Western Borneo the mercury is at 90 F. I’ve escaped to the cool of the Tong Hing café where a freshly baked pastry and a coffee costs $2. This is Kota Kinabalu, gateway to adventure, a city of 800,000 that a small number of expats—and now I—have discovered.
It’s a low-cost and convenient destination. One expat I met lives on $1,000 a month all in and loves the year-round heat. Spend $2,000 and you’ll live very well indeed. Air-conditioned malls, international cuisine, golf, beaches, and rainforest adventures…it’s all here.
This latest IL scouting trip will soon take me to another of the region’s low-cost havens. I’ll be visiting with Arizona-native, Andy Wazer, who lives in the Philippine city of Cebu. Andy describes it as “laidback the way Hawaii is, but at a fraction of the cost.” He reveals all here.
And I’ll catch up with Dave Christopherson in another ocean-side city there called Dumaguete. Dave traded the cold of Minnesota for year-round golf, diving, and temperatures in the 80s F. Here he explains how he enjoys this early retirement on just $1,500 a month.
If a monthly budget of $1,500 sounds good, but you prefer a cooler climate, then IL correspondent, Wendy Dechambeau, has found what she’s calling “the holy grail of expat destinations” with a year-round temperature of 60 F to 80 F. See here for Wendy’s article.
For an even lower-cost option, consider Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where 57-year-old Tom Richter reports his $1,000-a-month social security check covers him for a central apartment with a balcony, great food, and regular adventures throughout Southeast Asia. See the entire story here.
Phnom Penh’s boulevards echo those of Paris. But if you want the real thing yet always felt France was too expensive, then turn to page 20 where IL correspondent Barbara Diggs reveals the best destinations in France to live comfortably for $3,200 or less a month, including rent or a mortgage.
When you ask Jeanetta Owens what’s the best thing about her work and life in Costa Rica, it’s definitely the location. “I love it,” she says of the peaceful and beautiful town she calls home. “I love the people. They’re so giving, so caring, and so helpful. The people and the mild climate is what drew me to Grecia, and hands down is why I stay. Grecia offers a very tight-knit community where you will not find yourself alone for long.”
Luxembourg City is the perfect escape. But the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is so small that most people miss the motorway turnoff and drive past it. The country is bordered by France, Germany, and Belgium. From the capital of Luxembourg City to the borders of France and Germany it’s a mere 30-minutes’ drive; to Belgium it’s only a 15-minute drive. There’s space enough, however, to squeeze in several small towns and villages, plenty of lovely countryside, and a disproportionate amount of history and beauty.
Lying at the eastern end of the great Eurasian Steppe, Mongolia—the land of Genghis Khan—is Asia as you have never seen it, home to a unique nomadic culture, rich history, and diverse, almost undisturbed wilderness. It’s a place that gets under your skin, whether you make a month-long journey across the country, enjoy a brief stop in your trip along the Trans-Siberian Railway, or, as I did, settle there for a time.
In the U.S. today, a “real” retirement is slipping out of the hands of millions of Americans. But look overseas…and your options expand. Despite all the talk of recovery—and yes, the economy is in better shape than it was seven years ago—it’s fair to say that the news you get on TV and in the papers remains pretty grim.
Ireland…the home of Celtic lore…storm-swept coastlines and rolling green hills…Nobel prize-winning writers, historic castles, and Neolithic stone structures of mysterious origin. It’s a country that captures the imagination. And many people in North America feel a close affinity to it, thanks to their Irish heritage; more than 30 million U.S. citizens claim Irish ancestry.
When my wife Suzan and I first moved abroad in 2001, it was a time of extraordinary political turmoil in the U.S. Or so we thought at the time. Now, after 15 years of following our homeland’s political hubbub from various beautiful, affordable, and relaxed locations overseas, it seems to us that the U.S. political system is never not in turmoil.
Did you know you can download and read your entire March issue as a PDF? Simply click on the link below and discover the secrets to retiring and investing overseas. Download your March 2016 PDF here.