The lure of moving to another country permanently is a constant tug on many retirees’ heartstrings. Likely, we’ve all been there, where we found ourselves in a country, city or hamlet that ticked every single box when it comes to being the ideal place to live. Sometimes it’s the attractive cost of living. Other times, it’s that the place just gets under your skin and there in no turning back.
AS an example, the U.S. government doesn’t formally track how many Americans leave the U.S. but the most recent estimate puts the figure at nearly nine million. This figure represents a doubling of the 1999 figure, placed at 4.1 million. The number of expats has more than doubled in the last fifteen years — a number growing faster than the rate of the U.S. population itself. This is not a fad.
Having retired abroad almost a decade ago, authors Edd and Cynthia Staton, can attest to the many benefits of retiring in another country. Here, they would like to explain the realities, and try to clear up those common myths of retiring abroad.