BY: Kathleen Peddicord
Shipping your belongings across international borders...moving with your children...or a pet...obtaining residency...getting a visa...opening a bank account...getting the best international phone rates...learning a new language...using VOIP...obtaining an international driver's license...working with an overseas real estate agent...shopping for international health insurance...
This is everything we wish someone had told us before we set off on our own live and invest overseas adventures. And it's available to you right now Free. Details here.
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The Dominican Republic is the best option for a new life in the Caribbean right now...our favorite Caribbean island haven...and a place you should know about.
That's why we dispatched Roving Editor Rebecca Tyre to this island nation last week. This was Rebecca's first visit to the DR. Her initial report?
"I'm blown away by what this place has to offer..."
Rebecca continues:
Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
"Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from the place.
"I knew that the Dominican Republic has great beaches and that, as a result, it attracts big volumes of tourists every year. I knew many people who had traveled to Punta Cana or La Romana to spend a week at an all-inclusive resort, but I'd never met anyone who had chosen to become a DR expat.
"Based on that limited experience, I came to the misguided conclusion that the Dominican Republic is a great vacation spot...but not a place to consider for the longer term.
"I've returned today from a 10-day trip to the island, and, I have to tell you, my initial assumptions were all wrong.
"Yes, there were thousands of tourists and incredibly beautiful beaches, but the Dominican Republic has so much more to offer.
"The island is small, about twice the size of the state of New Hampshire, yet it offers an estimated 1,000 miles of pristine, white-sand beaches, most of them completely empty of people. Sure, in the resort areas, the beaches are filled with tourists, but walk just a few short miles away in either direction and you can find yourself completely alone on some of the most picturesque stretches of sand you will ever lay eyes on.
"Dominicans are extremely friendly and hospitable people. I know that sounds like a cliché, but they truly are warm and welcoming. I have been living in Panama for more than three years. I'm single. Young. I've gotten used to being whistled at and called out to by local men as they pass me on the street. I was expecting the same thing in the Dominican Republic. But I was wrong. I didn't hear one catcall.
"Dominicans realize that the island's tourism industry lives or dies on the experience of every visitor. If you have an enjoyable vacation experience, you want to come back and you tell your friends about it when you get home.
"I felt safe walking the streets of Las Terrenas, a town on the Samana Peninsula, at night, by myself. I believe it is increasingly difficult to get this feeling in many places around the globe. The Dominican Republic is still one place where you are not targeted because you are obviously a foreigner.
"I spent a lot of time driving around the country, which is one of the best ways to get to know a country. The landscape is breathtaking. From the big, tree-covered mountains in Los Haitises National Park to the green Caribbean Sea splashing on to the white sand along the miles of coastline, every turn in the road brings you an ever-more-awesome view.
"The cost of living is much less than in the United States or Europe. To rent a comfortable one-bedroom apartment within walking distance of the beach will set you back about US$400 a month. The cost of groceries is comparable to that in Panama. Expect to pay about US$2.50 for a tube of toothpaste. Gasoline is more expensive than in many countries; it's selling for the equivalent of about US$4.25 a gallon.
"Like many places around the world right now, the Dominican Republic's real estate market is down...way, way down. Construction companies are laying off workers, and real estate agencies are closing their doors.
"Which is to say, there is a serious window of opportunity on this island right now. If you are a buyer with cash, name your price. What could you buy? How about a brand-new, one-bedroom apartment about a five-minute walk from a pristine Caribbean beach for US$100,000...or even less.
"Interested in something bigger? I saw one top-of-the-line condo, about 250 square meters, sitting with the beach on its doorstep. Finished and furnished to an impressive standard. In a full-amenities development. Even the asking price is a good deal, given what you're buying...but I'd bet that, if you made a cash offer, you might buy this for 50 cents on the asking-price dollar. The seller needs cash.
"More on this later in the week.
"The Dominican Republic isn't your typical Caribbean getaway. It's more international than you might expect...certainly more cosmopolitan, in some ways, than I expected.
"Have a craving for blue cheese, authentic French baguettes, or fresh gnocchi? In the DR, you can find all of these things. French and Italians settled on the island about 30 years ago. They've since developed an extensive and diverse culinary, business, and service infrastructure...geared toward other expats.
"Getting to the Dominican Republic can be difficult. If you live in the States, most flights to the island connect via Miami.
"One travel option I recommend is to purchase an airfare-only ticket from a charter vacation company. These kinds of tickets can be more expensive than a conventional commercial ticket, but they typically allow you to fly direct from major U.S. and Canadian cities to your DR destination.
"The Dominican Republic was such an unexpected and pleasant surprise that I am already thinking about when I might be able to return for another vacation.
"And, if the opportunity were to present itself, I wouldn't think twice about living there for a while..."
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. Rebecca has a whole lot more to share regarding her recent experiences in the Dominican Republic. I've asked her to prepare a series of reports on the current (crisis) real estate market...her favorite beach...residency, visa, banking, and tax issues... real-life stories from expats who've chosen the island for their new lives in paradise...
Plus off-the-record tips, stories, and recommendations.
"Hold nothing back," I've urged Rebecca. "We want the real deal."
Rebecca has delighted us here in the office all morning with her tales. Don't worry. I'll make sure you benefit from her adventures, too. Watch this space.
Meantime, Rebecca will be sharing her stories live and in person during our How To Retire Overseas Conference in Panama City next month. This two-day program will introduce you to the world's top 12 overseas havens right now. Yes, the DR is on that list. Rebecca will fill you in.
Full How To Retire Overseas program details here.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Reinventing Retirement
Many baby boomers plan to keep working and earning money during their retirement years, but will alternate between periods of work and leisure, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch.
Reinventing Retirement
The New Retirement Survey builds on the conventional wisdom that many baby boomers are not interested in pursuing a traditional retirement of leisure.
"Baby boomers fundamentally will reinvent retirement,” said James P. Gorman, president of the Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group, in a news release about the survey. “With (baby) boomers living longer and remaining engaged and employed beyond age 65, many of the traditional financial assumptions regarding retirement need to be reexamined.”
Highlights of the Baby Boomer Survey
Created with guidance from gerontologist and author Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., The New Retirement Survey offers a preview of the different lifestyles, workstyles and recreation activities that baby boomers envision for their future.
Here are highlights of the survey, from a news release by Merrill Lynch:
- The new retirement "turning point." While 76% of baby boomers intend to keep working and earning in retirement, on average they expect to "retire" from their current job/career at around age 64, and then launch into an entirely new job or career.
- Taking advantage of their "longevity bonus," baby boomers will create a whole new life stage. Since the time that Social Security established the "normal" retirement age at 65, life expectancy for a 65-year-old has increased by over seven years and continues to lengthen.
As a result of living longer, baby boomers plan to be "younger" longer and to work longer.
Most baby boomers who responded to the survey (65%) will stop working for pay and retire in the traditional sense at some point. However, that phase is more likely to begin in the late 60's than at age 60 or 65.
- Baby boomers reject a life of either full-time leisure or full-time work. When asked about their ideal work arrangement in retirement, the most common choices among baby boomers in the survey would be to:
- Repeatedly "cycle" between periods of work and leisure (42%)
- Have part-time work (16%)
- Start their own business (13%)
- Work full time (6%)
Only 17% of the baby boomers in the survey reported that they hope to never work for pay again.
- It's not about the money. While 37% of the baby boomers in the survey indicate that continued earnings is a very important part of the reason they intend to keep working, 67% assert that continued mental stimulation and challenge is what will motivate them to stay in the game.
- The transformation of the "me" generation into the "we" generation.The "me" generation has grown up — now with deep concerns for the well-being of their children, their parents and their communities.
Baby boomers are now 10 times more likely to "put others first" (43%) than "put themselves first" (4%).
- The unpredictable cost of illness and healthcare is by far baby boomers' biggest fear. They are three times more worried about a major illness (48%), their ability to pay for healthcare (53%) or winding up in a nursing home (48%), than about dying (17%).
- Baby boomer women are better educated, more independent, are simultaneously juggling more work and family responsibilities and are more financially engaged than any generation in history. According to the survey, married baby boomer women are more than six times more likely to share responsibility for savings and investments compared to their mothers' generation (33% now vs. 5% then).
- Baby boomer women are dreaming of retiring to Mars while baby boomer men hope to retire to Venus. Baby boomer men are looking forward to working less, relaxing more, and spending more time with their spouse. Baby boomer women view the dual liberations of empty nesting and retirement as providing new opportunities for career development, community involvement and continued personal growth.
- Financial preparedness is the gateway to retirement freedom and the antidote to retirement phobia. Accumulating the resources baby boomers believe they need for retirement freedom (81%), rather than age (56%) or any other variable, was cited as the most decisive factor for when they choose to retire.
And recognizing the growing uncertainty of government entitlements like Social Security, baby boomers who have a plan and feel prepared are twice as optimistic and far less fearful compared with those who do not.
- One size does not fit all. When it comes to retirement dreams and preparedness, the survey found that there are five distinct and different baby boomer groups: Empowered Trailblazers, Wealth-Builders, Leisure Lifers, Anxious Idealists, and the Stretched and Stressed. The survey followed each group to determine how they are faring and what their plans are to meet their retirement goals.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Clock ticks louder on Medicare and Social Security
2:02 PM, May 12, 2009
The deep recession will mean a faster road to insolvency for Medicare and Social Security, the programs' trustees warn today in their annual reports on the plans.
Their findings won’t shock anyone, and we’ve all been reading the same grim headlines about Medicare and Social Security for decades, to the point of numbness. The only difference is that the day the money theoretically runs out is getting ever closer -- particularly for Medicare.
Social Security now is expected to begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the trust fund will be empty by 2037, four years sooner.
As for Medicare, it's already paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes, and the trustees estimate the program will be insolvent by 2017, two years sooner than projected in last year's report.
Sslogo Read the summary of the trustees' reports here.
With the government already racking up unprecedented budget deficits to bail out the economy and the financial system, the prospect of funding shortfalls in Medicare and Social Security becomes even more daunting. Will the Chinese pay for our retirement, too?
Unless some huge portion of the 76 million aging baby boomers decide to leave the country (for, say, Canada?), the options for keeping the programs solvent aren’t going to change: raise taxes or cut benefits spending, or both.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said President Obama "explicitly rejects the notion that Social Security is an untouchable politically and instead believes there is opportunity for a new consensus on Social Security reform."
As the trustees’ report notes:
Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years with changes equivalent to an immediate 16% increase in the payroll tax (from a rate of 12.4% to 14.4%) or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13%, or some combination of the two.
Ensuring that the system remains solvent on a sustainable basis beyond the next 75 years would require larger changes because increasing longevity will result in people receiving benefits for ever longer periods of retirement.
-- Tom Petruno
The deep recession will mean a faster road to insolvency for Medicare and Social Security, the programs' trustees warn today in their annual reports on the plans.
Their findings won’t shock anyone, and we’ve all been reading the same grim headlines about Medicare and Social Security for decades, to the point of numbness. The only difference is that the day the money theoretically runs out is getting ever closer -- particularly for Medicare.
Social Security now is expected to begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the trust fund will be empty by 2037, four years sooner.
As for Medicare, it's already paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes, and the trustees estimate the program will be insolvent by 2017, two years sooner than projected in last year's report.
Sslogo Read the summary of the trustees' reports here.
With the government already racking up unprecedented budget deficits to bail out the economy and the financial system, the prospect of funding shortfalls in Medicare and Social Security becomes even more daunting. Will the Chinese pay for our retirement, too?
Unless some huge portion of the 76 million aging baby boomers decide to leave the country (for, say, Canada?), the options for keeping the programs solvent aren’t going to change: raise taxes or cut benefits spending, or both.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said President Obama "explicitly rejects the notion that Social Security is an untouchable politically and instead believes there is opportunity for a new consensus on Social Security reform."
As the trustees’ report notes:
Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years with changes equivalent to an immediate 16% increase in the payroll tax (from a rate of 12.4% to 14.4%) or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13%, or some combination of the two.
Ensuring that the system remains solvent on a sustainable basis beyond the next 75 years would require larger changes because increasing longevity will result in people receiving benefits for ever longer periods of retirement.
-- Tom Petruno
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
VILCABAMBA ECUADOR - GROWING ORGANIC FOOD
Mike Adams in Ecuador grows his own food and is demonstrating a unique water pump that runs on compressed air.
GEITHNER ON SOCIAL SECURITY/MEDICARE
All Baby Bommers - This is very important to read and understand. The US government's assessment of the solvency of the social security and medicare systems. We Baby Boomer's cannot afford to place our future in the hands of the government. Sec. Geithner states that medicare will be insolvent by 2017..Social security by 2037!!
We all need to find alternatives to retiring in the US. There are many great options. We continue to preview and discuss these in this blog.
This is not intended as "the sky is falling" hype. . This short video provides more useful information based on real data provided by the US Government. It affects us all and should be used to help plan and assess every Baby Boomer's future...
We all need to find alternatives to retiring in the US. There are many great options. We continue to preview and discuss these in this blog.
This is not intended as "the sky is falling" hype. . This short video provides more useful information based on real data provided by the US Government. It affects us all and should be used to help plan and assess every Baby Boomer's future...
Friday, May 8, 2009
How one couple found golden opportunities in Ecuador that changed their lives forever Author: Suzan Haskins
If it weren’t for Gary and Merri Scott I might be in a different place. In fact, I could still be living in Omaha, Nebraska, braving the miserable winters. Still writing annual reports and ad copy and only dreaming about what might be.
For more than 40 years, Gary has been writing a newsletter about international investing. He has been a contributing editor of International Living since its founding. He and Merri don’t just talk the talk. They’ve lived in Hong Kong and London, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. Their curiosity has taken them around the world many times over. They’ve given countless seminars, spoken at myriad conferences, and written many columns and articles (and even a few books).
When Gary first started exploring and writing about Ecuador in 1995, International Living readers were among the first in the world to discover the opportunities this little South American country offers the foreign expat.
“When we started taking groups to Ecuador for seminars on real estate, business, and investing, we figured we would help people make money while at the same time helping the country,” Gary says. “We didn’t even begin to imagine the benefits we would gain beyond this, though. Our experiences in Ecuador have changed our entire way of life.”
Gary’s writing and Merri’s enthusiasm for Ecuador have affected many lives…including my husband’s and mine. We read those early articles Gary wrote…and in late 2001 we found ourselves living in Quito, Ecuador, as part of the International Living team.
Since then, we’ve gotten to know Gary and Merri well and we now count them among our closest friends. Their passion for the things that interest them can’t be ignored. In fact, I believe that if you visit Ecuador—and especially if you are lucky enough to spend time there with the Scotts—you, too, will fall under its spell.
Gary and Merri have a unique outlook on the world. They believe in socially responsible investing. They study Ayurvedic principles of thought and medicine and believe in the healing powers of Amazon shamans and supplements derived from jungle plants. Above all, they believe in instinct and destiny, and that when you follow your passions in life everything else falls into place.
It was this self-confidence that led them to Ecuador in the first place.
As part of his interest in investing in global currencies, Gary had been watching fluctuations of the sucre, which was then Ecuador’s official currency. (In 2000, the sucre was abandoned in favor of the U.S. dollar.) He saw opportunities emerging in Ecuador because of the country’s economic struggles.
As he did more research, though, he became more enamored with Ecuador. Just a four-hour flight from the U.S., he learned that because of its location on the equator and its geologic DNA, the country is environmentally rich. The towering Andean mountain range runs spine-like from north to south, dropping sharply to the Pacific coast on the west and the Amazon basin to the east, sheltering every imaginable climate and micro-system.
“It’s the closest country to the U.S. where you can find direct sunlight 365 days a year,” Gary says. “The opportunities for tourism and agriculture are practically unlimited. When I first started writing about Ecuador, the country was in the midst of an economic crisis. Real estate prices were rock bottom.”
Gary and Merri took their first trip to Ecuador in early 1995. They liked what they saw, and soon they were leading tours there, introducing others to the opportunities they found.
“We knew that 65% of Ecuador’s population are indigenous people,” Gary says. “And after several trips there, we learned that the spiritual leaders of the indigenous people lived in the Andes. We heard so many wonderful things about these philosophers and healers that we felt compelled to take a special trip to meet them.”
On their next trip, the Scotts and some friends found their way to a small mountain village where many of the Taita Yatchak (“father of fathers” in the Quichua dialect) shamans and their apprentices live. Often third- or fourth-generation healers, they begin their studies at an early age and travel around South and Central America (and elsewhere) to train with the greatest healers in each of these places.
A few months later the Scotts found themselves on yet another journey. This one would change their lives profoundly and forever link them with Ecuador.
“We were incredibly honored to be invited to go with the Taita Yatchaks into a hidden valley in the Andes,” Merri explains. “They told us no foreigners or outsiders had ever been there before. Only later did we find out that this valley is considered a spiritual center and that during colonial times, the Spanish thought it contained the fountain of youth.”
Since learning of the Scotts’ story I’ve done some research on this valley. Called the Llanganatis Valley, many of the indigenous people refuse to call it by name, believing that doing so brings the curse of immediate death. It is also rumored that the Incas hid an incredible treasure of gold, silver, and gemstones there centuries ago.
This legend seems to be based on some truth. A Spanish historian, writing soon after the conquest, says that when Pizarro captured the Inca chief Atahualpa in 1532, the two leaders made a deal. Pizarro would release his captive for a huge ransom of gold, silver, and emeralds. The treasure began pouring in and soon filled a large stateroom in Atahualpa’s palace.
In a dastardly double cross, Pizarro killed Atahualpa. Atahualpa’s half-brother, Rumi˜aui, then had the treasure spirited away and buried in the Llanganatis Valley. Many explorers and treasure seekers over the years have attempted to find it, including one named Juan de Valverde who left behind documents that supposedly map the way to its location. In the late 1800s and into recent times, many adventurers have sought and failed to find the treasure. And many have met with an early demise, fueling the legend.
Thankfully, no misadventure came to the Scotts on their expedition into the mysterious valley. In fact, says Gary, “None of us had ever had so much fun. On the first day we were more tired than I can describe. We were bone weary from our heavy packs, every muscle aching from fighting the altitude-thinned air and the sucking mud, which regularly pulled off our boots.
“We stayed in a floorless, leaky thatch hut, sleeping on dirt, no heat except the cooking fire and no running water. To our surprise, the next day we all felt wonderful. We explored the valley, which is perpetually wrapped in mist and fog. We swam in small icy, deep blue lagoons and did ancient exercises while the Taita Yatchak talked with us about longevity and health.”
Certain now that Ecuador was the place for them, Gary and Merri bought a 962-acre plantation in a valley in Ecuador called Rosapamba. (They also own a 250-acre farm near Lansing, North Carolina, where they spend the summer months.) Only accessible by horseback or a four-wheel-drive vehicle, Rosapamba was the perfect place for them to relax, meditate, and study further with the shamans.
With friends, they also founded Land of the Sun (www.landofthesun.org), a public charitable foundation, to help reduce global poverty. Concentrating their efforts in Ecuador, the group bought Hotel El Meson de las Flores in Cotacachi, a small village high in the Andes about two hours north of Quito by car.
Hotel El Meson is a comfortable and welcoming place for travelers, and it’s becoming the expat meeting place in Cotacachi. There’s a large free-lending library, where you’ll often hear children laughing and chattering. Volunteers give free English lessons there.
The local indigenous people who work in the hotel have received training in business development and tourism and want the experience of working in the hospitality industry.
Dressed in their colorful traditional clothes, they take much pride in their work, evident by all the special little details.
They happily keep the courtyard filled with fresh flowers, and hold back some to tuck on the pillow of your bed. They painstakingly carve tiny flowers from radishes and other vegetables to add a touch of whimsy to the generous portions of food served in the hotel restaurant.
The hotel’s Quinoa Café is one of the best restaurants in town. It serves reasonably priced, healthy meals made from local organic fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, and other products from local markets.
Every day, the restaurant prepares more than enough food…Merri has made it her goal to see that no one in town goes hungry. You’ll often see the town’s poorest people standing quietly outside with plastic containers, waiting patiently for the food that is warmly shared.
Land of the Sun has also been involved in reforestation and water projects, and supports many community efforts in Cotacachi. (If you go there looking for something to do, you won’t be disappointed.)
The library at Hotel El Meson is used for many of the courses and seminars Gary and Merri offer in Ecuador, like International Business Made EZ seminars and Lozanov-system Spanish-language learning retreats. El Meson is also the launching point for the shamanic tours, Import and Export expeditions, and real estate tours they offer.
Gary and Merri walk the walk with Ecuador real estate, too. “Real estate prices are still very low in Ecuador,” Gary says, “On our recent tours, we’ve seen new condos selling for less than $50,000 in the mountains and less than $80,000 on the beach. We’ve found 20-acres farms for $50,000 and custom-made hacienda-style homes for less than $100,000.”
In addition to Rosapamba, Gary and Merri have bought several condos and a casita in Cotacachi and are hard at work renovating a building around the corner from El Meson into a four-unit apartment building. Near the town of San Clemente on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast, they’ve just finished the construction and furnishing of an oceanfront penthouse condo.
Summers in North Carolina, winters in Ecuador…constantly incubating the next idea and working on the next project…will they ever slow down, I asked them recently?
No way, Gary says. “The mantra we have used in our business courses for over 20 years is to turn your passion into profit. And we do this. We do what we love and love whomever and whatever we write about. To us it is a privilege to be able to share what we experience. Truthfully, we feel like we’re just getting started. Each day we rise with anticipation with what we get to do. It’s better than golf or fishing to us, and we have no plans to stop. We feel the longer we do this the more experience we have and the better we get.”
Learn more about Gary Scott’s international investing ideas at: www.garyascott.com. To read more about Gary’s newsletter about multi-currency investing, see: www.internationalliving.com/multicurrency. To learn more about the Scott’s experience in Ecuador, see: www.ecuadorliving.com.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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