Launch Your New Life Overseas

Imagining a new life in a new country then globe-hopping to find the paradise with your name on it is a grand adventure and a whole lot of fun.

Launching a new life overseas also takes work.

In these dispatches each day we tempt you with firsthand tales of enviable new lives in the world’s most appealing places to call home.

We also work to arm you with the practicalities you need to understand to go from the dream to the reality of a bigger, better retirement abroad.

Likewise, in my book, “At Home Abroad—Retire Big On Little,” I dig deep not only into the where but also the how.

I break the process down into 12 steps… starting with:

Know yourself.

The first and perhaps most important step you must take to make a success of a new life overseas is to understand what you want your new life overseas to look like.

What are your priorities, agendas, and preferences? What are you not willing to give up from your current lifestyle? What would make you miserable in your new one?

Before you can connect the dots between the world’s top places to call home and your own situation, you need to be clear in your own mind what your situation is.

Critically, if you’re intending to make your move with a significant other, you want to come to these understandings jointly. If you and your partner have different ideas about what constitutes a dream life, identify and address the differences sooner rather than later.

Here are nine key questions to answer first thing:

1. Are you moving alone?

Moving to a new country with young children requires different planning and preparations than making the move with a romantic partner or aging parents. If you’re not going overseas alone, make every decision remembering everyone involved.

2. Do you care what other people think?

Your family and friends might surprise you (and me). Maybe they’ll be nothing but supportive and enthusiastic about your plan to launch a new life in a new country. Probably this will be true for some of them.

You need to be prepared, though, for people who matter to you to tell you that they think you’ve lost your mind. They’ll forward you media links and State Department warnings to show you how ridiculous it is to think about leaving the safety of your home town and heading off to some exotic foreign land, where you’ll be at the mercy, they’ll assure you, of non-English-speaking thieves and scallywags. Plus you’ll be lonely.

You need to make up your mind that you won’t be dissuaded. Stay the course. You’re on the road to a bigger, better, brighter future than your nay-saying friends can imagine.

3. Are you up for going local?

If you choose to relocate to an established expatriate community, you’ll have no trouble slipping in to the local social scene and finding English-speakers who share your interests. On the other hand, going this route, you might end up with little real experience of the new culture you’re adopting. This important early decision may not have occurred to you, but I encourage you to consider the question directly. The answer sets you on one track or another, and they lead very different places.

4. Are you not up for learning a new language?

If the answer is no, your decision-making process is simplified. You’ll need to learn to speak at least a little of a new language in most of the places we spotlight but not all. In a handful of destinations, English is the official language; in others, it’s widely spoken.

If you don’t want to learn a new language, these are places to focus your attention.

5. Retiring Overseas: Do you have a health concern?

If the answer is yes, again, your job of deciding where to move is simplified, because a number of destinations that might otherwise appeal should probably be taken off your list. Like being certain you don’t want to learn to speak even a little of a new language, having a health issue filters your best options.

6. Are you disabled?

This can be the most limiting situation. If you have a health concern like diabetes or a heart condition, you’ll want to be sure that you’re within quick access of international-standard medical care. That’s possible many places around the world.

However, if you have a disability—if, for example, you rely on a wheelchair for getting around—your options can be fewer.

If your nest egg is big, not so much of a problem. Most of Europe is at least as handicapped-accessible as the United States. If you’re looking to make this move on a tighter budget, though, you must understand that most of the developing world, where your retirement funds will stretch furthest, is not disabled-friendly.

7. What do you absolutely not want to give up?

Make a list. Put the most important things, the ones you would be unhappy living without—from abundant sunshine and reliable Internet to walkability and a Maytag washing machine, to share examples from our personal lists—at the top. Then don’t allow yourself to be persuaded (by yourself, your significant other, or anyone else) to compromise on those deal-breakers.

8. Retiring Overseas: Does currency risk scare you?

If so, consider Panama or Ecuador, which use the U.S. dollar as their currency, or perhaps Belize, which doesn’t use the Greenback but pegs its Belize dollar to it.

Avoid countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay whose currencies can jump around.

If you decide to move to a country that doesn’t use the dollar, you can manage your risk by investing to generate cash flow in the local currency. You should also create a savings fund you can access to cover a gap between revenues and expenses if the currency spikes against you.

Finally, this is one reason to consider buying a home rather than renting. Time this when your base currency is strong and you take your housing cost—typically the lion’s share of a retirement budget—off the table for good.

9. Do you want to move full-time?

This doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You could “retire overseas” and still spend part or even lots of your time back home. The idea of moving to a new country, full stop, full-time, can be intimidating. Selling your current home… off-loading your car, your furniture, your lawn-care equipment… flying off to a new country where you know no one and where everyone you meet speaks another language? Boiled down, this go-overseas agenda can seem foolish, even terrifying.

So don’t sell your home. Keep your car if you like it. Lock the lawn mower in the garage. Pack a few bags and head off to someplace that’s got your attention for a month or two. Don’t even think about buying a house or anything else. Rent small and modest or arrange an extended stay in a B&B or guesthouse. Keep it low-key and low pressure. This doesn’t have to be like jumping off a cliff.

Take it one step at a time and let your retire-overseas plan develop organically.

Just as there’s no one-size-fits-all overseas haven, neither is there a go-overseas plan that suits everyone. This idea is infinitely customizable.

Until next time,

Kathleen Peddicord

Founding Publisher, In Focus: Belize