Chennai and other Retirement Destinations?

[senator]

Is Chennai a nice city to live in?

Is it less polluted than Mumbai or New Delhi?

Retirement time is near.


Any other suggestions for foreign countries to retire to? I know all about Ecuador - Panama - Belize, etc. I'm looking for more out of the way, non-Central/South American places.

Thanks for any help.

[fine dude]

Penang, Malaysia (You get 10-year retirement visa)
Chiangmai, Thailand
Vung Tau / Hanoi, Vietnam
Algarve, Portugal (if your nest egg is big enough)

[PsyGuy]

Im surprised you asked about anywhere in India. What do you define as "nice"?

Yes, its less polluted, but if you have any type of environmental sensitivity, your going to feel like you have an never ending allergic condition. Its very inexpensive to live off the economy. What are your medical needs? Its not the place you want to be with something like cancer.

I wouldnt agree with Penyang, its an expensive location.

Chiangmai is nice, lot of retirees and self employed consultants. Its also getting a little too full, and costs are going up. There are other parts of Thiland outside Bangkok that are inexpensive, and less crowdeed, but are also more rural with fewer services and amenities. HatYai is said the be the new Chiangmai, with easy access to Malaysia (KL).

Id agree with Vietnam, but then add Laos, and Cambodia, they arent that much different, cost less than Bangkok, and you can still get there pretty easily.

Portugal is very nice, but if you can afford Algarve than you can afford a lot of places.

Id add:
1) Southern parts of Taiwan (anything outside Taipei) Cantina, has some nice beaches and is very inexpensive.
2) Yangon/Myanmar, up and coming city, still young and growing. Very reasonable now, probably get more expensive over the next 20 years.
3) Philippines, cheap, lot of expats, lot of fun for single guys.
4) Indonesia, one of the smaller islands if you want peace and quite. Bali if you have the coin.

[Helen Back]

One of the questions you might want to ask yourself is, where will your kids be living? You might not have kids now, but you might in the future. I only really thought about places in Asia, but since having kids I've thought more about Mexico and Central America. Basically, places that would be easy to travel to for my kids, if they were living in North America. I think this will probably become more important as we get older.

[Jay_Jay]

fine dude wrote:
> Chiangmai, Thailand
> Vung Tau / Hanoi, Vietnam

With the Formosa fish scare and how the government reacted to this...I would seriously look again at any long term stays in Vn.

CM is lovely and even with the coup, foreigners are never bothered...unless you are a drunk Russian that likes to "fight", and then it turns in to getting your ass kicked by 20 locals.

[PsyGuy]

@Helen Back

LW already stated they knew about LCSA, and were looking elsewhere.

[senator]

Thanks, Guys.

Psyguy:

I mention India because I am only in my 50's and in excellent health, so I thought to do 10 years cheap, live like a kid for a while, and travel back and forth to Sri Lanka, where I have been and love.

I agree with you about Penang - I found housing pretty expensive compared to Malaysia just outside KL.
And I do love Laos and have thought about Vientiane and Luoang Prabang.

I don't have kids, don't want kids, so I can go any distance.

I have looked at The Philippines - loved Palawan. Thinking about going over to check out the Cebu and Baguio areas this summer.

I get International Living magazine, but they are focused mainly on Central/South America and Mexico with a little of Europe thrown in.

[buffalofan]

Chiang Mai, no way. Brutally hot and horrific air pollution several months out of the year (worse than BKK), very touristy, and a long way from the sea. I can't understand what people see in Chiang Mai.

Penang would be an option to consider, especially if the RM stays weak. Always loved the place.

Kampot, Cambodia for a quieter place, although it's getting busier. 10 years ago I would have said Phnom Penh, but it has lost a lot of its charm.

HCMC if you like city life.

Lots of quiet sea side spots in Mexico.

I love India as travel destination, but it doesn't strike me as a good place to retire.

[senator]

Buffalofan,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have been to Kampot - a little too out of the way, though I could easily make it to the beaches of Sihanoukville in a few hours.

I think I'll research Mexico a little more.

[PsyGuy]

@senator

Have you thought of relocating to Sri Lanka? I know you say 10 years but you dont have to stay if you dont like it. Pack a bag, go to India, get a hostel for a week, find a place to rent, fill the cold box with beer. If you dont like it after a month, 3 months a year, move on to the next place on your dream list.

IL magazine is focused on LCSA because thats where your coin goes the farthest. If your going to look at Mexico you might as well look at the Dominican Republic and all the other previously mentioned hot spots for retirees.

India isnt a bad retirement destination, coin does go far there. If your in good health it wouldnt be a bad choice, especially if you like the food and there isnt a language barrier.

@buffalofan

Some people like the heat, but I agree with you I never saw much of the attraction to Chiang Mai. My understanding is that its for expats who just wanted to get out of BKK and wanted more than Pattaya.

Kampot is okay, I guess it depends what you want to do. If its a lot of nothing than fine, but agree with @senator getting anywhere is a trip.

[Helen Back]

Lake Chapala in Mexico seems popular and cheap. Real estate is cheap.

[senator]

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

Maybe I should start considering Central/South America and Mexico?

Though I am still strong on the Philippines.

[PsyGuy]

@senator

Visit the Phillipines see if you want to live there and then think about LCSA, there are a lot of places (previously discussed) in Asia that offer equal quality of life, inexpensive economy, and expat life. Theres little reason to follow the crowd.

[chilagringa]

Yeah, but Mexico provides the benefit of being close to the States, and a different but somewhat more familiar culture, if that's what you're into. The other nice thing is that you can buy into their public health care system (IMSS) inexpensively, which is actually good for the "big stuff" (hospitalizations, etc.) For outpatient stuff though, I would go with the private system, either paying out of pocket or getting private insurance.

Lake Chapala, though, yuck! Absolutely saturated with foreigners. I prefer a place that has a bit of an expat scene, but not so much that it controls the place. Places that would meet that criteria (and meet the criteria of being close enough to good healthcare) would include Oaxaca City, Merida, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Jalapa, San Cristobal. Guadalajara would be great if you are more into urban places - GREAT weather. Mexico City would be even better, but it's getting expensive.

If you want to get even more off the beaten path, try looking through the Mexican government's list of "pueblos magicos". These are a series of charming small towns. Lots are fairly close to urban centers.

[dragonguy]

I know Brazil is getting a lot of bad press right now but what's the expat retirement scene like there?