How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad [Hardcover]

Kathleen Peddicord (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 18, 2010

It's not just Florida anymore! This definitive step-by-step guide helps anyone to find, relocate, and save on a home away from home

The effects of the economic downturn on IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement savings plans have forced thousands of people to rethink their plans for retirement. But Kathleen Peddicord offers a cheaper option with all the benefits of a stateside retirement: liv­ing overseas.

Retiring abroad has never been more accessible or appealing. In addition to a sense of adventure, the allure of an idyllic locale, and the excitement of learning a new culture, Peddicord shows readers how living in an unconventional retirement destination can cost less than a traditional home in Arizona. This prescriptive guide answers every essential question potential ex-pats have, from instructions on setting up bank accounts to tips on locating great restaurants.

Peddicord has more than twenty-five years of experience helping thousands of people successfully and happily relocate to the retirement of their dreams. From remote and relatively unknown havens like Nicaragua to well-traveled areas in Italy, How to Retire Overseas is the ultimate guide to retiring abroad.

Editorial Reviews

Review

You owe it to yourself to pick up Kathleen Peddicord's superb new book How to Retire Overseas. I've known Kathleen for over a decade.  In short, she knows her stuff.
Alexander Green
--Investment U e-letter Alexander Green

...discusses the countries where retirees can live cheaply or even enjoy luxury living on a budget as well as the countries with the best health care. For anyone considering retiring overseas, this book is a must.
June Sawyers  Chicago Tribune

Kathleen Peddicord, author of How To Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad says you may be able to retire younger by exiting the U.S. for sunnier and more inexpensive countries. --US News and World Report

For those worried about finances, Latin America seems to be one of the safer bets, according to Kathleen Peddicord of Panama City, Panama, author of "How to Retire Overseas."
Shelley Emling I.H.T/N.Y. Times

If you're done hitting the alarm clock and you're thinking of throwing a dart at a map instead, stop first and read this. "How to Retire Overseas" could lend a refreshingly different look at your future. --Pittsburgh Tribune

From the Inside Flap

Imagine yourself at home- on the front steps leading to a sandy white Caribbean beach, sitting atop a balcony overlooking the streets in a bustling Latin American city, or inside a hillside villa in Europe- the retirement of your dreams. With a dash of adventure and an ounce of planning, you can turn your fantasies into reality- on any budget, without increasing your bills or sacrificing your lifestyle.

In this definitive guide, author Kathleen Peddicord uses over twenty-five years of experience to show anyone how to retire overseas, with or without retirement income. By providing critical questions for readers to answer, Peddicord helps determine where your ideal overseas home is located.  Once you know where you're headed, she outlines how to handle the move itself, and guides you through the process of establishing yourself in a foreign country, including how to:
*Find and rent or own a home
*Research and understand your tax liability
*Establish secure bank accounts
*Obtain health insurance and medical care
*Make friends in your new home
*Avoid common pitfalls and mistakes

With advice from the author's own experience living abroad as well as personal stories from the hundreds of retirees she's helped achieve their retirement goals, this essential guide helps anyone plan for and enjoy a new life overseas- for less money than a traditional retirement in the United States.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Street Press; 1 edition (March 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594630658
• ISBN-13: 978-1594630651
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Established in 2008, Live and Invest Overseas is the vision of Publisher Kathleen Peddicord.

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live and invest overseas beat for more than 28 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on overseas retirement. She has traveled to more than 50 countries, invested in real estate in 17, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland...then to Paris, France...and, most recently, to Panama City, where she, her husband Lief Simon, and their young son currently make their home and base their Live and Invest Overseas business.

Kathleen was Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the International Living group for 23 years. She moved on from that role in 2007.

Today, Kathleen writes a weekly retire-overseas blog for U.S. News & World Reports, The Huffington Post and is regularly quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, the AARP, and beyond. She has written innumerable books (including new ones released in March 2010 and April 2013), reports, and essays on where and how you can escape the retirement-tromping economy at home and live like royalty on a modest budget...invest for profits overseas ahead of the crowds...and secure your dream retirement in the world's best destinations.

Thanks to her years of travels and adventures abroad, Kathleen has been able to assemble an unparalleled network of global contacts, colleagues, friends, experts, resources, expats, and advisors. This team, with many decades of combined experience, is on the move continuously in search of new opportunity. Their insider, from-the-scene reports, dispatches, tips, recommendations, discoveries, and insights are delivered to Overseas Opportunity Letter readers daily.

An entirely free publication, you can sign up to receive this special dispatch here. http://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

191 of 196 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you even dreaming about moving overseas? Read this first. March 27, 2010

By Craig Matteson HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

One of my friends and his wife have just moved to Costa Rica to live more affordably and enjoy the nice weather. Health reversals and newly constrained finances made Ann Arbor less viable for him, but with his present means they can live comfortably in Costa Rica. God bless them. I hope everything is better for them than they had even hoped.

You might also be considering retiring overseas. I urge you to get and read this book to help you think things through before you take the plunge or act on the advice of someone who knows your sister's ex-husband.

Kathleen Peddicord has lived overseas for years and currently resides in Panama with her husband and son. Previously, they had lived in Ireland, and Paris.

I lived in Australia for a couple years as a young man and travelled for business in the 1990s. Now, I stay firmly rooted on the ground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But I can see the wanderlust in many of my friends' eyes.

She covers what you need to know very well.

Section I covers the 10 steps that you should do now while you are at home and considering a move overseas. Think about what you really want and can tolerate by way of change. What a realistic budget would be (this isn't going to be a two week splurge on a vacation). Examining the geography what it means to your connections back home and how you will live there. What would your tax implications be? What about your health insurance? What is the market there for rentals and home sales? What about the stuff you have accumulated for a lifetime? Maybe you want a part-time retirement over there.

Section II lists a bunch of specific topics that you can examine if they interest you. What if you are looking for cheap living? Top notch health care? Great weather? No language barriers? A solid American ex-pat community? These and more are in this section.

Section III lists that author's picks for the top 14 foreign retirement countries. No, my friend's choice of Costa Rica isn't there. And France is, strangely enough.

Section IV provides you with advice on how to settle in once you get there and making the most of your new mode of living.

Section V is very important because I have seen many Americans go overseas only to be disappointed that the new place isn't America. Folks, it won't be and never will be. The author helps you work through the common problems and panic attacks.

She provides a nice and helpful conclusion and an appendix with approximate costs of living in the 14 countries she has selected (in U.S. dollars) so you can understand if you can afford your dream move.

This book is well written, clearly laid out, and interesting if this is a subject that interests you even a little bit.

I think this is a very worthwhile book for those even dreaming about such a move.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction August 14, 2010

By K. Johnson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"How to Retire Overseas" by Kathleen Peddicord is a door opener for tens of millions of Americans that are entering into retirement age. The Golden Years are yours. All you have to do is move.

Retirement is Over in the US - This book is helpful in its information as well as making Americans realize that the concept of retirement in the United States was a short term phenomena in American history that is finished. And it's been over for some time. But even if Americans could retire in the US, living overseas can be much more interesting for some. But the positive is, we have a large and varied world to experience. Often, at the fraction of the cost of retiring in the US. The quality of life can be much higher also.

This book is divided into five sections.

One of the sections lists the top retirement countries according to author Kathleen Peddicord. Interestingly some of these (European) countries are expensive and may have prohibitive or difficult visa retirement regulations. I am surprised that any European nation is included at all, because Americans that can retire in Europe could also retire in the US in my opinion.

"How to Retire Overseas" seems to target the American citizens that have not traveled abroad for more than 2 weeks, nor have lived overseas as an expat. The recent economic downturn (which will last for years) is now causing many to contemplate retiring overseas and this is definitely worth considering.

A cost of living index for each country listed in the book is included and very important. The index is listed in US dollars, which is equally important, but it should be noted that the US dollar is on dubious ground. Many British retirees in Spain and elsewhere had to return to Britain after the British pound declined in value. Many of them sold everything in the UK, but later had to return. Diversifying investments out of the USD should be considered.

Of course, the quality of medical care must be evaluated, and those forgoing medicare can get top-quality care in many foreign countries. The (retirement) visa situation is something that may or may not change, but when it does, it's usually with short-term notice, or no warning at all.

In addition to this book, a person or couple should research online and most importantly, go to the country they're considering and spend a couple of month there, and learn "how things really work."

"How to Retire Overseas" is recommended for the curious, casual, and the serious.

101 of 115 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars OK if you just decided to retire outside the US yesterday... January 25, 2011

By R. Kelly

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

...but of little value if you have been thinking about it for a while and done *any* amount of research.

I have been thinking about retiring to France, so I bought this book based on the good reviews. I thought I would get a good overview of the topic of expat retirement and get some real info about retiring in France. No such luck.

In the France section, I was rather stunned by how little information was provided, almost nothing beyond expected rents! For instance, under the topic of income tax in France, the author states that the rate is 0-40%. Without giving some idea of the tax brackets, this information is absolutely worthless. She touts the benefit of buying a place to live in France, but never indicates if the mortgage interest is deductible under French Tax code--this is really potentially important.

She never writes about the ease or difficulty of getting a French retirement visa, prerequsites, disqualifications, monetary requirements, costs?? For example, Australia demands $750K be given to the government to hold in order to retire there, my question is "is there something like this in France"? No discussion at all.

And no discussion of what it costs to have a car in France. She indicates that she did not have one and did not feel the need for one. I could not imagine this.

And finally, the geek in me takes objection to her listing expected rents and other costs to as much as 4 significant figures when 2 would probably be appropriate.