Retiring Abroad: Where Do I Really Want to Retire?

Before you call the moving company and pack the china, how do you choose where to you want to retire?

Okay, sometimes it only takes the brains of a carrot to know that your perfect retirement location is that little house one suburb over with the perfect garden. You have always had a little piece of your heart there and now it is for sale and in your price range. Other times it is a new job pushing you into your relocation and you are an unenthusiastic participant. But you just can't pass up the fantastic money your new bosses are throwing at you. Then there are the antsy times in your life. Perhaps you are near retiring age but don't feel old and used up. You want to know the best countries to live in for your new life in. You just want to be somewhere great where there is an adventure.

So, what do we all do as we ponder the dilemma straining our brains? You look at travel brochures and remember favorite vacations or trips to an old friend's place where you thought, 'This is a nice place to live, someday I'd like to live like THIS.' Maybe you get on the internet and hours go by while you hunt up cool places to put on your 'possibles' list.

Here is a strategy for you to start creating a new life that will be be more satisfying than what you have now.

How about starting with making a great long checklist? Take some real time to think this through. How do you want to live? With a golf course or ski resort a block away? Want to be closer to the grandkids? (Careful with that one, their parents tend to get new better jobs and move away again.) This takes more thought than you might guess.

On your wish list try to include everything you think you would like to have around you. This goes for the two of you if you have a partner. It can be tricky if one of you loves snow and the other is a sun worshipper for instance. But, most wishes that are widely apart can be accommodated with some clever thinking.

For the above example, you could try finding a place where the mountains are close but the climate in the valley is Mediterranean. We found such a solution in Santiago, Chile where the Andean ski slopes are literally 45 minutes away while the winter in the valley doesn't get below freezing very often. There's no snow and oranges in your backyard trees. It has a 200 year record of democracy and it's stable with great infrastructure and health care. It's not cheap and there is the need to learn Spanish, but hey, there are always going to be trade offs.

And I will bet you hadn't even considered that little gem had you? There are others, too. Such as retiring in Italy, retiring in The Philippines, retiring Nicaragua and retiring in other parts of Central America.

But first-- you make your own personal list of dreams then you start looking for places that will meet a majority of your needs. This is a pretty efficient method of finding that new home and with this kind of organization you will be more likely to be delighted with your choice. Make your list long and carefully, scope out the work and jobs available and then call that mover and get going!