Where would be your Stateside/Overseas place to live ?

[Scoot26]

I live in the Oberpfalz

Did not visit that particular region, closest I got was Nuremberg.

 

[Fatman LOU]

Not exactly the same, but I'm in a similar living situation to you Lou. I married Chinese, we "own" a flat in Shanghai (technically a 99 year lease with the government because 'communism'), live most of the year stateside, and have a young kid. We looked in to the school situation in Shanghai - they have the same "international schools" either American or British that are highly regarded - in case we wanted to spend more time overseas on a more permanent basis than what we currently do for work. But these schools all have 30k-50k USD equivalent tuition. On top of that - you're still a US citizen so you're going to be paying tax on all income over $108k even if you're abroad. These 2 items were a big turn off for our situation, and things would have to get pretty desperate stateside before the pros outweigh those large cons. I would really look into the school situation before you take anyones word on it. We went out to and visited the campus of one, and it looked just like Lake Forest High School from 20+ years ago with fantastic facilities and even a fucking 15m climbing wall, but it came with a ~ $47k yearly tuition. That alone offsets the COL difference between the states and over there.

You raise an interesting question i never gave much of a thought to . I'll see what the wife say's about that when she gets home . Thank you , @HearshotKDS

 

[The_Shadow]

Did not visit that particular region, closest I got was Nuremberg.

Nurnberg is less than an hour from me. We like going to the Alt Stadt (Fussgängerzone)in the summer. There is always something going on. Music festivals, Flea markets, Farmers Markets and of course shopping....etc. Well, that we pre-Covid though. Hoping that we will get back to some kind of normality come summer.

 

[JimJohnson]

Prague

 

[knoxville7]

Prague

went there in 2018. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. Loved my time there. Was even able to score some decent weed from a local there lol

 

[BearFanJohn]

Prague

Have an acquaintence that visited Prague 20+/- years, fell in love and is still there. No longer married but loves Prague.

 

[JimJohnson]

went there in 2018. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. Loved my time there. Was even able to score some decent weed from a local there lol

Yeah that place is amazing. Lots to see. The beer and fried cheese alone are worth going there for.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

The Czechs and the Vietnamese are my favourite people to have visited.

 

[knoxville7]

Yeah that place is amazing. Lots to see. The beer and fried cheese alone are worth going there for.

and these...

 

[modo]

Mallorca

 

[remydat]

The wife and I have been talking lately of moving. I retired early so I don't need to move for job relocation, but I do have young children to raise . Wife works but it's not something that would hold us down. My oldest daughter wants us to move closer to her and my grandson. My criteria would be someplace with good schools, low crime, and not tax my pensions like friggin Wisconsin does me .The states i mentioned are suppose to be more tax friendly at retirement age. I will be taking my social security at 62 when that day comes so that's another tax situation to look at .
Places we searched have been like Bend Oregon, Wyoming,Montana,Washington, Iowa , South Dakota, and the wife is pushing Fernandina Beach in the states or back to the Philippines province where she grew up. It might be a ploy. She said they have American Schools and they are good schools, plus my kids would have dual citizenship, and we could live very very nice I'm told.
It don't have to be a place you retire but where would you like to live??? Give me some ideas...

Philipines is nice and cheap and you already have the family connection. They also encourage expats to come and retire.

For a family of 4 you just need to deposit about 25k in a bank account there and have about 1k in monty income to qualify for a retirement visa. Cost of living is probably 60% less than in the US so you can rent a place starting at like 300 a month.

The only downside to the Philipines is Duarte is a bit volatile amd you probably stuck living in one of the big cities like Manilla if you want access to decent healthcare.

 

[remydat]

I have a close friend who moved to Ghana that wants us to build a home there and live out the rest of our days. Right now the *only* reason I'm staying in Illinois, is because just west of chicago is the electronics prototyping capital of the world, even more than anywhere in Asia. So we're actually trying to get some people together to leave the country, move to a developing part of the world and not only improve our lives, but help their infastructure as well. My wife and I are fortunate to have skills that can find income anywhere on the planet without requiring any gate-keeper structure to protect our jobs.

Is a jump to Africa the answer? No idea. Above all, plant your seeds someplace where you have a support system in place. Without support, friends, family, something to help you settle in, even the best places on earth will hurt your experiences significantly.

Look into The Bahamas. Trying to convince the government now to build a tech hub here as close to the US and have one of the best container ports in the world in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in Grand Bahama Island so good spot to easily ship product.

 

[Burque]

Look into The Bahamas. Trying to convince the government now to build a tech hub here as close to the US and have one of the best container ports in the world in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in Grand Bahama Island so good spot to easily ship product.

They have strict gun laws there correct?

How are their social laws? LGTBQ, Cannabis, stuff like that? how do the Bahamas lean politically?

 

[Burque]

Personally I am interested in exploring Uruguay, I think they have good laws, their politics seem reasonable, it isn't impossible to immigrate there, I like their weather (At least what I have read about it) It just seems like an interesting place to me.

It is a long way from the states though which would make visiting more difficult. However, I think that I would enjoy living south of the equator at some point in my life.

A more traditional spot that I have thought about is Costa Rica, but last I checked it was getting rather expensive to ex pat there.

 

[remydat]

They have strict gun laws there correct?

How are their social laws? LGTBQ, Cannabis, stuff like that? how do the Bahamas lean politically?

You can own a shotgun but hand guns are a no no unless you run a business that handles cash.

Weed is illegal but rarely enforced and they are set to liberalize. Drunk driving laws basically are not enforced unless you actually kill someone. I have never heard of someone being asked to take a breath test.

LGBT rights are terrible and abortion is illegal. So formally pretty conservative and Christian but informally largely laid back unless you piss off the wrong person.

 

[Fatman LOU]

Philipines is nice and cheap and you already have the family connection. They also encourage expats to come and retire.

For a family of 4 you just need to deposit about 25k in a bank account there and have about 1k in monty income to qualify for a retirement visa. Cost of living is probably 60% less than in the US so you can rent a place starting at like 300 a month.

The only downside to the Philipines is Duarte is a bit volatile amd you probably stuck living in one of the big cities like Manilla if you want access to decent healthcare.

Yes you're right, in the wife's province there is a hospital but not like the hi tech hospital there is in Manilla, which according to her is a 2 hour boat ride away. There are lots of expats there so that's cool. I jokingly tell the wife if we go there I want my own personnel maid.

 

[remydat]

Yes you're right, in the wife's province there is a hospital but not like the hi tech hospital there is in Manilla, which according to her is a 2 hour boat ride away. There are lots of expats there so that's cool. I jokingly tell the wife if we go there I want my own personnel maid.

Just watch yourself. Wife's fam can probably disappear you quick if you get to friendly with the maid.

 

[Burque]

You can own a shotgun but hand guns are a no no unless you run a business that handles cash.

Weed is illegal but rarely enforced and they are set to liberalize. Drunk driving laws basically are not enforced unless you actually kill someone. I have never heard of someone being asked to take a breath test.

LGBT rights are terrible and abortion is illegal. So formally pretty conservative and Christian but informally largely laid back unless you piss off the wrong person.

If you were going to expat in that part of the world where would you choose to relocate to? Assuming that you don't have family/friends already established somewhere over there.

 

[remydat]

If you were going to expat in that part of the world where would you choose to relocate to? Assuming that you don't have family/friends already established somewhere over there.

Depends on what kind of lifestyle you want. The main island Nassau is most like the US in terms of lifestyle and has like 300k out of 400k total population on an island 21x7. There are a few gated communities that have a good mix of Bahamians and expats. Crime can be a bit of an issue.

If you want more of a pure island lifestyle they have islands much bigger but far less people. Crime is non-existant but then less stuff like fast food joints and stuff. A place like Eleuthera has like 20k people on an island like 110x2 so much more spread out. It is where the likes of the Royal Family, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz etc has vacation homes because beachfront property is everywhere since the island is long but not very wide.

 

[Burque]

Depends on what kind of lifestyle you want. The main island Nassau is most like the US in terms of lifestyle and has like 300k out of 400k total population on an island 21x7. There are a few gated communities that have a good mix of Bahamians and expats. Crime can be a bit of an issue.

If you want more of a pure island lifestyle they have islands much bigger but far less people. Crime is non-existant but then less stuff like fast food joints and stuff. A place like Eleuthera has like 20k people on an island like 110x2 so much more spread out. It is where the likes of the Royal Family, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz etc has vacation homes because beachfront property is everywhere since the island is long but not very wide.

That sounds more like what we would be looking for. We basically do not eat out since covid and have found a love for the kitchen and preparing fresh food. I would imagine that type of location is suited for that type of living.

Is there a hospital there? Or is it more an urgent care only type of healthcare availability with having to island hop for anything major?

Also, I am not necessarily looking to be around a bunch of other ex pats. I would look more for a situation where ex pats are accepted, but not that common.