Expat to retire

Cheapest is not necessarily the best. You need to evaluate say 3 countries.
Check out ease of visa arrangements, climate, food, medical facilities,  general expenses, transport, rent or buy a place.
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stumpy wrote:

Cheapest is not necessarily the best.

Quite the opposite: You generally get what you pay for! Cheaper places normally offer a lower quality of life. There may be some aspects that are better (e.g. wonderful food or, for some, the widespread availability of cheap prostitutes in Thailand) and you are lucky if you can concentrate on those for your happiness, but you sure have to compromise on many other things (e.g. in Thailand political instability, bureaucracy, crime, language difficulties, general chaos and the lack of public services). Nobody likes to compromise, and most just do because they can't afford better. They may hate it after a while.

Colombia

For the 10 years before we "pulled the plug" everywhere we traveled we looked at it from a "can we retire and live here" perspective.  Enjoying our vacation but looking at housing, quality of life, costs, and so on. 

In that way we explored dozens of countries and islands.  Our very last trip was to the Dominican Republic and we fell in love with the place. Two years later we retired and now live here full time for the last 8 years. 

Bob K

Bob K wrote:

In that way we explored dozens of countries and islands.  Our very last trip was to the Dominican Republic and we fell in love with the place. Two years later we retired and now live here full time for the last 8 years. Bob K

Well said, Bob. We've been looking around, and I wrote a couple of posts for my personal blog in September 2012 on the topic of "Looking for Bolt-holes". We have a couple of places in our minds - two in Mexico and one in Guatemala, and one or two others. In choosing a retirement home you have to feel comfortable, and we're comfortable enough right here on our Caribbean island for the time being. We're starting to watch our pennies, and when this place gets too expensive we'll move to wherever else we feel comfortable. Comfort is everything, in retirement.

Yes one needs to be comfortable in their surroundings.
I always suggest that before one making the move that you go to your new "home" and live there as a expat  not a tourist for a couple of months to see if it is a fit for you before making the plunge.

Bob K

Nepal is pretty cheap.

beppi wrote:

stumpy wrote:

Cheapest is not necessarily the best.

Quite the opposite: You generally get what you pay for! Cheaper places normally offer a lower quality of life.

Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
You can get a nice house in the back streets off Maliboro for bugger all per year, and still be within a few minutes walk of a major shopping area.

Honestly ... we can't have everything in life .. the cost of living we like it or not has to be taken in account.. Indeed , but we always hope it's affordable.. ... But suppose it's...affordable for us,  like In Nepal or Thailand for example....The question is does my heart will be ok?? I'm not sure ...!... as well  as i knew ..living abroad will soon or later  eventually disturb  you or even make you   cry ..!! o! Yaweh! believe it me or not?? of course that companionship .. (of a  woman for example) can relieve or can help your  expat  life - not a prostitute - but someone to help you to  die .. knowing that a retiree is not born yesterday.....

Why not Romania? It's an European country. My husband came here almost 20 years ago and kept commuting to London until 2011 when he had here, in Romania major surgery for a large tumor of the pancreas (cancer 3rd stage). He told me that in London nobody would have bothered to treat a 82 y.o man. Now he is 85 (off the statistics as the doctor said)., fully recovered and still driving his motorbike.

HaileyinHongKong wrote:

Nepal is pretty cheap.

Have you visited Nepal...........in your vacation

deadly7cyn wrote:

Why not Romania? It's an European country. My husband came here almost 20 years ago and kept commuting to London until 2011 when he had here, in Romania major surgery for a large tumor of the pancreas (cancer 3rd stage). He told me that in London nobody would have bothered to treat a 82 y.o man. Now he is 85 (off the statistics as the doctor said)., fully recovered and still driving his motorbike.

I have considered Romania and I agree it has many advantages, but the main snag for me is that it is now in the EU.
Inconceivable for me that a country that managed through violent revolution to throw off the Communist yoke then got fooled into joining the European Union. Sort of out of the frying pan into the fire.   

Definitely PHILIPPINES... no doubt...

Better that than the Russian Empire

For me one is too hot and the other too cold.
I've been thinking of Turkey as a bolt hole getaway if the SHTF.

Pearo wrote:

I love to visit Nepal

Are you thinking of retiring there?