In terms of purchasing power ($US), what are the cheapest countries in the world for a US-expatriate to live in? Furthermore, are there any of these that aren’t war-torn, experiencing serious social or economic upheaval, or threatened by guerilla military movements?
Most any SE Asian nation, and most South American countries would fit your criteria.
China outside of the Tier 1 cities
I remember Bolivia being pretty good, exchange wise. I believe it was about 1 USD to 7 Bolivian dollars (Bolivianos).
It’s going to depend whether you want to live like a local or live like an expatriate (with all the comforts of back home).
Note that the exchange rate in (mainland) China is currently* controlled by the government. My guess is that they’ll let it float after the Olympics, so don’t move there until you see what happens.
Disclaimer: IANA international money or politics expert, YMMV.
- A little monetary joke, there.
Speaking informally, Indonesia is quite cheap, though one would do well to keep in mind what **Giles ** said:
The expat lifestyle (car, driver, big house, private school, housekeepers, etc.) is pricy, but you can live much more modestly. Bali in particular has attracted a lot of expats who have adopted it as their home – not because it is cheap, but because it is so wonderful - and cheap too!
Exactly. You need to define what your minimum standard of living is. Are you going to want things like electricity and running water? There’s a lot of places where those are considered luxury items.
Well you could live in Baja. Plenty of Expats, live like an American but much cheaper. All the luxuries of home except some civil rights.
India has got to be up there.
As for the standard I am talking about: water and electricity would be nice, but nothing else really extravant.
Try Ecuador. It was a very, very inexpensive place to live when I was there (1992-94), and since then they have abandoned their old national currency in favor of the U.S. dollar.
I would nominate Buenos Aries as a place to live for darn cheap whilst being very close in terms of experience to North America or Western Europe.
The city looks like Paris, at a fraction of the price.
I second that.
Pick a decent city. Running water, electricity you have all that and more. Good weather most of the year. Want to escape the heat of summer, head to one of many “hill stations”. The country has everything, from snow capped mountains to the desert. Cheap labour, cheap food, cheap accomodation.
And nothing to beat this last point - communication because English is spoken by most people.
The Big Mac index sounds like a stupid internet thing but it is actually a real economic tool that tries to summarize the cost of goods, labor, and other things using the price of a hamburger controlled in the U.S. yet found throughout the world.
It only includes semi-major countries but China is easily in first place followed by Indonesia and Malaysia (I am using the conversion to American dollars as my reference point).
Costa Rica seems unusually attractive as an expat destination. It has reasonable infrastructure in most ways plus good medical care. However it only has a per capita income of about $5100 a year. However, I certainly wouldn’t call it Third World after visiting there and the standard of living even among most of the poor seemed reasonable. Costa Rica has mainly a European heritage and very few members of native populations which eases some challenges that other countries face. American retirees can bring American money with them and get several times the spending power compared to the U.S.
My officemate, who’s a Vietnamese-American immigrant, told me that American retirees lose their SS benefits if they don’t spend at least six months per year in the U.S.
Anybody know if that’s actually true?
Shag hit on one of the most important things to consider, medical care is not to be taken lightly. What good does it do to live cheap if that means your insurance is not good for that operation you need right away and you can’t be flown back home to the states? What passes for good medical care in some countries may shock some American citizens, even though it may be perfectly fine.
I tend to rank the cost of living by the price of beer. By this standard, Viet Nam is the cheapest country due to a glass of Bia Hoi (Fresh Beer) being 5¢ in 2001. Laos and Cambodia are both cheaper to live in, but Viet Nam has much better creature comforts.
Don’t come here! Although you could live here as an African for pennies a year, the ex-pat life is waaaay pricey. I once saw a small box of posicles at an ex-pat store for twenty dollars. A can of oatmeal costs me six dollars. It’s nuts!
The trick is to find someplace poor, but with enough rich people to create demand for those rich people things you want. I think India has to be the place.