My dad and step-mom moved from the USA to Ecuador in late 2011. They bought a piece of property in a new development and had a home built for them. That purchase and build used up their cash from selling their business.
They recently transferred the title of the property and home to my name. They plan to live there until they die and then my wife and I plan to move down there for our retirement.
They live well on their Social Security which amounts to a total of about $4,000 per month. I am not sure what all their expenses are but they have no debt and I know that their property tax is quite low. I am just wondering what a reasonable budget would be if there is no house or car payment. Their electricity bill is not much since they did not have heating or cooling built into the house. Their home is located in an area that is quite moderate and they did not feel that the added expense of having an HVAC system installed was necessary. They have been happy with that decision. They do have a couple of fire places that are fueled with LPG if needed.
There are many unknowns for us regarding expenses. One of those is health care insurance. What plans are available to expats and what do they cost and cover? Are there other expenses that we might not be aware of other than the typical (electric bill, car insurance, food, entertainment, fuel for the car, internet etc). Speaking of the electric bill they had a solar system installed a while back and it is paid for so their electric bill is quite minimal now.
I could ask my dad how they manage to spend $4,000 per month but hesitate to get too nosy ha ha.
We hope to be able to travel quite a bit once we do move down there and that can be quite costly. I am 60 and my wife is 56 so we are starting to think seriously about when we might retire and how much money we will need in our retirement accounts before we can do that. We are thinking that it would not be before my parents pass but if they were to die sooner rather than later we would have some decisions to make. Thanks for any input you all can offer.
They recently transferred the title of the property and home to my name. They plan to live there until they die and then my wife and I plan to move down there for our retirement.
They live well on their Social Security which amounts to a total of about $4,000 per month. I am not sure what all their expenses are but they have no debt and I know that their property tax is quite low. I am just wondering what a reasonable budget would be if there is no house or car payment. Their electricity bill is not much since they did not have heating or cooling built into the house. Their home is located in an area that is quite moderate and they did not feel that the added expense of having an HVAC system installed was necessary. They have been happy with that decision. They do have a couple of fire places that are fueled with LPG if needed.
There are many unknowns for us regarding expenses. One of those is health care insurance. What plans are available to expats and what do they cost and cover? Are there other expenses that we might not be aware of other than the typical (electric bill, car insurance, food, entertainment, fuel for the car, internet etc). Speaking of the electric bill they had a solar system installed a while back and it is paid for so their electric bill is quite minimal now.
I could ask my dad how they manage to spend $4,000 per month but hesitate to get too nosy ha ha.
We hope to be able to travel quite a bit once we do move down there and that can be quite costly. I am 60 and my wife is 56 so we are starting to think seriously about when we might retire and how much money we will need in our retirement accounts before we can do that. We are thinking that it would not be before my parents pass but if they were to die sooner rather than later we would have some decisions to make. Thanks for any input you all can offer.
