Recently my wife read an article about the top 10 places to retire outside the US. Number 3 was Belize. Since then we've begun the research and I have to say it looks really tempting.

Pros:

Cheap property on the beach. 200k can get you a really nice piece of property with a house.

Cost of living is cheap. A book I'm ordering is about retiring in Belize for $400 a month.

Sweet deals if you go in under their new retirement deal. You are allowed to import X number of items (car, boat, plane, furnishings up to $15k) and then you don't have to pay tax in Belize. You cannot own a business under this plan.

English is the main language.. Spanish second

Always 2 Belize $ for 1 US $. Fixed

Cheap good rum made on the island

Scuba, fishing..

Difficult for parental units to visit...

Cons:

High crime.. usually poor vs. poor but you have to lock down your property pretty well depending on where you live.

High cost of imports.. A box of fruit loops will cost you $6. A bottle of Jack... priceless...

Still not quite far enough away from the parents...



What do you guys think? I'm 39 but it's never to early to start thinking about these things. Anyone else entertaining the idea of retiring outside the US? If so where?

RotaryStalker

When I retire... I just think I'll travel constantly and be a hotel junkie...

Though... need mucho deniro for that :)

I best start saving...

....I hate to say it but the......"misery factor" has alot to say with retiring somewhere. Too hot and muggy for 24/7 use.

You plan right, you can retire here in the go ol' USA.

I'd visit but not plan on retiring there.

-unless of course you've got the funds to just go visit your second home, which would be more of a house investment idea.

I live in SW FL in Sarasota. Been a FL resident in different areas for years. The heat doesn't bother me at all. I'd actually move further south if I could get a decent job..

Belize weather:

January: The height of the tourist season and prices are higher for that. A little rain, a lot of sun, temperatures 70-90, humidity moderate. Can be in the 60's at night fairly often.
February: A lot like January. A little rain, a lot of sun, temperatures 70-90. Windy, perhaps too windy for fly fishing. March: Temp 75-90. A great month to visit. Windy, so the fly fishing may not be good.
April: Temp 80-95. Hotter than March, but still nice. Easter is a MAJOR (5-day) holiday here.
May: Temp 80-100. Hot and dry. Mother's day is often quoted as the hottest day of the year.
June: Temp 80-95. The start of the Official Hurricane Season. In fact, this signals the start of the rainy season and there are a few tropical rains in June. BULLETIN: [Jun 2002] See below.
July: Temp 80-95. There are more tropical rains here, accompanied by some strong winds. It dries out in between the rains, so that you don't think it's a monsoon. The humidity climbs to 80-90. The wind is welcome, because it cools things down, and keeps the mosquitoes away.
August: Temp 85-95. Very little wind. Called "the mauger" by some, it is the start of the serious mosquito season. It rains -- 10 days later, the mosquitoes start to hatch.
September: Temp 75-95. More wind, fewer mosquitoes, usually. October: Temp 70-90. November: Temp 70-90. A wonderful month to visit. The fishing is good, the winds and the rains are moderate, the nights are "cool" by Belizean standards.
December: Temp 65-90. The rain is negligible.

So it seems like the weather is pretty much like the FL keys or Sarasota (where I live) in May.. I can deal with that.

While it is true you can retire in the US fairly cheaply for the same money we could live a better life in other places. Expect the idea of retiring outside the US to become quite popular. It's simply too expensive here for what you get. Remember also that we have the baby boomers beginning to retire in 10 years. Want property in FL to retire to? Better buy it now.. When the baby boomers hit it's going to drive real estate prices even higher. Expect that in all popular retirement areas in the US.

The biggest worry for me would be hurricanes that hit there once every 10 years plus the lack of high tech medical care.

RotaryStalker

A little more on the weather from 17 year resident.


A Great Description of the Weather in Belize. Here's what Lan Sluder has to say.
"Let's get one thing straight. Belize doesn't have a monsoon season. Yes, it has a rainy season (aka green season) June through October in most areas, but quite possibly in the far south, even during the rainy season it's unusual that liquid sunshine keeps you from your vacation activities. Often it rains at night, cleansing the air and cooling things down.
"In fact, the northern part of Belize gets only about the same amount of rain as Atlanta, Georgia, a little over 50 inches a year. Gradually as you go south it gets wetter, until in the far south in Toledo District 160 inches or more of rain a year is normal.
"The driest months countrywide are (in order from the most dry) April, March, February and January. These are months when the dry easterly trade winds blow steadily. Seasonal rains usually start in June and continue into July. Often there's a dry period in August, and then September rains may pick up again and on the sea the winds may go calm. October and November usually see the start of "northers" -- cool air coming down from the north, bringing squalls, windy weather and choppy seas. The northers typically die off in December or January.
"Overall, Belize has a pleasant subtropical climate -- think South Florida -- with a mean annual temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit and a mean annual humidly of 83%."

Sounds pretty sweet to me :) Mean temp here is 72 degrees in Sarasota. But we actually get somewhat of a winter.

RotaryStalker

Being retirement, one of my bigger concerns would be health care.

---jps

English is the main language.. Spanish second

about 3 years ago a woman my wife worked with and her husband retired to Belize. besides the good climate etc etc one of the reasons they chose it was because of the large German speaking population. they were both born in germany and it seems that after WW2 alot of Germans settled in Belize.

As you and Sputnik mentioned, health care is a big issue as you get on in your years. You would want a decent health care system to car for you in the later years of life.

You might be able to get around this if it is only a short plane trip to the US from Belize. If one were to have any serious problems than they could fly back to the states for a professional opinion by an American doctor.

Some people actually might consider the lack of a high tech health care system a blessing. I know many older people avoid hospitals like the plague. In America we have a tendency to over treat certain problems and this leads to much worse sicknesses. I know my grandmother died as a direct result of staying in a hospital too long (she contacted a virus and in her weakened state was unable to fight it off).

Some other places to consider:

Costa Rica - Main language is Spanish, but there are so many expatriot Americans (and Europeans) living there that it really isn't a problem.

Guam - Tropical island in the South Pacific, still in the US, REALLY far away from your parents!

Northern Marianas - Same as above.

American Samoa - Same as above, plus REALLY BIG WOMEN. :D

US Virgin Islands - Beautiful islands in the Caribean, but probably too expensive.

U.S. Territories (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108295.html)


Just some ideas. I've thought about retiring in my motherland, Nicaragua. But I'm only 27 so I have a long time to think about it.

Being from Nicaragua I can tell you that the weather in Central America isn't a problem, except for the hurricanes. When my family moved to the US, we moved to San Antonio, TX. It was MUCH hotter in TX than it was in Nicaragua!