Book Review: How to Retire Overseas

How to Retire Overseas is the best book I've seen on making a permanent move to outside the United States. It lists fourteen countries where it's possible to have a comfortable, safe middle-class life for less money than in the U.S.

The book rates each country on cost of living, cost of housing, climate, health care, infrastructure, accessibility to the U.S., language, culture/recreation/entertainment, taxes, special benefits for foreign retirees, and education/schools.

The author, who has lived and raised children abroad for twenty-five years, gives specific advice for people in various life situations. She provides details about buying health insurance, which areas are suitable for raising and schooling children, and three countries where it's possible to retire without paying local taxes.

My favorite chapters are the ones about settling in and overcoming challenges and cultural differences. Despite its high cost of living, the United States is still best place for Americans to fit in and get work done. Overseas, it can be a hassle to do simple things like open a bank account, navigate city streets, and make utility payments. Most places don't have the combination of work ethic, infrastructure, and freedom to do business that we have. Despite this book's title and aim, I've become more convinced that there's no place like home.

If you've always wanted to be a missionary but haven't been able to raise the funding, one possible path is to self-fund. For this purpose, I highly recommend reading How to Retire Overseas.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from the inside jacket:

Imagine yourself at home- on the front steps leading to a sandy white Caribbean beach, sitting atop a balcony overlooking the streets in a bustling Latin American city, or inside a hillside villa in Europe- the retirement of your dreams. With a dash of adventure and an ounce of planning, you can turn your fantasies into reality- on any budget, without increasing your bills or sacrificing your lifestyle.

In this definitive guide, author Kathleen Peddicord uses over twenty-five years of experience to show anyone how to retire overseas, with or without retirement income. By providing critical questions for readers to answer, Peddicord helps determine where your ideal overseas home is located. Once you know where you're headed, she outlines how to handle the move itself, and guides you through the process of establishing yourself in a foreign country, including how to:

*Find and rent or own a home
*Research and understand your tax liability
*Establish secure bank accounts
*Obtain health insurance and medical care
*Make friends in your new home
*Avoid common pitfalls and mistakes

With advice from the author's own experience living abroad as well as personal stories from the hundreds of retirees she's helped achieve their retirement goals, this essential guide helps anyone plan for and enjoy a new life overseas- for less money than a traditional retirement in the United States.