You strike it semi-rich and want to retire somewhere with a low cost of living.

[Ex-User (5841)]

(Or you rack up untold amounts of consumer debt, stash the money, & file for bankruptcy).

Where do you go to live out your days and why?

 

[Valentas]

Switzerland. It's expensive but I love that country.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Based on preliminary research (and basic requirements, such as the proportion of the country that speaks English), I tentatively place my finger on Trinidad & Tobago.

 

[redbaron]

Buy/build a small cabin on the Scandinavian country-side, grow my own food and have two cats.

 

[Hadoblado]

I'd consider going full nomad, otherwise I'd just stay put, or perhaps move to mainland Australia? My location doesn't matter so much to me as the people I surround myself with.

 

[Perfectly Normal Beast]

Buy/build a small cabin on the Scandinavian country-side, grow my own food and have two cats.

Have done a version of this (wouldn't call myself semi-rich though). Primarily to get away from urban life, people in general and in a (partially failing) attempt to minimize my footprint on the planet.

But only 2 cats??

 

[redbaron]

Have done a version of this (wouldn't call myself semi-rich though). Primarily to get away from urban life, people in general and in a (partially failing) attempt to minimize my footprint on the planet.

But only 2 cats??

Interesting, where did you go? To be honest the biggest barrier to me being able to do it is difficulty obtaining residency. Without practice in medicine or an in-demand trade, it's pretty much like saying, 'I'd like to buy a place in your country and then free-load. I don't have anything useful to offer your society, though I hope you won't mind!'

Otherwise in financial terms I can do it in the not so distant future.

As for the cats...I have a sort of paradoxical relationship with cats. On the one hand, I love cats, on the other hand I love birds. I actually had both a bird and a cat at one stage...though I felt kind of cruel not being able to let the bird(s) out as often as I wanted to...I don't like keeping them in cages and in retrospect, I won't be getting another bird.

So I wouldn't want to have too many cats, for the sake of the native birds D:

 

[BluePantsMcgee]

Preferably somewhere in deluxe cabin surrounded by a mountain-ranged area. Owning 2 dogs, sorry no cats, and growing my own food and hunt/fish for meat. Colorado springs seems like a fine spot. But than again so does Scandinavia.

 

[Perfectly Normal Beast]

Interesting, where did you go? To be honest the biggest barrier to me being able to do it is difficulty obtaining residency. Without practice in medicine or an in-demand trade, it's pretty much like saying, 'I'd like to buy a place in your country and then free-load. I don't have anything useful to offer your society, though I hope you won't mind!'

Otherwise in financial terms I can do it in the not so distant future.

As for the cats...I have a sort of paradoxical relationship with cats. On the one hand, I love cats, on the other hand I love birds. I actually had both a bird and a cat at one stage...though I felt kind of cruel not being able to let the bird(s) out as often as I wanted to...I don't like keeping them in cages and in retrospect, I won't be getting another bird.

So I wouldn't want to have too many cats, for the sake of the native birds D:

A village in the mountains in Portugal. It wasn't really my first choice of location but circumstances made it the obvious one. Hehe, i don't think i have anything useful to offer society except my absence from it.
It's been challenging at times but mostly awesome. I didn't truly understand the effects that urban life had on me (my mental state) until i left it.

I have a small hoard of cats but most of them were the result of an accidental teen pregnancy - my young vixen escaped by climbing about 30ft up the chimney whilst on her first heat. Also collected a few strays on the way. If you live in the countryside and love cats it's too easy to acquire strays, you won't stay with just 2 for long!
I agree it's a shame about the birds..and rodents and reptiles. I don't like the idea of caged birds either otherwise i'd want a pet crow. I used to have pet rats but they had to spend too much time caged because of the cats so i won't be having anymore.
Hope you make your escape! Feel free to ask any questions about the lifestyle.

 

[Architect]

Been there done that. Stay where I am (which doesn't have a low cost of living unfortunately).

 

[Cognisant]

Yo-ho-ho it's a pirate's life for me

 

[BigApplePi]

I would go right where I am. Plenty to do if I want and not if I don't. I already have two cats and a dog. Unfortunately the birds are crows and a great blue heron who goes after my fish. If I catch that heron I'll kill it.

 

[Pyropyro]

My country has lots of nature-filled areas with cheap cost of living so the location wouldn't matter.

What I would spend my time doing is reading lots of books and maybe make a library or two to share knowledge to the rural areas.

I'm cool with human companions but I would really like to have a pack of dogs by my side when I'm older

 

[The Gopher]

I'd consider going full nomad, otherwise I'd just stay put, or perhaps move to mainland Australia? My location doesn't matter so much to me as the people I surround myself with.

And obviously surrounded by me is the best think you could think of.

Yo-ho-ho it's a pirate's life for me

This was the plan for the group a while back. We looked up submarine prices and everything so we were totally serious.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

My country has lots of nature-filled areas with cheap cost of living so the location wouldn't matter.

I've actually looked into the Philippines. How cheap is cheap? What does a small house sell for?

 

[Cavallier]

^One of my Profs at Uni did his doctorate in the Philippines. He said it was a great place and he'd retire there if it weren't for all the Missionaries.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Also up for my consideration:

Kusadasi Turkey...shit here is so cheap \we could afford a butler...like now we wouldn't even have to be rich. The city is insanely clean, the people are friendly and the food is fantastic.

 

[Absurdity]

Thailand and Vietnam seem like good options (minus tsunamis). Could stash most of your money away in Singapore and then retire to some beach resort.

Croatia would probably be my first choice in Europe. If Greece ever left the EU and started devaluing its currency I'd look into that ASAP. Same with Cyprus and Spain.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

The journey might cost your entire fortune but so what? That place is so cheap your money is literally no good there.

Why live out your days there? Because it's not here.

 

[BigApplePi]

Will you find enuf space to spread out?

 

[r4ch3l]

Southern Spain (around Granada or Jerez) or move to India and live like a pimp, travel around, have a homebase in Kerala.

 

[r4ch3l]

Switzerland. It's expensive but I love that country.

My best friend is in Geneva right now and he just emailed me this morning to report that his burger was $45.00 and coffee $18.00.

 

[Nezaros]

Establish residence in the Philippines and wander from there. I have family in Manila so that's my go-to in case of emergency.

 

[TimeAsylums]

Spoiler

All contingencies must be taken into consideration,
Weather, safety (extradition/government/people/culture), location,

I prefer dry > humid, however I do not mind humid places.
Any second world country should be just fine in terms of general safety, however more expensive than third world, but most second world have just fine utilities.
Speaking of utilities: do you need a (hot) shower, and a regular bathroom, and air conditioning?
Personally, im fine with (cold) bucket showers, the-spray-your-ass-clean-because-toilet-paper-is-stupid toilet, and AC annoys me.
However, money not being issue, this is largely irrelevant, as to you will be able to afford a butler, a driver (ffs you don't want to drive), and a chef, for less than a tenthof your paycheck.

Does the country speak your dominant language? For most of us, english, is a huge yes, not too much of a problem

City, or countryside?
Are you a people person? Are you ok with solitude? Pollution? Beauty?
Both ways, you can always drive to the other, but city always has more hectic traffic, also see road conditions based on the country, roads outside of manilla ffs, if I chose the phillipines, id choose baguio then manila.

But speaking of phillipines, great medical care, so I guess thats consideration too.

Culture, ah, I imagine the introverts wouldnt want an extreme E culture, but anyway is pretty irrelevant to me, as people make the difference anyway.

On the opposing side, if you did have debt and were fleeing, all of it applies,

I correct myself, culture matters somewhat. It is very irresponsible of me to generalize this largely but, would you like collectivism, individualism, socialism, or some blend etc

Anyway, my personal favorite places: Germany, France, Greece, all of Europe.
Second world...meh, could extrapoate, but I love EU too much. (Phillipeans cheap, CR not bad, no info on africa, thailand less cheap now...i think, but still great) id prob choose thailand-> phillipines then idk, if I couldnt have EU

Should I , for some reason, fall apart, my plan Z is to join the FFL and become a citizen of France

I have very few needs, my only desire(s) is to keep moving, indulge in Dorian Gray hedonism endlessly and forever learn.




Meh, anywhere I can do that^

 

[Pyropyro]

I've actually looked into the Philippines. How cheap is cheap? What does a small house sell for?

For a 48 square meter house, around 800k pesos or 185k US Dollars.

 

[Spirit]

I've traveled the world. Every place has pros and cons. The problem with people moving to another place ... you are moving with yourself.

I am staying where I live. Cost of living is ok.

 

[Pinion]

If I had to pick someplace to live out my days, I'd like to move into the city - but you'll pry my work from my cold, dead hands. I'm always fascinated by the architecture and design when I do go into big cities, it's where all the interesting things I use for writing inspiration happen, and I'd rather people watch then stare at a lake while mosquitos bite me and dingos chew on my leg.

 

[Jennywocky]

I really enjoyed Thailand when I was there for a month. Depending on where you live, you can have access to both modern (highly westernized) and local rural/urban areas. Cost of living is a lot cheaper, the culture is friendlier, I actually felt safer in many areas than I would have in the States even by myself.

The biggest issue was language -- I couldn't read or speak Thai. Although depending on where you are, a lot of them speak some level of English and actually are very encouraged to learn it, it's considered a "glamorous / improved QoL" kind of thing there.

For a 48 square meter house, around 800k pesos or 185k US Dollars.

What type of house are we talking about?

I wouldn't say that $185,000 is cheap at all for a 7x7 meter house. The house where my kids live (in the USA) is 1500 square feet and costs half that, and it's in a nice neighborhood in the state capital.

Are your numbers correct?

EDIT: Today's rate of exchange is 1 USD = 43.5326 PHP.

Just pulled this off Yahoo Answers (from 5 years ago):

I'll try to give you an ans on new housing here in Iloilo.

A single family new house in a nice subdivision with ammenties (clubhouse with pool and tennis courts and secruity) 3 br 2 bath on aprox 120 sqmtrs lot with a house area of 60 sqmtrs 1ill cost roughly 1.8 mil pesos. This new subdivision is aprox 30 min from the city near the airport. That would rent for P15,000 a month.

I bought a 597 sqmtr lot in a nice gated guarded subdivision about 10 min from downtown for P 1.5 mil and spent 2.4 mil to build the house. My house is 208 sqmtrs and up to american/euroean standards. My house rents for P25,000 a month.

Just a reminder that foreigners here cannot own land. We can only own a condo unit. If you want a house you need to be either married to a local or have an SSRV visa. With the ssrv visa you are limited to owning 1,000 sqmtrs of residential property.

Lived in Iloilo City since 2002 and had my house built for my wife who owns it.

1.8 million PhP is only about $41K usd.

 

[Pyropyro]

I really enjoyed Thailand when I was there for a month. Depending on where you live, you can have access to both modern (highly westernized) and local rural/urban areas. Cost of living is a lot cheaper, the culture is friendlier, I actually felt safer in many areas than I would have in the States even by myself.

The biggest issue was language -- I couldn't read or speak Thai. Although depending on where you are, a lot of them speak some level of English and actually are very encouraged to learn it, it's considered a "glamorous / improved QoL" kind of thing there.



What type of house are we talking about?

I wouldn't say that $185,000 is cheap at all for a 7x7 meter house. The house where my kids live (in the USA) is 1500 square feet and costs half that, and it's in a nice neighborhood in the state capital.

Are your numbers correct?

EDIT: Today's rate of exchange is 1 USD = 43.5326 PHP.

Just pulled this off Yahoo Answers (from 5 years ago):



1.8 million PhP is only about $41K usd.

Arrrgh it's US$ 18.5k rather than US$ 185 k. My bad.

 

[Jennywocky]

Arrrgh it's US$ 18.5k rather than US$ 185 k. My bad.

Gotcha! That sounds far more reasonable.

EDIT: Wow, even more interested in moving now, with prices like that.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

... you are moving with yourself.

I think I can live with myself. Mostly.

Arrrgh it's US$ 18.5k rather than US$ 185 k. My bad.

*paradigm price shift*

EDIT: Wow, even more interested in moving now, with prices like that.

Whoa. You're telling me...

 

[Cavallier]

Gotcha! That sounds far more reasonable.

EDIT: Wow, even more interested in moving now, with prices like that.

Agreed. Seriously...I'm going to duct tape the hubs and move there. He's an ENTJ and he doesn't take to my wild shifts in geography well...but he'll survive.

 

[Vict]

SE California. Someplace dry and with lots of space.

Or Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Mexico. Nice place, I've got some family there. Perhaps a good place to retire.

 

[Beat Mango]

Oh this is my dream. I have spent countless hours debating with myself and others whether I would prefer to move to Vietnam, or Spain, Iceland or Paris:

Vietnam: super busy which I love, and such a strong point of difference to Sydney where I'm from. Super cheap cost of living. Girls love me because I'm white (sounds bad but it's true)

Paris: the ultimate destination for art, literary and philosophically inclined people in the 20th century. Stunning place to walk around and you can still feel that respect they have for the arts. Admittedly not low cost of living.

Spain: The language, the waters, the villas, the football, the tapas - everything about Spain I love. And thanks to them going broke, everything is cheap as chips.

Iceland: shittily high cost of living. Glorious place. Like something out of a fairytale. And, the land of INTPs? http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=8935

 

[Aeroflot]

Alaska. Fo sho my moe larry and curly joe foes killing the does when they goes to the meadows.



Yeah but Alaska is pretty cool. It's got a great ratio of wilderness to civilization.

 

[just george]

"Low cost of living" is a bit vague, since different kinds of lifestyles require money for different things. It depends on what you value.

If you find value in having lots of people around, places in the upper end of "developing nations" are what you want eg parts of South East Asia, because the place is packed not only with locals but tourist fly ins.

If security is important, satellite towns in Canada, Australia etc or places on the border of certain European nations (North Greece with Bulgaria nearby, West Greece with Turkey nearby etc) so that you have the security of your home base with the benefit of cheap adjacent markets.

It's a complex question. The answer is "depends".

 

[Lucifer van Satan]

Low cost of living?
South-Eastern Asia is perfect.
Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, maybe even China or Japan, yet it depends where.

I would only hope it isn't much crowded where I move, which might prove to be a problem, for more people live inside this picture... than outside of it.

 

[Magus]

I would buy a rural property in either Tasmania (an island south of Australia) or New Zealand on a river or lake. I'd build a 2 bedroom wooden cabin somewhere quiet on the property. I'd keep some chickens, a few pigs and have a pet dog. I'd try and grow some of my own food veggie patch all that. I'd also get a small sailing boat like this (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E59GyQd73H8/UWgxA68KGiI/AAAAAAAAAUw/YJrjv0Gf0Ok/s320/photo(4).JPG) and go on trips as often as possible.

For the rest of the time, I'd farm/fish/play violin, read and write novels.