The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget: How to Live Well on $25,000 a Year

Part OneContemplating an Exciting Move . . .

FOR YEARS, WE’D KNOWN IT WAS COMING: More than 10,000 of us—in the United States alone—are turning 65 every day. That’s 79 million people drawing Social Security benefits and at the mercy of Medicare. And, by the way, we’re now living longer than ever.

We have a lot of time left . . . but not so much that we don’t want to enjoy every minute of it. So just like we did way back when, in the 1960s and 1970s, some members of our generation are challenging conventional ideas and seeking alternatives. We’re taking matters into our own hands and carving out a revolutionary retirement experience.

If you think about it, people have long sought greener pastures for their retirement years. Our grandparents retired from the farm to town. Our parents retired to Florida and Arizona. And us . . . well, we’re rebels at heart. Dreamers. Adventurers. Inclined to march to the beat of a different drummer—no matter how exotic or offbeat.

As the late John Lennon said about our generation in the 1960s, “We were all on this ship . . . going to discover a New World.” While it’s not the ‘60s any longer, the journey never ended. Now, with so many of us in our fifties, sixties, and seventies, we look a little different, for sure, but we’re still all about seeking new experiences and exploring New Worlds.

And why should retirement be any different?