How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad

371 Pages·2010·2.95 MB·English

by  Kathleen Peddicord

A PLUME BOOK
HOW TO RETIRE OVERSEAS
KATHLEEN PEDDICORD has written about living and retiring overseas for
more than thirty years, first working as publisher and editor of
International Living before starting her own company,
LiveandInvestOverseas.com, a website offering its members advice
on living abroad. She has lived in Ireland, Panama, and France, and
currently divides her time between Panama City and Paris.

PLUME
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street
New York, New York 10014
Originally published in hardcover by Hudson Street Press, 2010
First Plume printing, April 2011
Copyright © 2010 by Kathleen Peddicord
Revised edition copyright © 2018 by Kathleen Peddicord
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Names: Peddicord, Kathleen, author.
Title: How to retire overseas : everything you need to know to live well (for less) abroad /
Kathleen Peddicord.
Description: 2 Edition. | New York : Plume, Penguin Random House, [2018] | Revised
edition of the author’s How to retire overseas, c2010. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017040654 (print) | LCCN 2017041614 (ebook) | ISBN 9781101186046
(ebook) | ISBN 9780452296848 (trade pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Retirement, Places of—Foreign countries. | Americans—Foreign countries.
| Retirees—Life skills guides.
Classification: LCC HQ1063 (ebook) | LCC HQ1063 .P43 2017 (print) | DDC 306.3 /8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017040654
ISBN 9780525538462 (revised edition)
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet
addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher
nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after
publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any
responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Version_2
For Lief, Kaitlin, and Jackson.
Wherever we wander, you make it home.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
After more than thirty years living and investing around the globe,
my best friends are attorneys, tax advisers, immigration experts,
real estate agents, property developers, architects, contractors, and
fellow expats based in all the places where I enjoy spending time.
Good thing, too, because I never would have been able to put
together the pages that follow without a lot of on-the-ground help
from experts who call the places featured in these pages home.
Thank you, all, for your quick responses to my endless questions and,
especially, for your friendship all these years.
In particular, I want to thank Lee Harrison; Paul Terhorst; my
husband, Lief Simon; and my daughter, Kaitlin Kalashian; without
whose help certain sections of this book would be nowhere near as
complete and comprehensive as they are.
Thank you to my Live and Invest Overseas team in Panama City,
Panama, who provided hugely appreciated research and fact-
checking support.
And thank you to my expert editor at Penguin, Nina Shield,
whose guidance and enthusiasm have helped to make this project
much more fun and much less work than it otherwise could have
been.
CONTENTS
About the Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword to the New Edition
Original Introduction
PART I.
TEN STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW AT HOME
Step 1: Know Yourself
Step 2: Budget Your New Life Overseas
Step 3: Take Out a Map
Step 4: Research Residency Options
Step 5: Get Good Tax Advice
Step 6: Shop for Health Insurance
Step 7: Understand the Local Real Estate Market (for Both Sales
and Rentals)
Step 8: Figure Out What to Do with All Your Stuff
Step 9: Set Up a Virtual Home Office
Step 10: Consider Your Options for Unretiring Overseas
PART II.
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC
Cheap Living
Luxury Living on a Budget
Retire to the Beach
Escape to the Mountains
Top Choices with School-Aged Children
Entrepreneurs Welcome
Best Health Care
Great Weather
No Language Barrier
Part-Time Retirement Overseas
Easy Access to Home
Tax-Friendly Jurisdiction
Established Expat Community
Fully Wired Location
Special Benefits for Foreign Retirees
PART III.
THE WORLD’S EIGHTEEN BEST PLACES TO REINVENT YOUR
LIFE AND CHASE ADVENTURE OVERSEAS
Belize
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
France
Italy
Malaysia
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Portugal
Thailand
Uruguay
PART IV.