Your Top 20 Country Choices for Overseas Retirement

getting ready for the China session

And the winners are. . . drumroll please. . . Yesterday evening the Live and invest Overseas Conference ended after a densely scheduled three-day smorgasbord of information for expats and plan-to-be expats. (I’ve decided that’s a better phrase than “wannabe.”) Last month I speculated about the 20 countries they’d recommend, and I’m happy to report [...]

Shock Announcement About the Easiest Place to Retire

uruguay beach

While you’re reading this, I’ll be at the Live and Invest Overseas Conference in Orlando, FL. It’s an intensive, three-day get together where we’ll talk about the 20 best countries to retire to, along with sessions on the practical issues of relocating to and living in a new country. I’ve been invited to speak about [...]

The Biggest Piece of the Expat Puzzle

Sydney, Australia Opera House

The largest piece of the expat puzzle is usually cost of living. How will your expenses compare in your new location to what they are now? Of course, everyone’s different. John might not be able to live without imported caviar while Sally eats what the local people do, for example. But you have to start [...]

How Safe is Mexico for Expats?

Guanajuato, Mexico market

Recently International Living put Mexico in the #2 spot on their Best Retirement Havens list. That raised a lot of questions among future expats — what about safety? All we’re reading about (here in the US anyway) is how dangerous Mexico is and its problems with drug-related violence. Last week, a friend of a friend [...]

Best Places to Find Expat Life Information, Ideas and Tips

Blogs by and about expats are a great place to find information, ideas, tips, and get a general feel for what it might be like to live elsewhere. Here are a dozen interesting expat blogs I’ve found recently. Europe Expat in Germany provides information about living in Germany (and a little bit about Canada). The [...]

How to Jumpstart Your Overseas Move

jumpstarting the cars

Want to move abroad but not sure where to start? Has your planning stalled? Don’t know yet where exactly you want to live? Here’s something that promises to get you unstuck and help you find the overseas adventure that’s waiting for you. Next month, Live & Invest Overseas will blow out all the stops and [...]

Top 10 Spots to Retire Overseas in 2011

Quito, Ecuador

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). [...]

Moving to Uruguay? Bring This, Not that. . .

Guest Post by Scott Lilly So you’ve decided to move to Uruguay. You have a residency helper, your paperwork is all ready to go, and you’ve put your house up for sale or given notice that you’re moving out of your apartment. Now, as you look around your home, you’re wondering what to take with [...]

My Budget’s Really Tight — How Can I Explore a New Country?

letters

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 [...]

Best Countries for Quality of Life in 2011

Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland

An organization called Nation Ranking recently released its 2011 Quality of Life Index. One hundred thirty-seven countries were ranked according to: “a nation’s livability for its average inhabitant. It is a composite of six sub-indexes, each describing one of the elements which objectively influence the quality of life: health, education, wealth, democracy, peace and environment.” [...]