How to Cope With the Challenges of Retirement Overseas
Retiring overseas means that, once you've done it, you will be living in a different country. As well as stating the obvious, I'm offering perhaps the most fundamental and critical insight you need to have if you're considering this idea.
Launching a new life overseas means relocating to a country that will be foreign. Once you cross to the other side of the border, you will be in a country where you are the foreigner. You will be the outsider, the guest. In many places around the world you will be a very welcome guest, but you will still be different from people who have lived there their entire lives.
Your new life retired overseas can be a grand adventure, full of unexpected delights and discoveries. Your quality of life can improve dramatically while your cost of living can fall. Without question, your horizons will expand. A year or two after you've embarked on this new chapter of your life, you will look back at who you are today and smile. You will realize how far you've come with deserved satisfaction.
This could be the most wondrous stage of your lifetime. But day-to-day you are likely to encounter many instances of frustration. You may find yourself wondering now and then what is wrong with these people. Why do they do that like that? Don't they know that's not how it's done? There is a better, simpler, easier and more efficient way. You are likely to be correct, but that's not the point.
For example, a friend who worked for several decades in the construction industry in the United States and then moved to Panama City noticed five workers digging a ditch with shovels to lay some underground cables over a period of several days. He noted that one person with an appropriate machine could dig a similar trench in half a day.
My friend was correct, of course. With the right piece of machinery, the work that was taking this Panamanian crew more than a week to accomplish could have been handled by one person in a matter of hours. But maybe they don't have that piece of machinery or it's broken and the parts they need to repair it are difficult to find in this part of the world. Maybe they aren't interested in securing that piece of machinery because it would put four people out of work. Plus, asking these kinds of questions may be unwelcome. Things won't necessarily be done the way you are used to in a new country.
The key is to keep things in perspective. For example, Panama is a Spanish-speaking country in the tropics. That means that most people in this country speak Spanish, and the weather is often very hot. Roatan, Honduras, is an island in the Caribbean. That means its sandy beaches sometimes swarm with insects. Nicaragua is a third world country, which means that sometimes the electricity goes out and nobody can explain why or how long you will be without power. The people in Nicaragua, like those throughout the developing world, don't see ice in your drink as a requirement.
Different cultures have different standards for order and timeliness. Although it's the country's capital and seat of government, there are few street signs in San José, Costa Rica. The Costa Ricans are not bothered by this. There are few street signs in all of Ireland. The Irish don't mind. There's no national to-your-door mail delivery service in Panama. The Panamanians don't give this a second thought. In some parts of the world banks and other businesses close for lunch. Most countries have yet to embrace the idea of 24-hour grocery and convenience stores. Almost all of non-tourist Paris shuts down for the entire month of August. For those four weeks, good luck finding a plumber who will take your call or a notaire who will schedule your apartment closing.
Unlike the United States, the rest of the world takes its holidays seriously. Latin America is a Catholic region, which means that, in addition to all other holidays, the people in this part of the world also take off Catholic feast days. And not only do the countries of Latin America and Europe have more holidays than the United States, but they extend them. As the French put it, they faire le pont or "make the bridge" between the actual holiday and the nearest weekend. In Panama, the bridge can extend through an entire week. During Carnaval and other important celebrations the entire country shuts down. You aren't going to be able to conduct any business.
Argentina observes daylight savings time. However, unlike in the United States, some people in Argentina go along with the new time and others don't. The way Argentines look at it, it's a matter of personal choice. You have your time. I have my time. Life becomes simpler if we agree on a common time. But Argentines place no value on uniformity. Argentines value other things, like honor, friendship and, most importantly, individuality and personal whim.
Often it can be the things that first drew you to a place that cause you the greatest levels of frustration in the long run. Retiring to a new country, you're going to have to learn to accept that you aren't going to change the people or the culture of the place where you're relocated. I recommend you don't waste a minute of your time or energy trying. Retired in a new land of fiesta, embrace the change, the contrast and the adventure. Join the rest of the country out in the streets for the party.
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
