It’s not very comforting to contemplate living on an inadequate income, forced to withdraw excessive supplemental funds from your IRA as you age and perhaps show some serious signs of ill health. Your only real financial certainty is that your medical expenses are covered, thanks to Medicare and supplemental health insurance. Still, what do you do when your financial advisor assures you, while your IRA is hemorrhaging, that you’ll be able to enjoy your current lifestyle if you just cut back on excess spending? You wonder if he’s talking about gasoline, corn, meat, or just that it’s an excessive part of your current lifestyle.
To be honest, some of us overspend, depending in some miraculous way on the money tree that always blooms in the backyard. Eventually, most of these people learn to control their spending, but still have a deficit that forces them to raid the IRA too often.
Believe it or not there is an answer, it’s not easy in many ways and certainly not for everyone. It works best for couples who have some kind of income, who have no children or at least none who are dependent on you, who are not devoted to relatives or friends, who have no debts, who are willing to sell their house and keep whatever proceeds. it. It also helps if you have “final arrangements” that don’t include expensive funerals or rituals at sea. It’s much cheaper and simpler to call someone and ask them to take “him” or “her” away, and then ask her church for a little memorial service if you wish.
But let’s say you have an income of $2K or so and maybe $200K in your stock IRA. If you have a mortgage, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll live in a city, even a small one, without tapping into your IRA to make up for your shortfall in cash flow. Instead of seeing your assets disappear, why not disappear yourself? At least it disappears from where you live now. Where are you going?
Well that’s up to you. Some financial advisors recommend leaving the United States for a country where you can live. Let’s look at a place you might consider: Colombia. Yes, THAT Colombia! It is winning its war against terrorist guerrillas, and most of its major cities (for example, Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena) are perfectly safe. Foreign investment money from the European Union, the United States, and Canada is pouring in (check this out, for example, in Business Week or The Wall Street Journal) and thus withdrawing from all of the above and others besides. . The lingua franca is English among retired expats, but anyone who goes there would do well to learn the country’s language, Spanish, so they can fully immerse themselves in the country’s cultural life.
Why Colombia? Check out cost of living sites. You’ll learn that living very well (especially if you buy a condo, see discussion below) costs just over $2K for EVERYTHING (food, taxes, utilities, eating out, health insurance, etc.). I have been told that one does not need to import a car. Instead, one relies on taxis for everything. By doing so, discover how much you save on gas, insurance and maintenance; and the taxi companies are really reliable. If you want to go shopping at one of the farmer’s markets, you hire the taxi to accompany you and keep moving to load your purchases. Are you going to the movies and want to go out to eat after the show? – just call the taxi before you are ready to go and he will be waiting for you. And no parking worries.
You have to make decisions about what to take with you. It’s probably best to bring clothes and art objects, but otherwise start over. Furniture can be quite expensive, although of good quality, and some items can be difficult to find. But shipping involves customs taxes, postage and packaging costs, insurance, big hassles you’d better avoid, and any doubts about the condition of your belongings when they reach you. Shop there, even if a new 48-inch plasma TV costs 30% more than in the US, and the problems go away. The seller will deliver and set up your purchase just like it does in the US.
Colombia allows pets, as long as you bring or send your little friends with the proper documentation (for example, rabies vaccination).
Computers and high-speed Internet are in common use, and cell phones are used everywhere, generally in preference to home installations. However, fixed lines also have an important use.
Culturally, Colombia is very much in the Western Judeo-Christian tradition. While the Catholic Church prevails, the country is nonetheless quite secular. There are numerous universities and the middle and upper middle class is very well educated. It is not difficult to find your intellectual equals. Also, it’s useful to keep in mind that Colombia boasts a Nobel Prize-winning author, Gabriel García Marqués, and probably the world’s most famous sculptor, Fernando Botero.
Those with medical and insurance concerns are probably quite safe in Colombia. Bogotá and especially Medellín have famous medical centers with specialties in some of the most difficult areas of medical science. Colombia was an important contributor to modern ophthalmic techniques. Its plastic surgery centers have become world famous. Colombia definitely encourages “medical tourism” and is fully capable of meeting the needs of patients at perhaps 10-15% of the costs in the US. Dental work is equally inexpensive, especially when compared to costs in the US Many physicians and dentists have attended American medical and dental schools and/or completed residencies in the United States.
A variety of health insurance plans are available that offer comprehensive coverage at world-class, state-of-the-art medical facilities.
We’ve heard a lot about drug cartels and Colombians for two or three decades have been portrayed as drug dealers and depraved addicts. In fact, they are educated people who may have attended one or more of several excellent universities. They are naturally very friendly and like Americans.
I am not suggesting that leaving one’s home country is easy and it is certainly not a move that appeals to everyone. But Colombia is not far away: it only takes about three hours to fly from Miami to Bogotá. While Bogotá is a beautiful city with lots of popular entertainment, culture, educational resources, medical centers, and shopping venues, an even more beautiful city with most of these advantages and lower prices is Medellín. Surrounded by mountains, you have to strive NOT to have a fantastic view from your penthouse apartment, and the cost of that apartment in one of the best sectors of the city will not break you.
So that’s the story. Reduce the cost of everything relatively and absolutely. You will be challenged to start a new life in a different culture with a different language that will not be easy to master if you are over a certain age. Still, you will be living in a very beautiful country that will give you the thrill of climbing towering peaks or crossing the Amazon River. It’s one last chance to try something completely different and exciting.