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Barry Golson knows all about retiring abroad -- he and his wife, Thia, have lived in six different countries. Now they choose expatriate-friendly locales around the world for their low cost and their high quality of living and explain how to investigate and settle in each country with minimum hassle and maximum pleasure. Taking you step-by-step through the process of researching, testing, and finally living abroad, the Golsons' practical how-to guide covers all the major issues, including health care, finances, real estate, taxes, and immigration. Each location is profiled by an expatriate writer who has made that country his or her home and who knows how to answer all the questions about living richly and economically in some of the world's most beautiful places.
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 Should be Required Reading Before Retiring Abroad |
| Review Date: December 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. L. Brown, Monument, Colorado United States |
Golson's book should be required reading for anyone considering retiring to a foreign country.
Essentially, the book is divided into three sections. The first deals with all the thorny issues (Why you might/might not consider moving, medical, housing, costs, and most importantly, your personal temperament) that should be taken into consideration if you are planning on becoming an ex-pat. The second and third sections are an in-depth look at the details of living in selected foreign countries. Section two deals with Latin American countries such as Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua and so forth. The third section is devoted to Europe with old stand-bys like France and Italy, but includes places one might not have considered such as Croatia.
In the two sections dealing with individual countries the details are not just the usual "let me describe the county, climate and people" treatment. An author who actually has lived in/is living in that country writes about each country. Therefore, each author is able to speak knowledgeably concerning culture, customs, living standards, government and bureaucracy, housing, cost of living, etc.
After the reader is lead through the facts of what they can expect in a specific country, they are then given an intimate view into actual life there through interviews with ex-pats currently living in country. These interviews are candid, giving the reader not only insight into the country, but into the psyche of Americans being interviewed. Golson does not attempt to censor his interviewees. What he does do is give numerous viewpoints from people who have varying perspectives/outlooks on their lives, their reasons for retiring abroad, their likes/dislikes about their "home," the people, culture, customs, and how they are managing in their new country, to name a few. In other words, these are personal "opinions," and should be taken as such. Learn to accept that if a person wants to rile against life, politics, or the number of dogs and cats for that matter, in the states, that is, "just their opinion." Forget being offended and move on because Golson has done what many writers of books concerning living in a foreign country have failed to do...giving the reader several unvarnished views, represented by a balance between good, bad and sometimes ambivalence. For instance, one couple he interviewed in Italy is struggling financially, but consider their life there as, "a dream come true." While another woman, from a couple who were also interviewed about Italy, will have the reader scratching their head wondering how anyone could be so naive as to think because she is of Italian descent, she would just naturally fit into a foreign country, that speaks a different language, and has totally different culture, customs and history? Is it any wonder she is disillusioned and disparaging?
Having once lived for several years in Europe, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever considered retiring/moving/taking an extended stay outside the United States. If nothing else, it will get the reader to begin considering all aspects of a life in a foreign country, not just the picture-perfect-ones presented in most books dealing with living abroad.
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Retirement without Borders
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| Review Date: February 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Alan M. Silberberg, Bethesda, MD USA |
| I found the book useful and candid. I don't agree with a previous reader about the "unhappy" expatriates quotes. To me the expats seemed overwhelmingly satisfied with their move abroad, but many were honest enough to point out the foibles--something you don't find in other rah-rah retirement books. Was it too "political"? Some of the people who move abroad are probably going to have more beefs with the U.S. government than those that stay on their home ground. Anyway, I enjoyed it, as I did his earlier "Gringos in Paradise," and was happy to see the author's friendly humor in the new book as well. |
excellent book
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| Review Date: January 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Arthur D. Youmans Jr., Tulsa, Ok |
This book is well-worth its modest purchase price for Americans considering retiring to a warm climate in a low-cost area of the world, before the U.S. out-of-control $12+ trillion National Debt creates an economic disaster where hyperinflation allows your monthly pension check to purchase no more than half a Kit Kat candy bar.
Most of the countries listed in this book do NOT tax income from the U.S.A., including pensions, investment income or other passive income and some, like Panama, have better banking secrecy laws than Switzerland. The guy who said that "Death & taxes are the only way to escape the IRS" never read Golson's "Retirement Without Borders." :)
Even if you don't plan to move anywhere, the book gives you all the information you need to phantasize, in Walter Mitty fashion, about native gals in bikinis swinging palm leaves over your head as you relax on a warm, pristine beach in Pavones, Costa Rica, watching surfers looking for the perfect wave.
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Retirement Without Borders
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| Review Date: May 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Denis, Florida USA |
| Unquestionably the most thorough and informative book I have found on retirement considerations outside of the USA |
informative book, local writers
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| Review Date: August 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: N. Wootton, |
| The only chapter I've read thus far was the one on Nicaragua. It was great. The whole book uses local writers which is a big plus. The advice seemed practical and sensible. |
The Golson touch
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| Review Date: December 12, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Peter Bonoff, |
Thia and Barry Golson are wise in the ways of living well while being frugal. This is another in their brilliant series of necessary guides for Baby Boomers and others of like inclination as they ponder creative retirement options.
The Golsons know whereof they write, having experienced firsthand what they propose.
Fieldnotes for a quality 2nd act or 3rd act or beyond.
Thanks, Golsons, for all you do for Y***!
PFB |
Informative and accurate
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| Review Date: April 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Robert Bennett, |
| From my experience book seems pretty accurate in its assessments of various places. Little too much emphasis on Europe and too little on South East Asia. |
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