Best Countries To Retire in Central and South America

Cruising around the internet a while ago I came across something that really surprised me, a site by american expatriates living in my country of birth Uruguay, in South America.So I start reading about it and find out there are thousands of american citizens living in Uruguay,used to be the only americans living in Uruguay were embassy employees and diplomats,but now there are a few thousand regular folk living there and they even have some community associations and events, get togethers and ,celebrations, and seem to be a nice tight knit and helpful community.Which must be really helpful for people looking to relocate there for whatever reason.There are American schools available for the children of expatriates if they so chose,from pre-K to high school, although they can be enrolled in the public school system which is universally available and free for everyone all the way to finish a career since the university is also free and available to anyone residing in the country.

If you are thinking about relocating to South or Central America you must consider first of all which countries offer the easiest posibility of adaptation and feeling at home.Where the culture shock will be such that you feel you can come to love this place, feel welcome and be integral part of the community and not feel awkward or foreigner.So going from north to South let's start with Central America: of all the countries in Central America there are two that would make a great destination for americans to establish themselves there,in first place Costa Rica, which is a country very much en vogue as a tourism destination right now ,mainly because of it's nature, and beautiful environmental reserves make it the eco-tourism capital of the world.But there are other reasons to target Costa Rica as a possible destination to immigrate to , first of al it's a country with great political and social stability, has been for many decades,and really throughout it's history,the country doesn't even have an army,and to say the truth ,they don't need it.The other country is Panama which because of the canal has a numerous english speaking population , and a very modern and thriving capital city, it also seeks to attract American expatriates having governmental programs to that effect.Another advantage is that it is relatively close to the US and the travel back and forth if you want to visit family or vice versa is fast and not as expensive as other destinations.Something that both Costa Rica and Panama have in common is that you are in countries where the rule of law is prevalent as it is in the US,unlike unfortunately some of their neighbors that having been ravaged by extreme poverty, social unrest and lawlessness due to unstable governments and regimes and revolutions have more corruption and less desirable social and living conditions.

If you are looking at South America as your possible destination for relocating,than the best options would be Brazil ,Argentina,Chile ,and Uruguay,not because the remaining countries aren't beautiful countries and have great tourist destination to know and visit but relocating means your greatest priority is security,safety,political and social stability,you may notice that I emphasize these issues quite a bit ,and the reason being is that usually the information that people in the US have about the countries south of the border is about events that make the news and these tend to be of a negative nature,and these events do happen , but even though they happen in many different locations the common impression is that from the Rio Grande all the way down to Tierra del Fuego it's one big hispanic country which do not differ much from one country to another and that couldn't be farther from the truth, there are places in South and Central America where you , your family and your assets or belongings are just as safe and secure as they would be in any place in the US , both from the local population as well as the governments.The four countries in South america offer very similar conditions as far as how viable these countries are as possible destinations for relocating to South America.What I am trying to do here is narrow down for you the countries you should focus your research which you should do extensively , and of the four I only feel qualified to give specifics on Uruguay,which is the country where I was born and lived for half my life.In Brazil I would suggest Sao Paulo or Porto Alegre as preferred destinations , in Argentina, Buenos Aires,.

Relocating in Uruguay has the advantage that you're close enough to Buenos Aires so that you can take either a 55 minute flight or take the ferry boat or "ALISCAFOS" and be there in a couple of hours enjoy a day or two in the megalopolis and be back home to a more tranquil place. Montevideo should be the place to choose as your home in Uruguay .,and within Montevideo you should look at Pocitos as the neighborhood you will want to establish your home in.For many reasons, It's close to everything, it's right by the beach and the Rambla(Uruguayan version of the boardwalk ,only prettier),it's a middle/upper middle class neighborhood, the Montevideo Shopping center is there which is a fairly large mall.And you can find businesses open until late at night.The price of real estate has been rising steadily for the past few years, a nice two bedroom apartment goes for about 80.000 to 160.000 dollars depending on location luxuries and size and houses are about the same price range for some reason there is not a great difference in price between apartments and houses in Montevideo unless you go to the neighborhood of Carrasco and Punta Gorda where the Uruguayan elite lives.I guess part of the reason is that there are plenty of parks close to every neighborhood for people to enjoy without the hassle of maintenance of your own landscaping and gardening,the Rambla being like a huge park in a way stretching for literally hundreds of miles,as well as Parque de los Aliados, and El Prado. If you would prefer to rent the same two bedroom apartment or house would go for about 450 to 800 dollars per month .And a very important point is that you can purchase comprehensive health insurance which would cover everything healthcare for about 100 dollars per month for one person and about 160 for a couple with a modest copay for doctor visits , medicine and hospitalizations or even major surgery.

As a closing statement in this hub I would like to say that under no circumstance would I recommend anybody selling properties or assets and relocating anywhere prior to actually living in the place of choice for at least a few months,so once you make that decision you are sure to have made the best possible one.