Council on Foreign Relations states that we spend 17% of our GDP on healthcare, and estimates that number will increase to 25% by the year 2025.

These high levels of spending don’t translate into improvements in life expectancy or infant mortality, however. For life expectancy the US (78.3 years) lags behind Japan (82.6) , Hong Kong, Iceland, Switzerland, Australia and 31 other countries, including Cuba.

Infant mortality is no better. Singapore sees only 2.31 infant deaths/1,000 live births, followed by Bermuda, Sweden, Japan and Hong Kong. The US shows up at #46 on the CIA Fact Book list, with 6.26/1,000, just behind Guam (6.05) and Cuba (5.82).

We’re facing epidemics of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer.

Now the GOP wants to eliminate Medicare and exchange it for vouchers that seniors would need to use with private health insurance. Preliminary estimates indicate this switch would cost seniors $7 for every $1 spent by the new system.

If seniors were barely surviving financially with Medicare, you can be sure they won’t manage without it.

Looking Abroad for Health Care

As the cost of healthcare increases in the US, and as more uncertainty surrounds it, more and more baby boomers and seniors will look at living overseas. And they’ll be looking at countries and cities where they can find good quality care at affordable prices.

Many countries — and most European countries — have taxpayer supported insurance that covers nearly everything. However, if you’re not a legal resident worker paying into their social security system, that’s not an option as an expat.

Mexico’s government-backed healthcare is available to legal residents, including retirees at a very reasonable cost.

Panama’s system relies on private insurance.

Costa Rica has universal health care for legal residents, as well as private insurance plans available.

Ecuador has a hybrid public/private system.

In some countries, you can’t buy into private insurance once you’re past age 60 or 65.

At this time, if health care is driving your overseas retirement plans, you’ll need to do your homework. It’s complicated, and every country is different.

Here are some materials to start you on your quest:

Understanding Expatriate / Travel Insurance: A Primer. This is a very basic article on understanding different insurance terms and options.

How to Arrange Health Insurance Overseas for $100 a Month or Less . . . Even Free new, expanded Third Edition

Lots of information has been published about going abroad for healthcare as a tourist. I’m finding less about choosing healthcare as an overseas resident, but as I find more, I’ll post it for you.

Have you found good resources for finding out about healthcare and insurance in a different country? Please share them with us.

And Stay Healthy?

photo by vincepal on flickr

All the reasons, though, fall into one of two categories:

1. running away from something

2. running toward something

In general, the coaches I’ve been in touch with agree that your move will be more successful if you’re running toward something.

In an ideal world, I think I’d agree with them. This not being an ideal world, however, I’d hate to think that “running away” reasons would doom me to a terrible expat experience.

The author of the blog Regrouping recently posted her list of reasons for leaving — most of them of the running away variety. The post was extremely thoughtful and well written, and I’d recommend you read the entire post here.

Here are the author’s “running away” reasons:

1. I do not want to be an old person in America.

2. I do not want to pay insanely inflated US college tuition for my child
3. I cannot afford to pay for healthcare in the US
4. There is an unsettling level of physical and psychic violence in the US
5. The economy
6. There is a pervasive lack of genuine human connection in America

This list really resonated with me.

The Economy and Health Care

Although I’ve always wanted to experience life overseas, my timetable for leaving the country has been stepped up by economic events of the past 18 months or so. In March of last year my job melted away, and to say it’s been a scramble ever since is an enormous understatement.

The bottom line is we can’t afford to stay here any more. One of the biggest reasons is the cost of health care. Even if we were to move to a less expensive area within the US, health care costs would still destroy us.

The stress of knowing we’re one small illness away from losing everything we’ve worked our whole lives for is unbearable.

And I know I’m not alone. A majority of you responded to a poll here and here a few months back, stating that health care is either your primary or second reason for considering a move abroad.

How can the United Stated justify being the only Western, iindustrialized country that doesn’t provide affordable health care for its people? Even Rwanda has universal health care!!

So I’m definitely running away from an out-of-control economy characterized by a huge transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, aided and abetted by the government we elected to represent us.

Education

The cost of college tuition is not a huge hot button for me either way. My youngest is starting college in the fall, but fortunately she has received a ginormous financial aid package. For those of you who want alternatives to high US college costs, I strongly recommend reading Maya Frost’s book The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education.

But don’t think for a moment I’m not concerned with education. Our educational system has been going to hell in a handbasket for years, and it’s getting worse. The more we emphasize testing as the end-all and be-all of education, the worse educated our graduates become.

Sadly, as our general population becomes less — not better — educated, scheming corporations and misleading politicians find it easier and easier to hoodwink the electorate, leading to further erosion and decay in our government. It’s a vicious circle, and I don’t see it ending any time soon.

Polite Society

I, too, don’t want to be an old person in the United States — especially in this economy. Not only is economic survival retreating farther and farther from grasp, but our society does not honor age and the wisdom that comes with it. ‘Nuff said.

We’ve also become a country of self-centered boors. Civility is a lost art and friendliness in many places is looked upon with horror and suspicion. A young man of my acquaintance recently expressed chagrin on Facebook:

“Is friendliness dead? I took refuge from a bit of rain in the same spot as an older lady, and she seemed genuinely surprised that I actually introduced myself and tried to make conversation.”

Frankly, I love the idea of living in a place where saying “good morning” is expected of everyone!

Violence

Workplace killings, road rage, school massacres. . . why are we so much more violent than our Canadian neighbors? When people tell me, “oh, I wouldn’t want to move to Mexico because of the violence there,” I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Washington, DC, is statistically four times more dangerous than Mexico City, and most of the world views the violence here with absolute horror.

Am I Doomed?

So, am I doomed to a terrible expat experience? I don’t think so.

First, although my timetable for moving abroad has changed, it’s still something I’ve always wanted to do. Running away from the terrible health care situation here lets me look for a new home in a place with quality, affordable health care. Leaving the failed economy of the US behind gives me a chance to live at less expense elsewhere. Hopefully, I’ll be able to improve my quality of life at the same time.

Civility is important to me, so I can choose to go to a country where the cultural expectation is that folks will be polite to one another.

I don’t expect my new life to be perfect. I understand there will be adjustments to make, and lots of them. I anticipate I’ll run across some problems I hadn’t even considered beforehand.

What I do expect is that my health-care related stress will go away, and I’ll be able to afford the basics of life.

And it’ll be an adventure.

Recently I asked the question:

Health Care Abroad: are we writing

• Just the right amount

• Too much
• Not enough

The results are in — and I wish more of you had responded.

A whopping eighty-three percent of respondents clicked “just the right amount.” Thanks, guys!

Seventeen percent said there’s not enough health care coverage.

And nobody indicated there was too much.

So I guess we’re doing okay on this topic! Thanks so much for your feedback.

Watch for more posts about health care, coming soon.

Periodically, I’m going to insert a brief poll to get some feedback from you, readers, about whether you’re finding what you want and need here.

Today, since we’ve just been discussing health care, I’m asking for some input on how well we’re doing in that department. I’d really appreciate it if you’d take a quick minute to click off the answer below that seems most appropriate to you.

Thanks.

We’ll let this run for a couple of weeks and then share the results.