To quote a line from the popular Game of Thrones: “Winter is coming.” The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, snow boots and warm coats will soon find their way out of the closet.
But what if you could escape the winter? What if you could find a place where you can sip cocktails at a beach bar as the sun blazes overhead and warm turquoise waters lap at your feet? A tropical retirement is often seen as a privilege of the rich, alone. Not so. When you know where to go, you can enjoy year-round sunshine—or, indeed, whatever climate suits your tastes—for a lot less than you’ll spend at home.
In this month’s cover story (you can read it here), we investigate three warm-weather retirement havens that offer true Caribbean living, but at a low cost. Of his life on the island of Roatán, expat Kendall Beymer says; “I have lived throughout the Caribbean, and Roatán clearly provides the best overall value for my money.” IL Roving Latin America Editor Jason Holland says of the Dominican Republic: “On the north coast, you can get a furnished, walk-to-the-beach, two-bedroom condo, in a good location for $400 and up.” And on Mexico’s tiny Isla Mujeres, IL Mexico Correspondent Don Murray says, “Expats can enjoy an affordable island retirement in casual, Caribbean comfort.”
While the northern hemisphere prepares for freezing conditions, countries in the southern hemisphere are gearing up for summer. On the tranquil outskirts of cosmopolitan Medellin, Colombia (where temperatures are a comfortable 75 F year-round), Nancy Kiernan has been checking out the price of real estate in the city’s charming pueblos, small communities outside the metropolis. “The value you get for your money, whether buying or renting, is notable,” says Nancy. “A five-bedroom house in one of these towns is on the market for just $122,000.” Read Nancy’s full report.
Also in the southern hemisphere, Walter Rhein lives in the Peruvian capital of Lima, where a couple can live comfortably on $2,000 to $3,000 a month. And there’s no dealing with extreme weather. Walters says, “The climate is mild year-round, not like norther Wisconsin, where you’re dealing with 30 below.”
Panama offers similar perks—warm beaches, cooler highlands, and not a snowflake anywhere. Cliff and Yvonne Bullis moved there in 2016. “We were looking for a place that has no heat, no snow, and is affordable,” Yvonne says. They found all that in the country’s Chiriqui province. Read their story here.
This winter, you really can ditch the ice scraper and colossal heating bills. This month, we’ll point you to all sorts of good-value spots where it’s possible—and for less than it would cost to stay put.
While traveling across northern Spain, I took the highway south from the city of Ponferrada, in western León, to Las Médulas. This region is hilly, isolated, and sparsely populated—strange and striking. Sunset-red outcroppings of rock rise abruptly from green, forested slopes that stretch for miles into the distance. The sky seems to go on forever...
From a 34th-floor roof-top bar, it’s easy to take in the expanse of Pattaya Bay, on the Gulf of Thailand. High-rise condo towers at the northern end of the bay reflect the softening rays of the setting sun. People are still enjoying the balmy late afternoon along the three miles of white-sand beach that fronts Pattaya Bay. To the south, tourist boats return from their outings to neighboring islands...
Your pension and Social Security income is now exempt from Colombian personal income tax. A recent change to the country’s tax laws has resulted in a $120,000-per-person annual exemption for all foreign (not Colombian) pension income. This is great news for retirees considering a move to Colombia...
It’s a brewing opportunity when a firm like Vanguard (a mutual fund company with $5 trillion in assets) takes precious metals out of its flagship investment fund. If your goal is to sell investment products, you’re not going to sell many when the asset in question is down 35% since 2012.So there’s no more “Van-guard Precious Metals and Mining Fund.”...
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Few tourists stay in Lima, Peru, for long. For most, the capital city is where you spend a few hours at the airport or bus terminal, waiting for your connection to more rural and picturesque parts of the country. The best-known temptations of this ancient land are farther south. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Cusco...
I love living in the tree-filled, cosmopolitan city of Medellin, Colombia, tucked into the Andes’ Aburra Valley at 4,900 feet. There is always a concert to attend, and I appreciate the broad choice of restaurants. It’s packed with large malls, small tiendas (mom-and-pop shops), and farmers’ markets. For entertainment you have the Metropolitan Theater, Botanical Gardens...
Panama City. It’s the kind of place that wows first-time visitors. The downtown area, which shines and twinkles with sky-scrapers and deluxe hotels…the deep blue waters of the Panama Bay…the romantic Casco Viejo sector, dripping with colonial gems. There are scads of concert and performance venues, green spaces galore...it’s incredibly modern and unexpected.
Jay and Naomi Kaskie start most mornings in their Panamanian dream home by having fresh fruit for breakfast on their ocean-facing verandah. Naomi absolutely loves the sound of the waves crashing against a large rock formation just behind their house. At certain times of the year, they can see mother and baby whales offshore, or the tracks of nesting sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs...
Ask Yvonne Bullis why she and her hus-band Cliff love living in rural Panama, and her answer is immediate. “It’s got every-thing that we were looking for: proximity to several beaches, howler monkeys that love to get us up early, birds, and butter-flies. There’s fresh fruit, too; it comes via truck every week, and, during high season, twice a week...