In this morning’s local paper, the 2006 corruption index from Transparency International was front page news, mostly because Ecuador was once again ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the Americas, with only Haiti rated worse.

Thinking of retiring in Bangkok? Discover what your monthly costs will amount to in this article

I’d reached an age where the effects of my lifestyle had finally caught up with me. Not only was I out of shape and unable to sustain high levels of energy, but when I compared pictures of myself from just a few years earlier to the present, I was shocked at how much I had changed. It seemed as if it had happened suddenly. If I were going to make a change, I would need more than just a New Year’s resolution. What I needed was a good kick in the pants.

Our family recently moved to Ecuador. Having relocated to Belgium just one year earlier, we thought we knew the ropes about how to find a good school for our kids (ages 6 and 8).

First off, you need financial resources to retire. In our book, Cashing In on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35, published by Bantam in 1988-we said that $500,000 was enough for most couples. That was nearly 20 years ago. Today you might want to have a few more bucks set aside before making the leap.

The best place in the world to live? For the second year running in our annual Quality of Life Index, we say: France. At the other end of the Index, again for year number two, Iraq scores the fewest points and ranks as the world's worst place to be.

From the ancient Incan cities to the depths of the Amazon rainforest, from the miles of sandy coastline to the jagged peaks of the Andes, Peru is a diverse, exciting, and historic country.