Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hi there guys!

I'd like to open up this topic to discuss the best ERE countries.
In particular, is it a good choice to think about moving to a country where the cost of living is 10 times lower than the cost of living you have in your home country? Why not? (keeping in mind you are not going to have an inflated lifestyle, even if you have low cost of living.)

Just to give an example:
If I would need 7k/y in the US, I could do it with 2k/y (or even less) in Tunisia.

Isn't this the same question as your other thread? Find where you want to live, then use the principles of ERE to craft a lifestyle you desire. Moving to an area solely for low cost of living is not a good idea.

theanimal wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 17, 2023 3:25 pm

Isn't this the same question as your other thread? Find where you want to live, then use the principles of ERE to craft a lifestyle you desire. Moving to an area solely for low cost of living is not a good idea.

This would be a pretty interesting topic, so better discuss in the right section
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Sometimes, moving to a cheaper place could have positive surprises.

Cost of living in a country is important, but you need to also see if you are a good "cultural fit" (as these corporations are talking about). Also in some countries, it's hard to get around if you don't know the local language. Many cheaper countries don't work well, with corrupt politicians and bad bureaucracy. Also many of them have high crime rates. Poverty leads to more crime.

I don't think there is one. It depends too much of personal circumstances and preferences. Indeed looking at it from country perspective might be thought limiting. Even very small countries can have big variation in say COL depending on where you are.

Strangely (or maybe not) I keep coming back to the UK as a worthy candidate for early retirement from my own point of view.

This might at first seem a strange thing for an Australian to say, so allow me to provide some supporting details.

Firstly, as someone who is a single male and happy that way and who prefers to live in small spaces, UK housing is actually eminently more suitable. There's a strongly entrenched culture of house sharing among professionals and the middle class (different from Australia where a large proportion of the population prefer to greedily own much more space than they use and house sharing seem to be predominantly students and recent arrivals who aren't necessarily the easiest to get along with). This makes renting in the UK (including outer London) both more affordable and more attractive to me than renting in equivalent areas of Australia.

Secondly, the facilities and environment overall I found to be excellent. Many walkable and commutable suburbs/villages. Many public parks, gyms, swimming pools. Train network that traverses most of the country. The weather isn't that bad either – actually Sydney gets more rain than London of late, and London is rarely too cold for a brisk walk. Pollution levels (measured by AirVisual) are pretty similar to Australia. The UK doesn't tend to suffer from bushfires or floods as parts of Australia and North America do.

Thirdly, the UK immigration program is one of the easiest and most straightforward in the world. One can work part-time (at least in theory) on the skilled worker visa, and after 5 years plus a relatively small expenditure, can obtain citizenship.

Fourthly, the UK has one of the best and most stable financial systems in the world, with a strong currency, full set of stock investment funds and its own inflation-linked bonds (known as "gilts").

Fifthly, as an English-speaking country, I would always have a much easier experience in the UK dealing with all affairs from immigration to taxes to finding accommodation.

Those are my thoughts on the UK, and I'm looking into pursuing a visa sometime next year, though Ireland might be an interesting alternative.

conwy wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:48 am

Yes the UK is a surprisingly ERE friendly country. Free healthcare is another big benefit. Housing can be expensive although if your flexible on region and/or space then it can be more affordable. Are you still in London @Conwy ?

chenda wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 20, 2023 2:51 pm

Yes the UK is a surprisingly ERE friendly country. Free healthcare is another big benefit. Housing can be expensive although if your flexible on region and/or space then it can be more affordable. Are you still in London @Conwy ?

Not currently, as I got an exceptionally good rental deal in Sydney, seemingly from sheer luck. However I'm feeling nostalgic for London and chances are good that I'll try for a UK visa in 2024 or 2025 if circumstances permit.

Another little bonus of UK citizenship: you can move to Jersey. For tax reasons, an investor might find it useful.

Belgium really is not too bad. Excellent universal healthcare. Extremely affordable education, also for craft/hobby things. No capital gains tax. Very good public transportation infrastructure. Cheap real estate in some interesting areas. Good cycling infrastructure and English spoken in others. Excellent food. Temperate climate. No income tax up to about 1k€/month.

OP: I have mentioned somewhere in the past Scotland, but now that there is no easy entry for EU citizens it is less so. For those who are already here, still so.

Tangent: @loutfard do you know any folk that work within the EU structures? If yes then what sort of crowd that is in your view? 'No particular crowd' - this is a valid answer !

guitarplayer wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 26, 2024 3:23 pm

Tangent: @loutfard do you know any folk that work within the EU structures? If yes then what sort of crowd that is in your view? No particular crowd - this is a valid answer !

Are you asking me if I know any eurocrats, EP's etcetera? Yes I do. It would be hard not to. The sausage factory is large. It has so many on staff, and it's the same at many suppliers. Many boring overpaid people producing sausages. Some incredibly creative and inventive ones tinkering with the sausage machines more or less successfully.

Yep that’s what I meant, sorry I’d realised it in retrospect I wasn’t very clear. Thanks for the insight!