Where can you Afford to Live in Retirement

Retirement time is getting near and for some people there are decisions to make. Once your retirement income has been determined, you need to figure out exactly where you can afford to live, and what kind of climate you would like to live in. You are free now you can live any where you want to, north, south ,east or west. Maybe you want to become an Expat, there are millions of those in the world. You say, "Whats an Expat?" well that is an American citizen usually retired who chooses to live out of the U.S.A.. Usually for better living conditions at a much more affordable price that living in the same house he has always had, or maybe you would want a condo on the beach, but thats not a cheap way to live. That's why a lot of people are choosing to live in a foreign country, to be able to live an above average life style that they can afford. I saw an article on the internet recently talking about living abroad, it listed what it would cost to live in almost every major city in the world, except the Philippines, why did it skip the Philippines, I dont know except that they may consider it a 3rd world country, and it is, but it is still a nice place to live, with nice cities and good roads, So i am going to tell you about the Phlippines.

There are many good places to live in the world, but lets talk about the Philippines. The Philppines is a cluster of over 5000 islands, all but a few are inhabited. There are 40 dialects but only three main languages Tagalog, Cebuano and English, education is emphasized by everyone the goal is to go to college,not many can afford  it, they feel everyone should have a basic education, the population is about 86 million, the national capitol is Manila, the other major cities are Cebu, Davao, General Santos city, those are the main big cities. Most of the population is centered around Manila on the Island of Luzon. If you took the total land put it all together with no water you would have a land mass the size of the State of New Mexico. Can you imagine 86 millon people in New Mexico?? Now we have to compare the cost of living.

Products made in the Philippines are very reasoable in price, imported things are much more expensive. there is pretty good employment here, but many are unemployed because not enough jobs, some of the things they make here are digital cameras,Timex watches. clothing for big retailers, wiring harnesses for cars, and the list go on and on.

The living costs are reasonable, and so is the transportation (see picture above) , if you want to go to the next town ten miles away it would cost you 8pesos, in US money thats about 16 cents. In your city try to ride that far for that price. The next big island is a 12 hour boat ride away, but it only costs you 900pesos, and that includes a bunk to sleep in if you want, so travel and living here is reasonable. Here are the bench marks set in the other article I read.

2 bedroom apartment 7000p using exchang rate 44 to one = $159.00 usd

2 Chicken diners 450p complete $10.22

Internet hi-speed wi-fi 900p per month $ 20.45

So even when you add in food it still come out very reasonable living, other things are just as reasonable . Monthly telephone $12.00 a month, electric of course depends on how much you use , the basic is 500p a month, so you can see the cost is very reasonable. i don't have a car and don't want one, going home from the mall a taxi costs me $2.00 thats 10miles.

Philippines would be high on my places to live if i were gong to be an Expat. I am and I do live here, near Cebu city.