Many of you know my family lived in Belize for one year, from 2004-2005.
A week or so ago, I received a link to an article in US News on: How to retire comfortably for under $1,500 a month. The location: Belize.
I read the article with great interest, and decided to comment on what I think is true, and what I believe may be slightly misleading.
The couple in the article moved from Canada to Belize, three years ago. They bought a piece of property on the sea, but it does not say where. My guess is perhaps in Corozal/Consejo Shores area in the north, close to the Mexican border where we lived when we first moved to Belize.
Here are their expenses: (I added my comments after each category.)
- Rent: $300 (PROBABLY RUSTIC FOR THAT PRICE. DEPENDS ON LOCATION TOO.)
- Utilities: telephone, and Internet: $500 (Your biggest expense in this country.) (I AGREE.)
- Groceries: $150 (IF YOU LIVE LIKE A LOCAL IT’S CHEAP. NOT WINE, FILET MIGNON.)
- Health insurance: $50 (WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY.)
- Entertainment: ($100 EATING BURRITOS AND FRIED CHICKEN OUT IS CHEAP. NOT TOURIST RESTAURANTS WITH AMERICAN STYLE FOOD THOUGH.)
- Car expenses: $300 (GAS IS EXPENSIVE.)
They barbecue lobster and filet mignon at home. They have reliable Internet to keep them connected to the outside world. My biggest disappointment in Belize was the frozen lobster in the supermarkets. I never found a store with fresh lobster. As far as filet mignon, I would not call it “filet mignon” unless you ordered it from an upscale American restaurant and it was imported from the U.S. There were two butchers on Ambergris Caye, and their meat tasted better after a few months of living on the island. Seriously, your taste buds change.
They have reliable Internet. I’m not sure about that. There were several hours a week when the electricity shut off in the entire town/country. We went for eleven hours straight without electricity. We had a satellite dish and there were also times, during heavy cloud cover, we were without Internet.
Through Belize’s Qualified Retired Persons program you can establish foreign residency as young as age 40. We applied for our QRP cards before leaving the U.S. They were supposed to arrive within six weeks from the Belize Tourist Board. We never received them, after one and a half years and paying $5,000 for them. The reason: they were being redesigned with a security feature attached. We never saw ours.
Belize is a beautiful little country. It’s a peaceful, eco-tourist retreat home to more than 540 species of birds, 4,000 species of flowering plants, and 700 kinds of trees. That I agree with. We fell in love with the sense of adventure and the beauty of the country, especially the islands and snorkeling.
Furthermore, Kathleen Peddicord wrote an article on , “7 affordable places to retire abroad,” and strangely enough, France is listed among countries such as Panama, Belize, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia and Malaysia. I have lived in France and Belize, and visited Mexico, and I certainly wouldn’t place France in the same category of affordability as Belize and Mexico, and not from what I hear about Panama either. So that seemed like a huge surprise.
Any tips on retiring comfortably for under $1,500 a month?
(Even if you’re 40.)
I'm surprised Thailand didn't make it onto the list.
We agree with you that the U.S. News and World article is something of a puff piece. The Belize Qualified Retired Program is not all it is advertised. We have a review of the Belize QRP at our website:
http://www.belize.com/articles/residency-and-retirement-in-belize.html
M.A. Romero
Managing Director
Belize.com Ltd.
Hmm, I agree, misleading. In Chihuahua if you lived in a gated community the rent alone was 2,000 dollars a month and electricity was expensive..People have a misconception that Mexico is cheaper..
Retiring comfortably for under $1,500 a month > Morocco!
BUT what's comfortable for you might be a nightmare for others! 🙂
I couldn't live comfortably here for that amount of money.
Housing, electricity, mobile…very expensive. Without AC when it's hot and humid is…pain!
Food is more or less the same as in Europe but drinking/eating out in a hotel is more expensive than in Spain or Finland.
Cafes are cheap though.
We just visited Bilbao, Spain for a weekend – much cheaper than in Casablanca!!! That was a big, positive surprise! Plus the city is clean and it's full of art!
Sonia, thanks for responding to this. I was wondering how accurate it was.
I lived in South America for 10 years, and your taste buds do change. Cattle, were grazed not farmed the way we do, feeding them corn, hormones, and antibiotics, so the meat tastes very different, natural–not processed. My youngest daughter quit eating when we returned to the States; she'd take a bite of food and spit it out–she did this to everything except to some fresh fruits and veggies.
I think anyone living on $1500 per month, anywhere in the world, would have to live frugally.
Interesting… have not been to Belize, but sounds like we should definitely try to get there.
Our retirement plan consists of buying a small house or mobile home in a nice, age restricted park near the Gulf of Mexico in the Clearwater area of Florida—might be doable on $1500 a month with a mobile home if you pay for it outright. Space rent is typically around $400, and includes water, trash pickup, and park amenities like a heated pool. Add utilities at around $400 a month (mostly electricity, cable, internet)and that still leaves quite a bit for car expenses, food, insurance, etc….
I will be ready to go as soon as the snow starts flying here in Ohio!
We've thought about Mexico for semi-retirement. We'd stay at our beach house in NJ for 6-8 mo. then maybe rent a condo in Mexico for a few month. My only concern would be health care. We're getting close, so we're going to have to figure this out pretty soon!
Thanks for the info!
I used to think I wanted to retire in Mexico, but grandkids have changed that getaway plan. My experience in Mexico is that it could be cheaper than here, but healthcare would be a question. I'm not sure about making it on $1500 a month anywhere, but then I really have no idea about most places.
I read the same article Sonia. Your post title certainly got MY attention. I would LOVE to hear everyone's ideas… I agree with Jeanie though, I would not want to be too far from them, and Mexico would be a definite problem. We are in Henderson, NV and just did a reverse mortgage, so we will not have any more house payments. We are wondering if we can live on $3100 a month!!! These are definitely challenging times.
We have snorkeled in Hawaii, Mexico, Grand Cayman but the best snorkeling in the world ever was our experience on an island off the coast of Belize. That was last year part of a cruise we took.
We have seen those articles before, retire in Mexico and live on Social Security. But we would miss our family and grand kids, I don't see how we could do it.
We were able to retire early by paying off our house and having a couple of rental houses to supplement our meager retirement pension. Most people don't realized that you don't need your full working income to retire, your expenses do go down… except for medical insurance, our largest expense. THAT is killing our disposable income — and that is in spite of Obama, I might add.
Living on $1,500 a month? I'm not sure anyone could do that anywhere in any amount of comfort. Safe surroundings, reasonable quality food, phone, and health care. What's the real cost?
@ladyfi
Good point about Thailand not making it.
@M.A.Romero
Thanks for your comment.
@Margot
We would love to hear more about that from you. Thanks Margot.
@BLOGitse
Morocco? How easy is it for foreigners to get residency?
@Cora
It's sad to think that $1,500 is frugal living when you think of how many in Pakistan or India make less than $500/month.
@Denise
Thanks for your comment, and welcome to my blog. I hope you follow your dream.
@Barbara
I understand the healthcare issue and I was thinking about the "Tourist Healthcare." Apparently, you can get healthcare abroad for cheaper via a company in the U.S.
@Jeanie
When we lived in Belize, many expats had their medical taken care of in Mexico. One friend gave birth in Mexico, and thought the Doctors were great. Often we believe we have the "best" in the U.S., but that may not always be the case. Apparently Singapore is fantastic and cheaper than the U.S.
@Donna B
I didn't think NV was that expensive. Is it the health insurance costs? If so, I'd investigate the "tourist insurance" abroad.
@Robert the Skeptic
WOW. I bet it was that island I saw on a manatee tour where they pointed to a beautiful island and said, "That's the cruise ship island."
@Rob-bear
That sounds scary. What if your house is paid for. You live in Canada, do you have to pay for health insurance or is it covered?
Sounds like they should remove the word "comfortably" from the title! Might be possible, but wouldn't necessarily be nice…
I love your blog and you! Welcome into my world. CHAOTIC, but wonderful.
You are very well traveled. I'd love to hear more about Belize. I want to visit there. I haven't been out of the country. (though I hope to go to Ireland next summer.) I'm from South Florida (the Keys). I moved to NC many years ago and live on a farm. That is where I met my hubby. I miss my Keys, though.
My retirement dream is to go back to the Keys and buy a place on the beach. Of course, I'd have to bring my horses. 🙂 And it wouldn't be a frugal way to live, though there are things that are very inexpensive down there if you know about them. Restaurants and utilities aren't. Fresh fish would be nice and the wildlife is breathtaking.
Super post, thanks so much for visiting my blog and following. ^_^
@Dot-Com
Good idea. How to Live Frugally would be a better idea.
@Robyn
When we move to Naples, FL, I'd love to visit the Keys. Perhaps you will return to the Keys to retire. Does your husband want to?
I live in a village in Botswana and healthcare, fair healthcare, is free from the government. $1500 is about P9000 which is a pretty good income here. You could definitely live well on that as long as you owned your house.
Rent in my village for a nice house is at least P3000, you'd be left with P6000 and you'd need to keep a budget especially if you want to save money to travel. But it is doable.
You could rent a mud rondaval for P50 though…
I hear Ecuador is a comfortable place to retire cheaply. Good health care, good climate in many places (Cuenca is high and has eternal spring)and lots of natural beauty and intersting culture.
Sounds good to me.