I'm coming to the end of my military career.  On retirement pay, I'll
have  approximately $2,000 a month.  I was wondering what countries I
could retire to maintaining the same quality of life as the U.S. (to
include adequate medical facilities and modern infrastructure) but
without the high cost of living.  My ultimate goal would be to
purchase real estate and live in this country full-time.  I enjoy warm
weather, and cultural/historical sightseeing.  Costa Rica, Spain, and
Mexico (Guadalajara) have been given to me as suggestions.  Of course,
a low crime rate and no anti-foreigner sentiment would be appreciated.
 I have  teaching certification, but not sure if I could teach in
foreign countries.  Your thoughts?

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Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 24 Jan 2004 21:07 PST

It will be useful that you let us know what is the life style that you
are thinking to live when you will retire.
Do you like mountains, fishing, sports, etc.

Regards.
livioflores-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sgtshep-ga on 25 Jan 2004 10:41 PST

Hello Team,
 
I enjoy historical/cultural sightseeing (museums, historical sites,
etc.).  Ideally, I would choose not to work.  However, I have a
teaching certificate, so could teach if I needed/wanted to.  Hope this
helps!
 
rgs

Hi sgtshep!!

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you!

Because you would choose not to work, I chose places where the US
dollar has a  high value, that means a country where a monthly earning
of U$S 2,000 is worth enough to have a very comfortable living.


My choice is Northern Chile, and the selected city is Arica:

This city has a dry weather (never rains!!) and a relative warm
climate. Arica is called the City of Eternal Spring due to the fact
that it has an agreeable hot-desert climate all the year round, with a
unique characteristic of lack of rainfall along many years.

A brief introduction to Arica:
"Called the City of Eternal Spring for its warm ocean waters and
relatively gentle climate, Arica (pop. 169,000) doesn't look like
much, but it has become something of a resort for Chileans and
Bolivians. Located on the coast, at the edge of the Atacama Desert,
Arica is sunny year-round, so beach activities are popular (even
though the sand is a little grayish). Unlike most of the country's
coast, the ocean around Arica is pleasantly warm. There are nice
tropical gardens and parks, too. Climb El Morro, a nearby hill with
views of the region. In town, see the Church of San Marcos, designed
by Gustave Eiffel, and the handicraft village (pueblo artesanal),
which sells good knit garments, ceramics, stone carvings and pottery.
One day trip you must make is to the archaeological museum at nearby
San Miguel de Azapa. The museum's prize possessions are 96 Chinchorro
mummies, the world's oldest mummified remains -- 3,000 years older
than the ones in Egypt. If you have a few days, stop to see the
beautiful Lauca National Park (east of the city). 1,050 mi/1,690 km
north of Santiago."
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-502832-arica_introduction-i

See also "Arica and it's main attractions":
http://www.chile.com/tpl/articulo/detalle/ver.tpl?cod_articulo=1500

Arica is the northest city of Chile. It is placed in the entrance of
the Azapa Valley, at 2.051 Km. to the north of Santiago (the Chilean
capital) and at 19 Km to the south of the border line with Peru. It is
placed in the beautiful beaches of the Pacific Ocean with its
historical Morro. The number of its population is 170.000 inhabitants.

Arica is one of the cheapest cities of Chile, with the lowest rate of
delinquency. It is the only place in the north with waters and
vegetation, , which makes it an immense and nice oasis. Its main
activity is principally the commerce and tourism, with a growing
development due to the integration of the centro andina area ? Chile,
Perú y Bolivia.


Regarding to the historical/cultural sightseeing, Arica has a strategic location:
Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa:
The museum's prize possessions are 96 Chinchorro mummies, the world's
oldest mummified remains -- 3,000 years older than the ones in Egypt.
You can also visit the Archeological circuit of the Azapa valley, with
ancient archeological sites like Acha-2 (9000 aC - 7000 aC).
Address: Camino Azapa Km. 12, Arica, Chile
Phone: 56-58-205551 / 56-58-205555
Fax: 56-58-224248
E-mail: masma@uta.cl

More info regarding these ancient mummies and the Chinchorro Culture:
"MAKING THE DEAD BEAUTIFUL: MUMMIES AS ART"
www.archaeology.org/online/features/chinchorro/index.html 

Slightly to the north of Arica are the hillsides of Azapa and the
Lluta valley, covered with pre-Columbian geoglyphs. They are
large-scale, abstract designs created by placing dark colored stones
over lighter colored soils. An excellent paved highway climbs through
the Lluta valley and the precordillera onto the altiplano. En route to
Lago Chungará, there are the pre-Columbian ruins of Copaquilla, and
colonial Andean villages like Socoroma, Putre and Parinacota.

Arica is a good start point to visit Bolivian (Tiahuanaco, Sun and
Moon islands at Titicaca lake, etc) and Peruvian (Nazca, Cuzco,
MachuPichu) archeological sites because its geographical proximity to
these places.
Due its low rate of delinquency, the lack of anti-foreigner sentiments
and the economic prosperity experienced by Chile in the lasts years,
this is the best place of the region for your purposes.

"Cost of life in Arica":
http://www.worldlingo.com/wl/mstranslate/UP26384/T1/P2/l/microsoft/computer_translation.html?wl_lp=ES-EN&wl_fl=0&wl_rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.aricachile.net%2Fcostodevida.htm%2F&wl_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aricachile.net%2Fcostodevida.htm&wlg_table=-3


"AXIS TURISMO PROPIEDADES":
A real state company that claims that help to foreigners to buy
properties in Arica, contact them by the following form:
http://www.arica.cl/comercio/axis/contacto.htm

 
"Arica Forever":
The oficial page of Arica
http://www.aricachile.net/indexeng.htm

"Playas de Arica" (Arica's beaches):
http://www.aricachile.net/playas/playas.htm


See images of Arica:
http://gosouthamerica.about.com/library/blArica.htm

http://www.worldcityphotos.org/Chile/CHL-Arica-CLantadilla21.jpg

http://www.worldcityphotos.org/Chile/CHL-Arica-BCloutier1.jpg




You can consider as an option Iquique, the other big city of the
northern Chile. The distance between this coastal cites is about 305km
(190 miles).
Iquique is a modern city of great commercial prosperity and tourist
attraction. It has the largest free zone in South America. Besides it
has modern hotels, restaurants and casinos.
The most important beaches are: El Aguila, Cavancha, Lobito, Primeras
Piedras, Brava, los Verdes and Huayquique
Out of town you can visit the saltpeter ghost towns of Santa Laura and
Humberstone, both declared National Monuments; and the Pintados
Geoglyphs, consisting of some 400 figures distributed over 450.000
square feet of hill slopes, or the Pica town as well.

Here is a map of the North of Chile:
http://www.chilediscover.com/IMAGES/maps/map_north_z.jpg

"FROM ARICA TO IQUIQUE STEP BY STEP": a description for the 18 main
places on the route from Arica to Iquique.
http://www.aricachile.net/aricaiquique/indexeng.htm


I hope this helps you, but considering that this answer is a result of
my subjective opinion, that does not necessarily satisfies you, please
don´t consider it ended until you feel that you have what you need. If
this place is not good enough for you just let me know via the
clarification feature and I will research for more options. If you
need further information use the same way for request it. I will be
glad to respond all your request, so before rate this answer exhaust
all the necessary clarification instances.

Best regards.
livioflores-ga

A friend was recently talking about this topic. His research showed
that Brazil would be a fine selection, because our dollar would go far
there. An American of limited means could live almost grandly there,
he said, and he would consider retiring there.

One consideration might be your age. I know some military people
who've retired in their early-40s and mid-40s after serving 20 years.
Considering themselves far too young to retire and live out their
lives in the typical retired-person ways, many embark on a second
career. If this idea suits you, you might factor that into your
country search. Could you become fluent enough in the country's
language to work in it?

If learning a foreign language doesn't appeal to you, you might
consider Belize, where the official language in English.

Of course without knowing you, I can only suggest generalities. I wish
you well, wherever you decide to go!

dtc0

Oops, the end of paragraph three should have an "is" not an "in":
"...consider Belize, where the official language is English." Sorry
for the typo.

dtc