I’m in the U.S. this month for my annual visit, and everyone here is apprehensive. There’s a lot to worry about.
The financial system is in chaos, thanks to a serious debt crisis. And to make matters worse, the country suffers from two debt-financed wars, a debt-financed tax cut, and a debt-financed bailout that required a debt-financed package of incentives to get it through Congress. Debt-financed campaign promises are awaiting fulfillment. The stock market is reeling.
A staggering 700,000 people over the age of 50 are seriously behind in mortgage payments or are in the process of foreclosure on their homes.
Inflation—calculated the way we figured it in 1980—is running at 12%. That’s 24% higher than the record-setting average of the Carter administration of that era. Americans are spending more money on necessities and less on the quality of their lives. Retirement funds are dwindling, and many planned retirements are being postponed.
The nightly news continues to feature the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the occasional video from Osama bin Laden, reminding everyone that he’s still out there.
So it feels like it must be my patriotic duty to be stressed, like everyone else.
But I’m not, because I’m no longer directly involved. I’m just an interested spectator when it comes to the assaults and stresses of the American fast-lane lifestyle, with its financial, social, and political tensions.
It’s not because I don’t care. It’s because I am immersed in a new culture and lifestyle…one not dominated by CNN, financial markets, or terrorism…in a society that truly takes things easy.
Five reasons why you should consider Uruguay
I bought a home in Uruguay in 2006, after five years in Ecuador. Ecuador was terrific…but Uruguay fits the bill—for me—even better.
- The country is truly low-stress and laid-back, and the people seem to have unlimited patience and grace. The media bombardment about world events doesn’t exist here, and I don’t miss it.
- We have four seasons, but no extreme temperatures…and no ice or snow, or natural disasters.
- Properties are priced in dollars, and inexpensive. Even in the famous beach resort of Punta del Este, there are hundreds of homes for sale for less than $200,000. In Montevideo, there’s plenty available for less than $100,000.
- The infrastructure is First-World, with fast, modern highways, clean well-maintained beaches, and drinkable water.
- My cost of living is moderate…it’s a great quality of life for the price, and much better than I could afford back in the U.S.
This is the intangible benefit of retiring overseas: the tranquility we enjoy when not forced to be at the center of the world stage.
Sidestepping the financial crisis is the obvious advantage of living abroad, in a country with a low cost of living and low inflation. You can watch the crisis from afar, knowing that you can “wait it out.”
But the lack of stress is much less obvious, and, in fact, it took me a while to fully appreciate it.
When I retired at the age of 49 with moderate savings and a limited budget, I left the U.S. while it was enjoying good times. There was a budget surplus. The World Trade Center was still standing, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were still in the future. Our constitutional freedoms were still intact.
I watched this change via the foreign press, as an onlooker…an onlooker who was seeing each item as important, but still as just a single item among all the news that the world had to offer. Since my view was so much broader, no country’s single crisis—even those in the U.S.—dominated my outlook. I watched the facts, and missed the media-created drama.
What’s more, I haven’t had to worry about violent crime or hate crimes. The War on Terror is for others, since my adopted countries have been neither aggressors nor the targets of aggression. We leave our shoes on at the airport, and our laptops in their cases. Life as a world-crisis bystander is tranquil and relaxing.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a bystander when it comes to life itself…only life’s anxiety. In fact, I now have the time (and the means) to enjoy a rich, active lifestyle to the fullest, including things I never had time for before…things that weren’t “important” enough to pursue. Like lingering over morning coffee, long walks through the dunes, enjoying shows and concerts, and taking the time to travel and write.
That’s the best way to deal with the crises of today—seize that new life abroad. Leave the financial, political, and social stress behind, and focus on what really counts: the quality of your life.