'Economic Refugees' Found Happy & Secure Abroad Bill and Akaisha Kaderli - The Motley Fool
go to original February 7, 2014

Guide to Emerging Markets: The business opportunities, obstacles and outlook Check it out at The Economist

From Thailand to Mexico and from Guatemala to Ecuador, people known as "economic refugees" are looking for a better lifestyle, lower cost of living, and fewer regulations than what they experience in the United States. Having cashed out of the housing boom, some travel abroad where their dollars will purchase estates with maids and gardeners. Others are living the good life on their Social Security payments, rather than scraping by in their home towns in the U.S.

Either way, they are enjoying near-perfect climates and relaxing lifestyles. All these people have one thing in common: They are not afraid to embrace a new adventure.

The new normal

Having adjusted to the economic "new normal," some Americans have hunkered down out of fear and become less inclined to venture out. Sure, they may have lost a bundle in either the stock market or the collapsed housing market, but now they seem to be once burned, twice shy, and they have let it define them and their futures. Out of fear, they are unable to see their options and are afraid to make the choices required to upgrade their lives outside the States.

There's always a reason

Some flat-out don't believe it can be done. Others cite concerns over health care, the necessity of staying near loved ones, or the comfort of their routine - well-known restaurants, familiar faces, and habitual activities. Some say it's simply too much hassle to up and leave their stable lives. They fear their new lives will be topsy-turvy and uncertain - and they are correct to some extent.

These are the people who stay in their neighborhoods and never experience places of more freedom, less regulation, and a bohemian lifestyle of opportunity.

Yes - opportunity.

Read the rest at Daily Finance

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