Luxury Living at a Low Cost? It’s Possible When You Know This Secret

Last weekend, I participated in International Living’s Best of Europe Private Screening online conference—sharing the information necessary for those looking to decamp to this part of the world as digital nomads or as freelance workers wanting a new adventure in life.

Several of the attendees raised questions about costs and taxes across Europe…which is the impetus for today’s dispatch.

Americans increasingly realize that life with Uncle Sam is not very affordable. Even before inflation began to rage, America was one of the world’s more expensive places to live. Now, it has jumped the shark.

Daily it seems stories pop up in my news feed about the numerous ways Americans are increasingly struggling with the cost of being American. Rents have gone through the roof. The average house in the U.S. costs nearly $430,000. The average new car is now nearly $50,000.

In short, America has gone Gucci.

In turn, fewer and fewer of us older Americans can afford the retirement we dreamed about when we joined the workforce back in the ’80s. It’s not exactly cat food and cardboard boxes, but it’s certainly not a life of leisure, travel, and hobbies.

Consider this headline from Bloomberg over the summer:

I just spent a week in Thailand on a research trip—Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui. I was shocked at the costs and the quality of living that’s available. Life overseas is just much more affordable and upscale. I know exactly why I saw so many older Americans on the streets of Bangkok and, in particular, Chiang Mai.

Dumb example, but it gives you a hint of price discrepancy. I am a Red Bull fan. In the U.S. when I am there, a Red Bull costs me $3.50 to $4.50. Here in Prague, they’re the equivalent of $1.40.

In Thailand?

Ten baht, or about $0.27 for the local Red Bull, the original version on which the global brand was built. But even if I go for the global brand, it’s about $1.30.

I went out to dinner one night in Bangkok, just a local chicken joint like KFC or Popeyes. My bill for a combo meal—chicken sandwich, coleslaw, drink—was $3.12. I just checked the price at a Popeyes near the house where I grew up in South Louisiana. Exact same combo: $9.66, with tax—more than 3x the cost.

Saving $6 or so on a single meal might not sound like a reason to consider living overseas, but when you compile $6 worth of savings across all the meals you eat in a month, that’s more than $500 per month in unspent cash.

The Western-style apartments and houses available for rent are also so much cheaper. A very nice, well-appointed, two-bedroom, 1,700-square-foot apartment near the center of Chiang Mai is $1,000 monthly. Only slightly farther away, and right alongside the river, is a 1,500-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath, with balcony overlooking the river and the city for $650. This is an apartment I would willingly live in because it’s done up to Western standards.

You get the idea.

My broader point here is that life overseas offers the chance to live an upgraded lifestyle, even on a downgraded nest egg. The average Social Security income for a couple is right at $2,500 a month. When your rent is $650 and your food costs are so incredibly cheap (and when healthcare is high-quality, up to Western standards, and so affordable you can pay for procedures out of pocket if you had to) even a lifestyle built singularly around Social Security income can be luxurious.

In America…not so much.

So that’s my message today: Even if you’ve never thought about living overseas in retirement, give it a moment’s thought. America is a great place, no doubt. But America is priced at luxury levels, even though the lifestyle you get is not at all luxury.

Overseas, you’re getting luxury living at low prices.

It is the primary reason I will be retiring abroad.