Where, oh where?.........The criteria

This is a first of a series of posts on places to retire, which will all be entitled "Where, oh where?". For this first installment, I am going to list the criteria I would use to decide whether a country was worthwhile, or not.

Cost of Living - Face it...this is the number one reason people....we....are looking to retire offshore. Housing, food, gas, utilities...the basics of life..... are incredibly expensive in much of the first world. Oh, and lest we forget....TAXES! It can cost $3000 - $5000 a month to live the US or Canada (or England...Ireland....etc.), and that's with just the basics. How nice would it be to have toiled for decades to earn the kind of money you can earn in the US or Canada, and then turn around and retire somewhere that each $1 you earned gets you $5 of goods and services? It's not out of the question. There are many perfectly good places where you can rent (or buy) a 3 bedroom home in a city or on the beach, eat out when you want, employ a full-time maid, cook, and gardener, and live basically the same kind of life you could live in the US for under $1000 a month!

Weather - OK...so maybe weather might creep up to first place in the list of criteria....especially for those of us who suffer wet and/or cold winters. How about year-round spring temperatures in Quito, Ecuador? Or, if you're only going to spend half the year "away", balmy winters in Merida, Mexico and pleasant summers back north? 

Infrastructure - This means telephone and internet connectivity, because even if we may dream of leaving these behind, they have become important ways of keeping in touch. It also means having clean water, easy access to airports, a decent transportation (bus and road) system, dependable utilities, hospitals, libraries, acceptable shopping, safe streets, etc. If you're adventurous enough to even consider offshore retirement you are already prepared to give up a few of the amenities we consider essential, but you still want to be comfortable and safe.

Residency Requirements - These differ considerably country to country. In some, residency is initially limited to 90 days, but permanent residency can be as simple as proving $40,000 in liquid assets. In others, it is next to impossible and home purchases must be done through "trusts". None of these is insurmountable, but you need to know what you're going to face if you want to stay in a country more than 90 days. For some who wish to travel constantly, this isn't an issue, but many of us see ourselves spending at least 6 months at a time in one country, and others will want to stay permanently.

Cultural Diversity - I place this here only because it is something you need to acknowledge. Frankly, most places in the world have some degree of cultural diversity. It's one reason we like to travel, right? But the question is what type of diversity are you looking for? Do you want to live in an English-speaking country, or are you willing to learn Spanish, or Greek, or French? Do you enjoy mingling with people of differing backgrounds and cultures? Are you a culinary adventurer? Do you enjoy a laid back lifestyle, or do you need some daily excitement?

Healthcare - In the first world most of us have become accustomed to excellent healthcare. Many people are also under the illusion that second and third world countries suffer in this area. The facts show anything but. Most civilized countries have excellent, and incredibly affordable, healthcare, administered by doctors trained in the US or Europe at the finest medical schools. In most cases the treatment is so affordable you are likely to pay cash rather than use your insurance. But this is a tricky topic with many factors to consider, and one that will call for it's own post sometime in the near future.  

Safety - This is a mildly amusing criteria, mostly because the US (and to a lesser degree, Canada) is statistically one of the most dangerous and crime-ridden countries in the world. Per capita crime in the US vastly outnumbers that in any other country in the world. Sure, you hear the occasional horror story from vacation spots, but that's because they are so rare and make the news. It would be phycically impossible for the news to report every murder, kidnapping, robbery, and assault that takes place in the US or Canada...there are simply too many of them. Having said that, though, you also want to avoid war zones, and areas where drug cartels hold sway.

So, those are the criteria I will use over the next several months as I focus on world regions, and then the individual countries within those regions. It's a lot of info, so I hope you're patient. Check back often, as I will be adding to this analysis frequently over the coming months (and years?).