FREEDOM
You say that you don’t have enough Money to retire?
We have huge mortgages and stress to pay those mortgages. Other people tell you that you need millions of dollars to retire.
We think that we are locked into living inside the USA until the day we die.
IT´S A LIE! We (Americans) have been brainwashed into thinking that we have to have a brand new huge house. Two new SUV’s, Every toy known to man, with huge mortgages and stress to make those payments until we are 80 years old….This is not freedom.
The truth is that a person can retire much sooner then they are led to believe. I for one am living proof that it can be done. And I live wherever I like!
One way is to sell all of the things that create stress in your life, and buy a sailboat as I did in the mid 90s and travel the pacific. Or you can keep all or most of your stuff and retire in a place where things cost much less than the USA.
While I was cruising the Pacific from 98 to 02, I spent 1 year and a half in Mexico, a year in Central America, and a year and a half in South America and the French Polynesian Islands of the South Pacific. In that 4 year period I spent 5 months in the Small country of Ecuador. Its climate, beaches, mountains, and mostly its people are what took hold of me, and hasn’t let go. I fell in love with the place and its people. I sold my boat after crossing the Pacific to Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora, and returned to the place that I had fallen in love with to live.
I have been here for over 7 years now. Have a beautiful Ecuadorian wife with which I have been married for almost 6 years, and a 2 ½ year old boy. We live on a beautiful 10 mile long beach with a sea that is warm, people that are friendly, and fresh foods every day. Wow, what a difference all these things make in the stress level….
One of the things about the lifestyle that I have here, is that even a person on social security, can live like a king! For example. We have a very nice house, with a guest house, a caretakers house, garage, shop, pickelball court, swim pool, all on a half acre right on the beach. My taxes are $32 per year! My electric bill for the entire property is around $20 per month! We cook with propane, and the exchangeable 10 gallon bottles are $1.60. Yes, that is $1.60 for the whole 10 gallon bottle exchange, not $1.60 per gallon! We eat out quite often, and a huge lunch of fresh fish, shrimp, chicken or beef, with fresh soups, rice, salad, menestra, and a fresh fruit juice, is $1 to $1.50! A quart of beer is .60 cents. Fillet mignon is $1.80 per lb. We make hamburger and stew with it! Fresh shrimp and fish from the fisherman on my beach is $1.00 per lb.!
When traveling, we go on the 1st class busses called ejecutivos (executive) that run $1 per hour of travel. A nice clean hotel runs between $5 to $15 per night per person.
Basically my family and I with our house paid for, live here very very well, including travel, eating out, hotels, paying the caretaker, electric, etc etc. for less than $700 per month! Others live on much less. By the way, the caretaker does everything from painting the house to taking care of our extensive flower and plant gardens, and lawn, to maintaining and building whatever pops up for $45 per week.
The cost of labor here is low. A maestro (journeyman type) is around $15 a day, and a laborer is around $7 per day. Building costs are also very low depending of course, on how lavish you want to build it. I have a small Polynesian style house that I built for my caretaker that is around 500 Square feet, and finished nicely for $2000. Yes that is two thousand dollars.
By the way, the currency here is Ecuador is the United States dollar! It is very easy to access your money from the states from cash machines. I use bill pay on my bank account in the states, or pay pal to send money to whomever I want in the states. My credit card bill is automatically withdrawn from my bank account and air miles credited at the same time. It is all so easy to do. We do have a home in the states. It has 6 tires and a motor so that we can live wherever we want when we want. We put insurance on it when we are there and cancel when we are not. We have no telephone bill, no house insurance, and no car insurance, except when we are there in the U.S.A. NO BILLS!
Here in Ecuador, we have pay as you go cell phones, wireless internet, DirecTV, a car that we use for local trips, and that is about it.
We work on things when we want, we play in the waves, we walk almost every afternoon on the beach with little Archie, walk into town and have lunch and or dinner when we don’t feel like cooking, and we enjoy evening sunsets from the terrace or beach. There is a town close by called Bahia De Caraquez that has some cultural things, theater, an international marina ( that Mercy and I started a few years ago) high-rise condos, etc.
A few friends with sail boats here from the states have purchased penthouse condos with views of the ocean and river, for $30k to $70k. The same thing in California would be millions, and we have a warm ocean!
It is very easy here to get a retirement visa, and costs around $800. It allows you to come and go as you please. You only need to show proof of income of $700 per month or more to qualify. There are also other types of visas which don’t require income verification, but do require an investment.
Anyway, back to the main subject of retirement. The truth is that you DO NOT NEED to have millions of dollars to retire. You do need to have the desire to change your life and maybe live in paradise, do a little planning, and make the decision when you are ready.
There are many foreigners here that live full time, and many that come to 2nd homes here for vacations. Some that lives here part time and then goes home to work a few months and then live here comfortably for the rest of the year.
I have a neighbor here that has a small hotel and they go to the states and drive long haul truck for 2 months and make 20k and then come and live here for the other 10 months on the $ that they made, and the extra they put into their construction and upgrade their hotel. They watch their money and live comfortably. What do you need millions of dollars for anyway? To have your kids fight over it when you’re gone? To go to court and try and protect it from all the people who want to sue you for it….. The real truth is that it isn’t worth it. Do something that you love to do, go somewhere with your wife or husband and family, and enjoy time, not be stressed out about it. Do it while you have your health, and your bones aren’t fragile…
I am reminding you to enjoy your life, whether you are retired or not. And that there are options available. Have a plan on how you can achieve your financial goals, and work toward those goals. Part of that is becoming debt free. I am here to tell you that it can be done. Wow, what a concept…. Debt free. Now that is freedom!
Gary, Mercy, and little Archie
Contact Gary at gary@ecuadoredg.com
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