Ride Out the Recession Abroad
Moving abroad isn’t just for retirees or individuals of retirement age. Increasingly much younger people are creating businesses and careers in foreign countries. It might be a operating a guest house in Costa Rica or a retirement home in Mexico or a farm in Brazil. It might be a business catering to expats or travelers in France or Italy or India or Thailand. We hope to feature more information on expat entrepreneurs in the coming weeks and months.
Then there are those individuals who’ve opted to take an extended vacation far from home, perhaps learning a new language or another skill or just taking stock of their lives and figuring out what their next step will be. Why go to a foreign country to do this? For those who can get away, the reasons make plenty of sense.
It can be far cheaper to pack up and make an extended stay in a country where the exchange rate works to your advantage. Your food, rent and living expenses can be a fraction of what they were. No health insurance? No problem! Mexico, Costa Rica and many other countries have government plans that cost very little and may be the answer for those who are young and in good health. Those who want more extensive coverage can enroll in an insurance plan with a private company and pay far less than premiums would be with a U.S. address.
Once you’re living the life you’d only dreamed of, you may just decide to stay on. Whatever you do, check on the visa and residency requirements to be sure you’re “legal.” And don’t burn your bridges. Just be prepared for the adventure of your life and be open to opportunities you may never have considered. The economic situation is far from healthy wherever you go, but it’s still a big, big world.