Affordable Retirement In Other Countries

SPARTANBURG, S.C. --

If the great recession has you thinking you'll have to push back retirement, or you may not be able to retire at all, we're digging deeper to find you an option that can stretch your retirement dollars.

Many couples are able to afford maids and take trips.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's not -IF- you are willing to hop on a plane and leave the country.

7 On Your Side's Amy Wood found two adventerous couples who are seeing how far their retirement savings can go by saying so long.

"We are selling everything we own," Gary Henderson of Spartanburg told Amy Wood. They met just weeks ahead of Gary's planned departure from his hometown, in the Hub City Bookshop, just across the street from the Herald Journal newspaper, where Gary worked for decades.

"They've either said two things, they've either said, 'have you lost your mind,' or others have said 'boy i wish i had the guts to do that'."

Soon Gary and his wife will put their guts to the test becoming one of the 20 thousand Americans living in Costa Rica.

"When we get off the plane in Costa Rica everything we own will be in the bags we're carrying and whatever's left in the bank here," Gary said.

The Henderson's will have morning coffee on this tropical porch near a volcano, in the town of Palmeras, 30 miles west of San Jose.

"Our house is at 3500 feet elevation. It's considered one the best climates in the world."

Their two bedroom furnished home, illustrates the cost of living savings that blew Gary's mind.

"Our total cash needs in Costa Rica will be about 11 hundred dollars a month that's it that includes housing food everything," Gary estimates.

Everyday ten thousand Americans retire, according to the PEW Research Group, and in a great recession, more people are looking hard at InternationalLiving.com and other sites dedicated to helping you research your options.

"Susan and I have figured out we can live really really well in Ecuador on 15 hundred dollars or less a month,." Dan Prescher with InternationalLiving.com says. He's living on a third of what it would cost him to live in the U.S. He and his wife have lived abroad in retirement for ten years, working for InternationalLiving.com, the same sight that helped Gary Henderson carefully consider his options.

"There are several hundred expats, Canadians and U.S. and British, that live here in town, " Prescher says.

He lives in Cotacachi, Ecuador, one of six international locations he's called home as an international retiree.

Dan explains, "U.S. citizens have to file tax returns no matter where they are every year so we're happy taxpaying citizens no matter where we are in the world."

Tropical pictures and exotic trips sound enticing, but Prescher warns this is not for everyone.

"If you are very attached to your home, your family. If you really like the way things are back home moving abroad is probably not for you. You need a little sense of adventure a little tolerance for novelty."

For Gary Henderson, health care was a huge attraction. He says it's 50 dollars a month for a higher end health plan in Costa Rica, verses hundreds of dollars a month in the U.S.

He says, "You must buy into it but in return when you go to the hospital you have no bill when you come out. For us it was a matter of okay we can go to costa rica and live and still have money left over each month."

Medial services abroad have lived up to Dan Prescher's expectations.

"I had about a 90 percent tear in my right rotator cuff from a sports injury man in quito who studies in the U.S. that did the repair for about a quarter to a fifth of what it would cost me in the U.S.

And Gary Henderson adds, "Hosptials in San Jose have the same joint hospital commission rating as Spartanburg Regional with most doctors trained in the U.S."

If you decide to take the plugn, Dan Prescher warns, don't jump into the deep end first.

"People who sunk their entire nest egg into places, they wound up not happy with and have either gone back to us or gone to try another place. We suggest you try to rent as long as possible in place of your choice before you make a buying decision and sell the farm and move lock stock and barrell.

The Henderson's are taking that advice, and as a grandfather he's comforted knowing how fast he can return to the Carolinas.

"We have children and grandchildren in the states and a lot of people don't realize this while it's a tropical world it's only three and a half hours from Atlanta."

Technology makes the distance easier.

"The internet has changed everything. the way I am talking to you right now i can talk to my mom I can talk to my sisters my brothers," Dan says. "If you're inclined to do it if you have sprit of adventure if it calls to you I would suggest giving it a try because at the very least you can always go back home."

The Henderson's are ready!

"Is it gonna be a little hard to crawl on board that plane at GSP? A little bit but at the same time i think about that site that view from the front porch. We are going to be, I think, very happy there."

Keep in mind, the Henderson's did have an upfront cost to get a residency visa, of about three thousand dollars.

We have more here on the web in our interview with Dan about the Foreign earned Income Tax Credit that lets you earn up to 90,000 dollars a year and take an exemption.

Plus see the full tour with Dan of his home in Ecuador. And you can hear more from Gary on the difficulty of saying goodbye.

Lots of Americans are worried about retirement. The PEW Research Center reports over 37 percent of full time workers of all ages, have thought about postponing retirement. And that jumps to 52 percent if you look at full time workers between the ages of 50 and 64. PEW says 16 percent of Americans ages 50 to 64 say they never plan to retire.

What about you? Would you consider retiring abroad? VOTE in our webpoll.

FAQ

Citizenship - It doesn't matter where you live oustide the U.S. If you are an American citizen you are still an American citizen unless you formally renounce it. Each country has different citizenship requirement if you want to get dual citizenship.

Passports - You need a passport to travel almost anywhere outside the U.S. regardless if you are visting or staying. Different countries will have different requirements for obtaining a Visa to stay.

Drinkable Water? - water safety varies country to country. Drink bottled water if you are in doubt.

Is it safe? Safety varies country-by-country and even city-by-city. One would not base the safety of Greenville, S.C. based on Detroit, MI crime statistics. Do your research. You can also check out travel warnings from the State Dept. website.

Do I still get my social security check? Yes. Where you have it deposited is up to you.

Can I still get Medicare treatments? No. But in other countries medical care and health insurance costs much less that in the U.S. If you have dual citizenship it could even be free.

Do I have to file taxes? More than likely - yes. To find out more about your tax liability and filing taxes as an ex-pat click here.

MOST AFFORDABLE PLACES TO LIVE ABROAD- source: U.S. News

Chiang Mia, Thailand

Monthly budget: $1,100

Las Tablas, Panama

Monthly budget: $1,200

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Monthly budget: $1,250

Cuenca, Ecuador

Monthly budget: $1,300

Leon, Nicaragua

Monthly budget: $1,300