Are You Cut Out to Be an Expat? The Aging Diva - LifeGoesStrong
go to original August 3, 2012

My friend Carol loved New York and never considered living abroad, but eventually she got priced out. One of the bravest people I know, Carol refused to play the diminishing lifestyle game in Manhattan. Instead, she turned expat, relocating to Mexico, a big move that a surprising number of American retirees are making - more than half a million were living as expats in 2010, an increase of nearly 40% over a decade earlier.

After visiting for a month to check her fit with the place, Carol settled in San Miguel de Allende, a pretty colonial city in the mountains that hosts more U.S. citizens than any other place in Mexico, though these days Merida, on the Yucatan peninsula, is giving it a run for its money.

In San Miguel, Carol owns a beautiful house that she has redesigned, restored and decorated in vivid, sun-drenched colors. She has a bounty of new friends, an adopted dog and a full life.

Judging by the articles you read in the press, Carol's not alone. Last spring, an article in the New York Times celebrated the low-cost, high-pleasure living in exotic destinations both nearby - Belize, Panama — and far away — Vietnam.

What makes a good candidate for living abroad? An independent spirit, for sure. Someone who loves to travel and has seen a fair portion of the world will have the context to make a good choice of destination. A tolerance for day-to-day inconveniences can be key: will you shrug and smile or will you go berserk when the power dies for the third time this week, the internet is intermittent or there's no peanut butter for 500 miles?

Do you speak another language? If you're lucky, it's Spanish, as there are so many beautiful expat enclaves in Central and Southern America. If you don't, it isn't a deal-killer, though it may point you toward a place where a lot of Americans have settled. My friend Carol didn't speak Spanish when she arrived in Mexico, but was so embraced by the English-speaking community that she didn't feel disadvantaged as she took lessons and picked up some conversational phrases.

Intrigued? Cruise over to Live and Invest Overseas, which posts a list of the top places to retire, along with tips on taxes, banking and other legal issues.

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