What is a good country to retire to ?

[Deuce Bigolo]

Topped by Ireland but the funny thing for me is that in the write up it says
it has a poor climate but everything else makes up for it....defies logic in my opinion

Poor old Blighty is at the other end



cheers
B....OZ

[mart]

Ireland is probably there because of all the pissheads who have spent a drunken stag party in Dublin.
Seriously though, the whole thing is so subjective. China ahead of South Africa? Depends on who you are etc.

Mart

[Deuce Bigolo]

I agree its a bit too generalised but given how diverse the formula used was its a good guide

Its no different to looking for a house really

Every country has different regions,you just need to decide what climate & lifestyle suits you

I live in Southern Central Australia and wild dogs couldn't drag me to live on the East Coast(Floods,Fires,Over Population) and as for up North sweating non stop(especially when consuming Beer) doesn't fill me with wonderous thoughts of fun and the number of people contracting Ross River Virus through Mosquitos is on the rise...then theres the cane toads & fire ants...no thanks...at least the poisonous creatures where I live keep to themselves

cheers
B....OZ

[bemyrigsby]

i spend a lot of time in Cyprus, great weather, great people, still feels a little bit british, sky for the footie, dubai, greece egypt and the med all handy if you fancy a change and the women....dont start me on that !!!!!

rigsby

[Ace]

Quite correct Mart, it pissed me right off when all the ex-pats wanted the postal vote even though they were living overseas, BUT as they were both commonwealth countries, they probably do have a right, even though Bermuda was a tax free country.
I think you should ONLY get a postal vote if it were to clash (what a great word) with a holiday

[spider]

I read somewhere that US citizens living overseas have to keep paying US taxes if they want to retain US citizenship and voting rights.

Would be interesting to see how many British ex-pats would fight to retain their vote if we introduced that law.

[nachovx]

I'm looking to do the same and I've narrowed down a few places. I was thinking of Holland as it's relatively close, but the weather puts me off - same with Nordic countries (it's only 5c max in Stockholm today).

I'm thinking of English speaking countries - and it would be Australia/NZ/Canada or the US. Favourite at the moment is California - because where as CA in general is an expensive place for property, there are a few exceptions. Fresno is bang centre of the state and within 2 hours drive of LA or SF - you can be at the vast Monterey/Salinas in just over an hour. Other benefits are it's proximity to Yosemite and regular flights to Las Vegas from the local airport. You can rent a decent sized apartment in Fresno for as little as $500 a month, the city has a real cosmopolitan feel as the low prices have attracted people from all over the world who settle in California - the restaurant choice is amazing and inexpensive. The winters are mild, spring and autumn are ideal ... only drawback is the summer is baking hot and a car is a necessity (although they are cheap - Honda Accord for under $20000). Other benefits of living near SF are the cheap flights that can be had to Hawaii and Far East - plus driving thru Northern Calif and Oregon is about as nice as it gets. Other good thing is that there are not that many English people in Fresno.

[tas]

we looked at California a year or so ago, housing was pretty reasonably priced, taxes are lower than here and the weather is a damn site better, the problem was/is the Americans are fussy who they let in to live there, the easiest way seemed to be if you set up a business and employed locals. Or marry a US citizen, the problem with that is my wife won't let me.. lol

[nachovx]

Depends what you want to do:

You can go on a tourist visa for 3 months, which can be extended to 6 without much hassle. After that you can either go over to Canada for a week and come back, getting a fresh visa. Or alternatively they will give you indefinite stay as long as you can prove you will not work - I really don't have any intention on working to be honest. You can just stay once the visa runs out, but then you can't leave/re-enter and it's best not to get into bother with the Immigration Services as they are the only people who can give you real bother. The police and other authorities don't see it as part of their job to look for illegals and if you're white and speak English everybody just assumes you've got right of abode and there is a policy of don't ask / don't tell, because the economy would fail without them.

But saying that, no real checks are made once you're in California to see that you really are entitled to work there - if you just ticked the box to say YES on an application form and gave any Social Security # (which are easy to make up) it would take them years to catch you. Also doing contract work is relatively easy to find thru agencies in the cities.

Only places that are really expensive for housing are SF and a lot of the coastal communities like Santa Barbra or Monterey, which would be my chosen destinations if money didn't come into it.

[mart]

Have you checked out the residency rules for NZ. People assume that being British is enough. It isn't that easy to get in. Same for Oz and Canada I think.

Mart